Family Reunion: Day 5

Thursday we went to the National Building Museum.  They have two great kids exhibits right now -- Play, Work, Build  and  The Building Zone.  Just like at the American Indian exhibit, both of these kid areas are separate and gated so the kids can explore freely without the moms and dads having to worry too much. 

First: Play, Work, Build (Closing in November 2014)

 They have a giant light table and tons of blocks that the kiddos can use to build things.

They have giant screen that you can stand in front of and it builds your shape out of blocks and then they all fall down.

There are life size blocks that you can use to build a little house or jungle gym.

Second: The Building Zone   The Building Zone is first come, first served.  The Museum opens at 10am and we were standing in line for our tickets by 10:30am.  Our reserved time in the Building Zone started at 11:15.  So we went to Play, Work Build first and then had 45 minutes to play in the Building Zone before the kiddos started to get tired. 

On one side they have large blocks for building life size stuff.  They have a cool metal/magnetic wall for putting pipes together that a ball can go down. They had these magnetic building blocks called Picaso Tiles, or maybe these PlayMags? that cousins C and K had a blast playing with. 

They have really cute playhouse that shows the kids how houses are put together. One wall is clear plexiglass so the kids can see the plumbing and electric wires running through the walls. Big sister A spent most of her time making friends and playing house in there.

They have extra large legos and another magnetic wall of gears that can be put together in different configurations.

Aunt Sunshine and I had fun playing with these different shaped tiles, trying to make a playhouse. 

Family Reunion: Day 3 and 4

Tuesday was a very exciting day for cousin C -- we found out that he had broken his arm falling off the slide and he had to get a cast on it. We spent the afternoon at the pool near Uncle P and Aunt H's house.  

Wednesday we road the metro downtown.  The kids loved it and had a great time looking out the windows and trying to follow where we were on the metro map. 

The main dinosaur exhibit at the Museum of Natural History is closed! Aside from that disappointment we had fun looking at all the other taxidermic animals from different parts of the world and the skeletons.  The best part is always the bug zoo, where they can pet giant cockroaches and hold stick bugs. 

Here they are choosing which bug they want to hold.

Then we went to the Museum of the American Indian, which is relatively new. They have a great kids section which is set apart so that it is easier to let them have a bit of freedom to run around.

 They have different stations where the kiddos can practice doing things the indians did like basket weaving, kayaking, or living in a teepee.

Here the kiddos are practicing balancing in a canoe.

Cousin C checking out how cozy it would be to sleep in a kayak.

In the reading nook with Aunt Sunshine.

Family Reunion: Day 2

On Monday morning we went to the National Zoo.  The kids did great until around noon when everyone was ready to go home and take a nap. 

Huge male tortoise

 The gorilla family gave us quite a show -- right in front of the glass, and even making us jump by pounding on it once.

Following the elephant tracks down the elephant trail. For some reason, there was no elephant show that day, so we just looked at him and ate some lunch in the elephant exploration zone.

Getting up close to watch the Sea Lions do their tricks.

Monday night we took everyone who wanted to go on a night tour of the monuments. It is a great time to go because it is not too hot, there are plenty of free parking spots, and not too many other people.

We started off walking through the Korean War Memorial and on to the Lincoln Memorial.

Then we walked past the Vietnam Memorial where Uncle C demonstrated how to make a rubbing of one of the names.

Next we walked down to the WWII memorial.

Then we walked through the new Martin Luther King Memorial and along the tidal basin until we got to my favorite memorial, the FDR Memorial. I love all the quotes about self reliance (during the depression) and peace (during/post WWII).  The way the waterfalls and rock formations are lit is beautiful.

We were all good and tired by the end of running around all the monuments.

Family Reunion: Day 1

Everyone arrived Sunday night, except my dad and my sister S, who was too pregnant to come. We barbecued ribs, turkey burgers, and hot dogs. I made Goomie's broccoli salad, bean salad, and potato salad. After dinner the kids ran around outside with the chickens while we visited. 

Garden Progress: Strawberries and radishes

 The strawberries are ripe and delicious. The kiddos stopped by the garden for a snack during our family reunion. 

The patch with netting has about 3 times more strawberries than the other one.

The radishes have a wierd slightly dried outer layer this year. I am not sure what caused that -- probably the heat?

Completed Chicken Coop

Going back a couple weeks since I was too busy to blog about anything just before the big family reunion....  Happy Birthday to me!  Another amazing production from my talented hubby. 

Chickens roosting on the wooden roost daddy made. You can see the waterer and feeder behind the chickens.  We started with pine wood shavings, but it is a little slippery on the vinyl floor.  I am mixing it with rough mulch this week to see whether that makes a sturdier base.

Black and White coop to match our house

 Baby S decided to check out the chickens favorite spot -- the shady run area under the coop.  The rest of the fenced run area is still in production.

Baby hunts chickens