{Family Pictues 2011)

Yes, I am one of those people that must have family pictures done each year.  My kids change so much and I like having something new to look at on my walls.  While my MIL was out here visiting I figured this was my chance to get pictures done.  She has helped us with family pictures for the last few years and I really appreciate being willing to be put up with my bossiness :)  We hit up a really cool park and went crazy..  Margaret took our family picture and I took the kids' individuals.  I am really happy with how they turned out.  I can't believe how big the kids are getting and how much they really do change in a years time.  I even managed to snap a picture or two of the inlaws :)  Thanks Margaret and Greg!!

{Ft. McHenry}

A few weeks ago we spent our Saturday up at Fort McHenry, near Baltimore.  Ft. McHenry, for those of you who don't know, is significant to our history because that is where Francis Scott Key wrote the "Star Spangled Banner".  He was watching the British attack Ft. McHenry from a ship out in the bay all night and he waited for the daylight to come to see what flag would be flying over the Fort.  When he saw the stars and stripes he penned the song that we hold dear as Americans.  The weekend that we chose to go to the Fort happened to be the anniversary of what they call "Defenders Day".  We were lucky because the Fort was alive with period people and demonstrations of life in the early 1800's.  We even got to meet the esteemed Mr. Key himself, which the kids loved.  Flying over the fort they had a replica of the flag that was flying over the fort in 1814.  We have been to see the original "Star Spangled Banner" in the Museum of American History.  Seeing it time and time again, and hearing the words written by Francis Scott key sung, never ceases to cause me to get choked up with pride for this country we live in.  We do live in a blessed country and I love showing my kids the sacrifices made so they can enjoy it today.  There are a lot of pics because it was just a great day. Ayden got the low down on how to fire a canon.  We got to play dress-up and enjoy the military band perform.  We even got to enjoy a shaved ice to end a pretty perfect day.   

{Are you....?}

So the other day Wyatt and I were heading home after visiting our local branch of the library.  It is so much nicer to go to the library with only one kid to keep quiet and to keep tabs on.  The library is pretty close to our house with only a few stop lights in between our house and it's front door.  As you can imagine with our living in a larger metropolis area there are a few more panhandlers.  Our variety like to wait at the lights in the crosswalk section and when the light turns red they walk in between the cars to make your experience with them much more personal.  Yesterday was not unlike any other day,   I was stopped at a red light and there were a few people working together to collect money.  I was the third car back from the light in the third lane over.  A "gentleman" came by my window and I kindly waved him off (the universal sign for I'm not giving you money) and he paused at my car.  Took a look at my license plate (which still reads Washington) and taps on my window.  I smile at him and then look away.  He taps again.  I roll the window down about a micro inch and our conversation goes like this..... 

him:  Washington huh?  You from Seattle?

me:  No

him:  Have you seen that new Steven Segall movie?

me: ummm, No

Him:  Well it's about those Aryan Nation guys in Seattle that are raping woman and getting away with it

me:  oh really, haven't seen it.  I think though the Aryan Nation is in Northern Idaho.

(My information goes unnoticed, apparently there isn't a difference)

him:  Yeah there are some corrupt police over there and they aint doing nothing about it so Steven Segall has to go in take care of those people.

me:  Yeah I missed that one.  Have a good day!!

I couldn't help but laugh.  I guess what made this interaction all the more interesting and slightly hilarious, was the accusatory look in his eyes.  Obviously he took the plot of the movie to be a reenactment of actual events, and apparently Steven Segall is someone he looks up to get the job done.  The other reason I found it amusing was he is an African American guy and well I am basically as white as you can get.  Naturally I would be one of them Aryan Nation types because my car says I'm from Washington and I'm white.  That is all the evidence he needs to brand me a prejudice person, I could see it in the stink eye he gave me. 

I couldn't help but chuckle.  I am just adding it to list of interesting encounters I get to experience here.  It might be a long list by the time I am done. 

{9/11: Exhibit}

As most people are aware, the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 is coming up on Sunday.  We have been watching programs on television about 9/11 and really for the first time talking to our kids about what happened that day.  Ayden and Meysa are, I think, finally old enough to understand what happened.  As a family we have watched on the Discovery Channel a really neat program about the rebuilding of the World Trade Center and what is going into rebuilding the lives of the people so affected by the events of 9/11.  (I would highly recommend people watching it, it is a series of episodes -http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/the-rising/).  Ayden especially has been interested about what happened and why.  He was just a few months old when it happened so of course he doesn't remember it, but he will ask Ryan and I to tell him about what we remember.  Lucky for us there is an exhibit in the Museum of American History that has artifacts that have been recovered and also donated to the Smithsonian Museum to be on display for the week leading up to the anniversary.  They will then be sent to New York to be part of the 9/11 Memorial Museum.  We took the kids down to the National Mall on Monday and we stood in line for an hour and a half to see the exhibit.  There were artifacts from the crash site in Pennsylvania that were being seen for the first time ever.  What was neat about the exhibit was that the pieces on display were not behind glass, they were on the table (of course we couldn't touch them) right in front of us.  For me it made them more tangible and real.  They also each had a story to tell, who they belonged to, how they were recovered. (you can go to smithsonianchannel.com/stories to view the videos they have made about each artifact and the story it tells)  As we waited in line to go through the exhibit I talked to the kids about what they were going to see, and that we needed to be reverent while walking through.  Meysa looked at me funny when I used the word "reverent" because that is usually used when we are talking about church and religious settings.  But I wanted the kids to be aware and respect what these pieces of history represented.  Lives lost, acts of heroism shown, America coming together when everything was falling apart.  The kids were wonderful, even little Wyatt.  You could feel the reverence in the room from everyone and it was a neat experience for our family to be there and yes it was worth the time spent in line waiting to see it.  Ryan wanted me to take pictures, but I wanted to experience it without the lens in my way.  Ayden and Meysa had their cameras out and were snapping photos so we have some from the day.  We also saw some of the other exhibits in the museum that day.  The girls loved the collection of the First Ladies dresses.  I think Meysa took about a hundred pictures in just that room alone.  We also saw the transportation exhibit which the boys loved.  After we were done we headed out to the Mall and ate our lunch and enjoyed being together as a family!!  I thought it was a perfect way to spend the holiday!!   

{Harpers Ferry}

 Saturday our family took a little day trip to Harpers Ferry, WV, with some other families from our ward.  It was a great day in a cute little historical town.  Harpers Ferry is on the Shenandoah river, which by the way is so beautiful, and it is full of history.  We mainly went to play in the river but we also got to see some of the historical things as well.  We are planning on making it a yearly trip.  It is only a little over an hour so it isn't too far to go more often if we wanted to.  We got lucky this weekend too because they had civil war re-enactments and living history people around town, which the kids thought was great.  The horse lover in our family especially loved the Civil War Calvary regiment.  The "soldier" was great and let us meet his horse, which of course was the highlight for Meysa.  We hiked (and I do mean hiked) up a hill to see some of the town and to over look the valley.  What a view it was from the rock up on to and the kids enjoyed climbing on it.  Wyatt didn't get to so he was kind of bummed.  I just didn't feel like losing him over the side.  I guess it was worth the hot and sticky feeling we had after exerting energy.  Wyatt was a trooper and hiked the hill all by himself.  He was slower than molasses but he did it himself, which I was thankful for!!  After our little hike we headed to the river.  I get the mother of the year award for not bringing the swim suits.  I didn't realize that the river was a nice as it was.  On the website it made it sound like it wasn't too safe and it had a pretty good moving current.  So I thought I would let the kids get in a little and so we only brought some dry clothes to change back into.  Well I was wrong, we were at a great spot of swimming.  Thanks to the other adults in our group who brought their suits our kids got the chance to play in the river and Ayden and Meysa got the chance to cross it.  Next time we are sure to bring our suits and river shoes!!  Lauryn and Wyatt loved just playing on the shore finding shells and planting a shell garden.  The weather was so nice, down on the river we had a nice breeze and it was overcast to boot.  To end the day we hit up a little ice cream shop and enjoyed some delicious goodness.  It was an end to a great day!!