In Which I Meet the Marines

While my family was here, we visited the National Marine Corps Museum, near Quantico. It was surprisingly interesting. the exhibits had lots of models, which helped visualize the information. The marines have certainly taken part in many epic conflicts. I was especially excited to see one of the original flags that flew over Iwo Jima. No flash pictures of it are allowed, and the room is kept very dark to protect the delicate cotten fabric from further deterioration, or I would post a picture of it.

In Which I see Da Vinci

My parents and siblings are here visiting, so we are doing the rounds of tourist-y things. On Saturday, we went to the National Geographic Museum to see the exhibit of replicas from Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks. He designed some weird looking things, but it turns out a lot of them actually work. I'm going to try to upload photos, but my computer's been glitchy, so they may be coming at a later date.

Ok, so now I got the pictures working. Here is one of a tank Da Vinci designed. Someone got the brilliant idea to built it and try it out. Apparently it does work against arrows and swords.

In Which I Return from Traveling

I'm back!!!!! Did you miss me? I visited NY, Chicago, and Atlanta. I visited with lots of friends and family, and I had a marvelous time. I had toddlers dive-bombing me, re-learned how to ride a bike (sort of --- I can go forward, but I fall over when I stop), stayed up until all hours talking, ate lots of chocolate, went out to eat, watched chick flicks and silly tv shows, and visited lots of obscure museums. Some Illinois highlights:

The Lizzadro Lapidary Art Museum in Elmhurst, Illinois. Did you know there is a museum dedicated to the lapidary arts? Do you know what the lapidary arts are? It's the art of carving stone, usually semi-precious. There were some amazing ivory and quartz carvings. And the name is really fun to say. It was named after the museum's founder. This is a picture of a really big meteor. Or maybe it's petrified wood. I can't really remember.

The Historic Theater Museum: It was the upstairs hallway of an old historic theater. The actual museum was not impressive, but the theater was rather nice. It is still in operation and shows current movies.

Hiking at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois. It was a muggy day, but the waterfalls were worth seeing. We did a 5 mile hike, or slightly longer, since we missed several branches on the trail. I also didn't get eaten by mosquitoes (though I did in Atlanta. I am still itchy, and my legs look like I am diseased). I didn't know there were actual hills in Illinois, but apparently they were hiding.

In Which I Eat Yoda

This year, for July 4, my sister and I made Star Wars pancakes. The molds are sold at Williams-Sonoma in a set with Yoda, Darth Vader, and a storm trooper. The recipe is delicious. The pancakes come out melt-in-your-mouth light. Last year we blew up marshmallows. I think we are becoming classier each year!

In Which I See Columns

FREEDOM!!! I am all done with students!!!!!

So I went exploring the national arboretum, which is smack in the middle of a rather skeevy neighborhood in northeast D.C. The arboretum itself is quite nice, though not as big as the one in Chicago, I think. Unless I missed bits of it, which is possible. It does have something no other arboretum has: columns. Big marble columns from the original capitol. Standing in the middle of a field. I had to go back to the car to get my camera, I was so struck by it. Who's idea was it to erect a circle of marble columns in the middle of a field? It just seems so out of place.

I also saw the Anacostia River. Now I can say I've been there. There was also a collection of bonsai trees. How do they keep the trees from getting big?

In Which I Love Gummy Bears

Apparently, my current mental capacity is that of a 5-year-old. I have less than 2 weeks left of school, am averaging 5 hours of sleep a night, and am just plain tired. Teachers around the country know exactly what I mean. We are all in survival mode. In order to make it through to the end, I am watching things that make me happy. It started off as nature documentaries and re-runs of Bones, and has gradually deteriorated to old Disney movies (I love The Apple Dumpling Gang) and the Muppet Show, and now I have deteriorated to The Gummy Bear Song. I watched the YouTube video five times today alone.

Several months ago, my sister introduced me to The Gummy Bear Song. I dare you to listen and not smile. I mean, it's a green, animated gummy bear wearing a pair of bright yellow men's underwear, singing techno-pop. What's not to love? And, to make it even better, you can listen to it in Spanish, Czech, Swedish, Hebrew, Irish, Hungarian, German, French, Brazilian, and Slovak! It's also a great song to listen to while working out because it's just the right tempo. I have it twice on my iPod, once in German, and once in English. I'm a bi-lingual gummy bear lover. Gummy, gummy, gummy, gummy, gummy bear.

In Which I Am Crafty

I spent today at the annual Occoquan Craft Show. Occoquan is a small, picturesque, historic town on the Occoquan River. I've never been there before, but I will have to go again. There are a lot of cute little shops and restaurants. There is even a shop called The Polka Dot Diva. I love polka dots; I own 4 polka dot dresses. Disappointingly, the shop had more diva-related merchandise then polka dots.

Even though the weather was in the 90's, it was worth the discomfort. There were all kinds of artisans and creative displays. And free samples..... yum. The first Fair food of the season always tastes the best. It was a lot of fun to walk around, see the displays, listen to the musicians. On the way out, we stopped at Mom's Pies, where I got a delectable piece of almond chess pie. It was a really nice way to unwind from the week, and get a little preview of summer. I took pictures, but I misplaced the cord to connect my camera to the computer. When I find it, I will post them.