DC Day 6 - Georgetown

We started our sixth day (as usual) on the northbound train to Rosslyn, where we took one of the world's longest escalators up to the street. From there we walked north and crossed the river on the Scott Key bridge to Georgetown. It didn't take us long to find those famous stairs from The Exorcist. The boys didn't care, but JP and I were excited to see them in person.

The Georgetown campus was beautiful. We were in the middle of spring break, so the only ones there were the uber students that preferred to stay and study rather than party on a southern beach.

The boys were impressed with all the facilities on campus. We were all excited to get some Georgetown shirts at the bookstore. GP's history teacher noticed his shirt immediately when he wore it.

We watched The Exorcist the other night just to match up the filming locations with the places we had been. It was very exciting!

DC Day 5 - Holocaust & American History Museums

We started our day at the Holocaust Museum. All of us were blown away at the depth of the exhibits. We were expecting an hour and a half quick walk thru, but ended up staying there three hours. I'm not sure that the boys captured the enormity of it, but they stayed engaged the whole time we were there. Both were excited to grab some trinkets at the gift shop to show their friends.

The message the Museum was presenting was that ordinary people stood by and let the Holocaust happen; if that were to happen again, what would you do?

On our way to the Museum of American History, we had lunch in the basement of the Ronald Reagan building. We had fun exploring the busy streets of DC. 

The Museum of American History was a letdown for all of us, hence no photos. The exhibit of the original Old Glory flag was impressive, but the other exhibits were all meh.

We had promised to GP since Day 1 that we would eat at an Italian restaurant. He ate an entire 6-pound order of fettuccine alfredo, which was no surprise. CP ate a seafood pasta plate that included artichoke hearts and asparagus. He has turned into a real gastronome. 

DC Day 4 - National Gallery

After the Air & Space museum, we cruised across the mall to the National Gallery. As much as JP had been dreading the A&S museum, she was bubbling with excitement about seeing some old paintings.

CP was on the hunt for French works that he could tell his French teacher about. He loved this portrait of Napoleon.

GP had been ready to go home an hour into the A&S museum. Walking in the rain to the Gallery and then looking at paintings didn't do much to improve his attitude. 

DC Day 4 - Air & Space

The boys had been anticipating the Air & Space museum since we left Lincoln. In the same way, JP had been dreading it. I was with the boys - I couldn't wait to get there.

Once JP realized that the museum wasn't a cavernous hangar that went on for miles, she perked up and enjoyed herself. The boys (and I) were in heaven. CP saw all the WW-II planes that he plays in his video games.

The highlight for all of us was seeing a real Me-262. We nearly missed it off in a little side room. CP was speechless. GP was ready to go.

DC Day 3 - Arlington Cemetery

Aunt S met us at the hotel for a long walking day in DC. We took the Metro to Arlington Cemetery. It's one stop away from the Pentagon and just five stops from Old Town.

The sun came out and we were treated to a beautiful day to explore our nation's graveyard. There are a lot of people buried there. 

We were able to watch the changing of the guards ceremony at the tomb of the unknowns. The tomb of the unknowns for the Civil War contains the remains of 2100 men scraped off the battlefield. Everything there was incredibly moving - it was difficult to fight back the tears. I can't imagine what it's like for servicemen visiting their buried friends.

DC Day 2 - Mt. Vernon

We took the Metro south where R&S picked us up and took us to Mt. Vernon. 

Everyone's favorite spot was the large back porch that overlooks the Potomac River.

Mrs. Washington was impressive to me. The boys weren't as interested in what she had to say. She was like a portrait that came to life.

After seeing all the facets of the estate, we hit Woodbridge to eat and see the K's new house.

DC Day 1

We spent last week in Washington DC! We flew from Lincoln to O'Hare to Reagan and stayed in Old Town Alexandria right next to the Metro station. The two room suite was awesome and we were able to walk everywhere.

R&S Met us for dinner. We missed the St. Patrick's Day parade by a couple of hours, but the festive spirit remained on King Street.

King St. is the main drag thru Old Town. It was 1-1/4 miles of shops and restaurants all the way from our room at the Metro station down to the waterfront.

A cold front came thru the day before we arrived and dumped a few inches of snow and iced up all the water.

Honors Again

CP got straight A's last semester and got to walk at the honors ceremony. The G's daughter was also there along with most of CP's friends and other kids from the neighborhood. The ceremony is held in the basketball arena; one whole side of the court was filled with parents. It's awesome to see 400 parents take the time away from work to support their kids.

Goodbye Carpeted Stairs

We are tired of the carpeting on the stairs, so we tore it off the bottom step and replaced it with wood. We're considering replacing all the steps with the darker stained wood. Looks like there will be significant carpentry required.

The Friendly Toaster

JP got us a new toaster. When she plugged it in, it greeted her. We need more appliances that say nice things.

Yes, they are that good!

We've been lucky enough to score some Nothing Bundt Cakes bundt cakes this winter. It's impossible to describe in words how good they are. JP's eyes tell the real story. 

JP's friend gave her some gourmet chocolates for her b-day. They're nearly as yummy as the bundt cakes.

Spring is Coming!

Nebraska winters: cold, then colder, then sunny and nice. Repeat every week for 5 months.

We had our 1-3" of snow that turned into 6-8". The boys eagerly shoveled the driveway in order to secure more funding for their video game habits.

It was 10° (and windy) while they shoveled. By morning we dropped another 25° for the morning commute.

A few days later, it was sunny and calm with temps in the high 50s. M & I cleared off a patch on the deck and enjoyed two glorious days of sunbathing. Since I don't have as much hair on my face as she does, I suffered a sunburn. M was smart and stayed in the shade of the pergola.

B-Day Dinner

Our neighbors took us out for our birthdays to McFarland & Son's down in the Haymarket. It was our first time there. They have a total Irish menu, complete with haggis and all that stuff. JP had potato pancakes stuffed with corned beef in a sweet cream sauce, and I had a roasted lamb sandwich. Everything was delicious.

In addition to the great food and fun friends, there was an Irish band playing six feet from our table. Between the three guys, they played 10 different instruments: guitar, banjo, two different mandolins, concertina, accordion, violin, ukulele, spoons, and another weird little guitar-like instrument. No screaming Les Paul or thumping bass, but they were fun and had us singing and clapping along with them.

Birthday Class

For our birthdays, we treated our friends to a cooking class at Art & Soul. We made a kale salad, tequila shrimp, and salmon. Everything was super easy to make and it all tasted awesome! The best part was that it was all zero carbs. JP is excited to recreate the dishes at home. 

Super Chili

We spent Saturday morning cooking up a double batch of JP's awesome chili for the Superbowl. It starts with a few pounds of beef, pork, and bacon. Mmmm - bacon. We took the boys to the new 5 Guys burger place that opened this week. We ordered big over the top burgers and enjoyed them all. JP balked when she saw how big her double cheeseburger was, but had no problem putting it all away - it was yummy! We had to take a nap afterwards.

After a January without any snow, Mother Nature made up for lost time as she ushered in February. We were supposed to get an inch or two of snow. It snowed a heavy wet snow all day and all night. Now the wind has been turned on and it feel like winter. The storms that have been hammering the east coast have all passed us by with only wind. It will be interesting to see what this one dumps onto the east in the next couple of days.

Remodeling Season

We've had a warm January with temps in the 50s and 60s for the past two weeks. That, combined with no homework has a certain redhead thinking that it's time once again to improve our house. Her next project is to replace the nasty carpeted stairs and upstairs hallway with hardwood. 

In order to make it work, we need to paint the remaining golden oak white. The finish carpenter for our house did an amazing job, but all the oak is too much. I'm sure that sometime in the future a young couple will move into our house and be ecstatic at the fact that all the trimwork is solid oak. By that time, someone will have carpeted over the wood floors, too.

We were blessed with a beautiful January day and 50°. How often can you open the front door for fresh air in January in Nebraska?

Payoff

As I struggled with my classes, I promised myself that once it was over, I'd treat myself to a new bass. Over the years I've accumulated too many cheesy instruments and I was to the point that I couldn't keep up with maintaining them - strings and neck adjustments due to the Nebraska weather. I was able to trade in two basses and with the $$ I received for graduation (and a generous wife) I was able to buy a real instrument that should last a lifetime. Rock On!

Together Time

For the past few weeks, our Saturdays have been kid-free. GP is enrolled in a city-wide speech program and CP has his speech events. What does one do without having to wait on two teens? Go out for lunch! We hit Leadbelly's for JP's b-day. We went there a year ago and were not impressed with their burger-only menu. JP wanted a Cuban, but she couldn't get it without a patty. Since then they added a page of non-burgers to their menu and the food is delicious.

While enjoying our meal, we looked outside and it was snowing like crazy. That's normal for January, but the temperature was 50°!! Then it turned to rain, then back to snow, and then the sun came out and we went back to rain. Nebraska is having a strange January.

Ecuador!

Last weekend I learned that I have been selected to chaperon a group of UNL guys on a two week trip to Ecuador this spring!! We fly to Quito then go north to Otavalo and stay a few days with families in a the small farming community of San Clemente. From there, we go south to Banos and down to Puyo and then fly an hour east into the rainforest where we'll spend a week with the Achuar (former headhunters). Can't wait!

Knitting is Exhausting Work

The cats helped JP knit her collar. It doesn't get better than an endless piece of yarn that twitches for hours on end.

And it's a nice place to knead.

V finally gave up and passed out face down the sofa. I've never seen her this tired.

Blizzard? What blizzard?

We've been getting slammed by a cold front every other day for the past week. The cats couldn't care less that it's 5° outside and the wind is a steady 30 mph with horizontal snow. If we chucked them outside, then they would care...

Christmas 2014

We were blessed with gorgeous weather for Christmas this year. No blizzards, no ice storms, just nice cold weather.

As the boys are getting older, Christmas morning goes faster and faster. At the end, there was only one shopping bag full of wrapping paper rather than the normal 90 gallon trash can. This was the first year that we didn't need wire cutters and a jumbo pack of batteries.

Christmas Eve

Grampa treated us boys to a visit to the SAC Museum on Christmas Eve.

My favorites are the SR-71 and B-58. CP has a thing for MiG's. 

As the sun set, we retired to the basement and watched Elf and then Christmas Vacation and laughed and laughed.