corn maze 9:30 PM

Monday, Oct. 11th

Steph and I decided that we wanted to go to a corn maze this year. So we headed out to the country to meet up with Billy (Steph's boyfriend and resident of West Virginia - don't worry, he has all of his teeth). We headed out to Great Country Farms in Bluemont VA. They had a great little set up where kids could mine for gold and gems, learn about the animals, jump on a basketball court size "balloon pillow" and more.

We were picturing the day as a great fall adventure, but the summer decided to rear its ugly head and jump back up to the high 80's. Gone were our dreams of wearing fleece jackets, dashed were our hopes of a warm apple cider on a brisk day. We were hot and sweaty, it did not feel like fall. Since we were breaking a sweat in our jean pants, we opted to skip the pumpkin picking and just do the corn maze. It was fun, but not the fall dream we had pictured. Thanks to Billy's mad tracking skillz we made it through the maze alive. It was a good day.

marine barracks evening parade 11:27 PM

Susan got tickets for the Evening Parade at the Marine Barracks today. The barracks in DC are the oldest Post of the Marines, established in 1801. In the "parade" the President's Marine Band and the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps played. They were impressive with their ability to march and play. The highlight of the night was the Silent Drill Platoon. These men marched in perfect formation weilding rifles with fixed bayonets. Their precision moves were so in sync that every tap of a hand and every step of a foot yielded a thundering effect. It was a beautiful thing to watch. As were the men in uniform.

lupus walk 2:08 PM

This morning a flood of purple overtook the streets of Washington DC as we walked to raise awareness of Lupus.

Every year Kim puts together a team, Purple Scream, to walk in support of the Lupus Foundation.

To learn more about Lupus click here.

redbud 11:59 PM

This is a redbud tree. Although sometimes it looks pink. And sometimes it looks purple. Although I am going to call it fuchsia.

It is made up of thousands of unremarkable little flowers that on their own are nothing to write home about. But when they band together they are magnificent.

They pop out of whatever background they are against. They are my favorite flowering tree this spring. I go through phases. Last year it was the Dogwood. The year before it was Cherry Blossoms.

kite festival 9:46 PM

After the 29 degree morning, the weather got a little better and the Berget crew (minus Chris) invited me to go into the District for the Kite Festival.

Armed with two kites we gathered on the mall between the Washington Monument and the White House. We started out with the beginner kite, it was a owl with long green ribbons attached to its tail. Carson liked watching it and chasing it but did not want anything to do with flying it.

I am so sad that this picture is blurry because I love it. Look how excited Carson is flying the kite with his mom.

Ethan didn't do any kite flying. Which is expected I guess, he is just a baby. But look how big he is in comparison to last year.

Taking a time out to snack. What a fun day!

After the break we put together the big guy. It flew great! When the wind was up. And when I didn't get it tangled in other peoples kites. Oops. This ended our excursion into DC for the Kite Festival.

bright sunshiny day 11:59 PM

Today I headed directly from work into the District for a dentist appointment. I had estimated that in rush hour traffic it would take 2 hours. It took one and a half hours.

Then instead of paying for the $10/hr parking garage, I found street parking with a meter. And the meter was broken so I didn't pay anything! After that I stopped by Potbelly's for a sandwich and found a meter right next to the building with 24 minutes still in it.

Plus today the weather was perfect. Sunny, not humid, 71 degrees. It felt like California. I love California weather. I hope this holds out for a couple of weeks. Also the buds are starting to come out. I love spring in this area.

The little tree across the street from us.
My (well, Ashley's) townhouse in the background.

Birdo in DC (day 3) 6:19 PM

This morning we headed into DC to be tourists again. The snow still blanketed everything and looked so nice and clean. We went up to the top of the Washington Monument and enjoyed the birds eye view.

We walked down to the World War II Memorial and I made art out of a pristine patch of snow. The fountains weren't on, I can only guess because of the freezing weather. So we headed down to the Lincoln Memorial after snapping a few pictures.

I liked spending time down by the Vietnam War Memorial today. In front of us, this little boy was slowly walking along the wall and running his fingers over the names - it was sweet.

As I experimented with the camera today I got these two shots. I cannot decide which one I like better.

And I wish I knew someone, or knew someone who knew someone, who was one this wall so I could take a meaningful picture instead of just randomly picking a name to take a picture of. On the other hand I am truly grateful that I don't know anyone on this wall. I see the notes left there from friends of the fallen ones all these years later and my heart hurts.

Next we headed to the National Geographic Museum to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. There was also a great photography exhibit called Polar Obsession about the wildlife of the Artic/Antartic Poles. After that we were exhausted and headed home to relax before meeting up at Hard Times with Tasha and Susan.

After dinner we headed out one last time to hit the last few Memorials we had held off seeing till the night time. We had fun playing with the camera settings to try and capture the night shots. The water also wasn't on at the FDR memorial. Sad. But as we left, the moon was rising over the Jefferson Memorial. It was pretty.

Birdo in DC (day 2) 5:34 PM

Today we slept in. And we made cupcakes and prepped the beef pepperoncini for dinner. Then we did all those great Sunday things like read, showered, relaxed and rewatched the first 10 minutes of Cloudy with Chance of Meatballs. Then we went to church.

Afterward we headed to see some memorials before dinner. The Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima) looked nice with the sun setting. It gave a beautiful highlight to the landmarks in the District behind. I also love the outline of the leave-less trees in the winter.

Next we went to the Pentagon (9/11) Memorial. It looked really clean and serene with the white snow replacing the normal gravel on the ground. I am going to submit to the suggestion box that they keep the snow as a permanent fixture.

We tried to stay out as the sun set and the lights started "glowing" off the benches. But it was freezing. Literally. Hence the snow on the ground. So we kept the visit short and then headed back home.

Steph, Billy, Rob and Ryan came over to dine with Birdo and I. We had Beef Pepperoncini and Triple Leaf Salad with chips for dinner. And cupcakes with a surprise in the middle (to be blogged about later) for dessert. We played Ashley's newest game Wits and Wagers. It was a fun night.

Birdo in DC 4:54 PM

Kristin is here to visit me this weekend! It was so much fun to hang out and play tourist. This morning we woke up and headed to the Eastern Market for my favorite french toast. Since the weather was calling for a big snowstorm there was a marked lack of people there - we didn't even have to wait in line to order! It was a snow day miracle. The funny thing is that there was no snow on the ground as we headed in.

As we walked outside again the snow had started to gather on the ground. To accompany the lack of people, there was a lack of vendors. I was sad to miss the fresh produce at the farmers market and attempt again to find the sunglasses I owe David. We stopped by the bizarre bookstore that I love. Ashley is modeling the lack of head clearance in the basement.

Next we headed to the National Archives to see the original Constitution and Declaration of Independence. From there we were going to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to droll over the money, but we got sidetracked into the Holocaust Museum. I kind of pushed Birdo into going there. She thinks it is a sad place, which it is if you think about it, but I really like that museum. To me it is a reminder of what we cannot let happen again. It also makes me remember why it is important for good people to stay involved in politics and work to make sure their good voice is heard.

After we got out of the museum there was tons of snow and the roads were slippery, so we headed back home. We grabbed some Thai takeout and a movie and hunkered down waiting for the snow to stop. But it didn't stop. Nope. We watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (pretty hilarious), some shows on the DVR, read, and finally braved the snow to run to the store for groceries. It was a fun and relaxing day.

ICE! 11:28 PM

Tonight we went to the National Harbor, a place that has just popped up in the last year or so. It is located on the MD side of the Potomac just south of the Wilson Bridge, and filled with fancy hotels and upscale restaurants.

Scott, Ashley, Ryan and I headed to the National harbor tonight to enjoy the Christmas festivities. The Gaylord National hotel hosted Christmas events (a gospel choir singing Christmas songs tonight), has indoor snowfalls daily and a cool water show set to music (like the Bellagio but smaller). We loved the water show.

After the indoor shows we grabbed a bite to eat as we waited for our time to go see ICE! The Gaylord brought in 1.5 million pounds of ice and 40 international ice sculptors to create a winter wonderland. Kept at 9 degrees, they had us don parkas as we wandered through winter scenes of finely carved ice. Our favorite part was the ice slides. Yes, ICE SLIDES, as in you slid down ice chutes. It was so fun. I wish I had pictures, but my battery started dying so I let Scott take over as photographer. They are trapped on his camera. :(

National Christmas Tree 10:19 PM

Alternate Post Title: the ugliest Christmas tree in the free world.

Ashley, Dani, Susan and I after a sprint-paced walk to the Elipse.
Don't let the short one fool you she's fast.

This year there was a public raffle for tickets to attend the National Christmas Tree Lighting. I had no idea, but Dani and Ashley were hip to it and entered the raffle. Dani got the four tickets and invited us to join her. We met up with Susan to park at her work and, after a little mishap with the tickets, we walked at the pace of lightening to the Elipse wondering if we would make it on time. The first gate was already closed. We walked to the second gate and they told us to go to the third gate. This doesn't seem like a big deal but there were a couple blocks between gaits and it took a good amount of time to reach each one and we were running very late.

President Obama (l) where he actually was standing on the stage, note camera at max zoom (r) on the big screen so those of us in the standing area could see the stage.

We finally made it in and proceeded to the standing section. It was a fun atmosphere. Groups of college kids, families, some dressed up, some running around in the mud, all gathered to see the President light the tree. We didn't really care about seeing Obama, multiple times Susan said "I'm a Republican. Just wanted you to know that.", we were there and excited about seeing the ugliest Christmas tree in the free world lit up. Randy Jackson (of American Idol) did the introductions, there was a musical number from a former Idol, a prayer was offered, Obama gave a little speech (I was impressed when he eluded to the birth of Christ) and then he lit the tree.

The tree is in the far left corner. We were there. I have photographic evidence.

See it in the corner there? Lit. Same tacky decorations as last year. When are they going to let me decorate that tree? I could do such a better job. After that, there was more singing and then I am not sure what. It was cold, we couldn't actually see anything on the stage because we were so far away (we watched everything on the jumbotron) so we left shortly after Obama threw the switch. We went to The Lost Dog Cafe and met up with some friend for dinner. Yum.

Also I ran into Andrew Whelan at Lost Dog. What are the odds? That was pretty cool.

Mom in DC: Pentagon Memorial 11:51 PM

Thursday night after stuffing ourselves at Buca di Beppo, we headed over to the Pentagon Memorial. I had yet to be visit the memorial so it was a new experience for both of us. The memorial was dedicated September 11th, 2008 on the seven year anniversary of the attacks.


It was sobering to see all 184 benches lit up at night (59 from flight 77 and 125 from the Pentagon) it didn't hit me how many people lost their lives in the Pentagon until we saw it like that. Tragedy - it really was.


The focus of the memorial is 184 cantilevered benches built over a pool of lighted water. Each bench is engraved on the end with the name of one of the 184 people who died on board Flight 77 or in the Pentagon that day.

The benches are arranged by age, with the bench of the youngest victim, 3-year-old Dana Falkenberg, in the far southeast corner and the bench honoring 71-year-old John Yamnicky in the northwest corner.

The benches for the 59 victims on board the plane are arranged so that someone reading the name on the end of the bench will face the sky where the plane came from. The 125 benches for the victims inside the Pentagon face the opposite direction, so someone reading the name will look up and see the south facade of the Pentagon, where the jet hit that day.

above description from cnn.com

There was a Pentagon police officer on duty who told us a little bit more about the Memorial. One of the things he mentioned was that gravel was used as ground cover so when you walk, it sounds like you are not walking alone. I cannot wait until the trees are filled in, it will be a beautiful memorial.