American Museum of Natural History

Today we went to the National Mall to visit the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum.

We went mainly to see a photo exhibit there highlighting Nature's Best Photography International Awards. The photos were stunning. Everyone's favorite photo was of a Bald Eagle:

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The photos above were from the youth division. They were shot by boys and girls under the age of 18. Pretty amazing.

Max and Myles really enjoyed the fossils and Birds of D.C. displays:

We decided to go see the IMAX 3D movie, Sharks. It was the first 3D movie the boys had seen, and they really got into the experience:

Keep a watchful eye out for these hombres!

A great way to spend a Sunday!

Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Last Sunday we took advantage of the first really nice spring day and went for a hike in the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The boys had a blast.

We walked along a trail that led from the parking lot through wooded and marshy areas and we kept on the lookout to try to spot some birds. We had our binoculars and the boys alternately searched for birds and other wildlife and had fun running up and down the trail.

We saw a pair of Ospreys nesting, lots of Red-winged Blackbirds as well as Great Herons, Hawks and even what we thought was a Bald Eagle off in the distance.

Nesting Ospreys

We walked along the bay and the boys dubbed the island we saw off in the distance as "Treasure Island" because of the box of treasure they thought they saw on it:

Treasure Island

We stopped in a shelter that had a large telescope and the boys had a great vantage point to look out over the bay.

We'll definitely be back. In a couple of weeks the park is hosting an Eagle Festival. Stay tuned for more photos!

Feb. 19: Presidents Day Snow!

Snow, a little sleet, a few days of freezing temperatures and a day off from school: It's time to do a little sliding in the front yard:

The boys get ready to hit the hill ...

Myles gets goofy, while ...

William does some sliding.

Mom and Myles take a break.

Max has the form down!

Nice hair, dudes! How about those rosy cheeks?

Grandmom's 80th Birthday Celebration

From Feb. 17 in Skippack, Pa., a photo of all the grand kids who were in attendance:

Front row: Gabby, Myles, William, Max. Back row: Diann, Spencer, Sade, Nick.

Wild Will

Gotcha!

You talkin' to me?!?

And Grandmom with her kids -- Gail, Jan, Gary and Karen.

Stay tuned for more photos to come.

Rub a dub, dub!

Just couldn't resist posting this photo:

First Snow of 2007

Sunday, Jan. 21

It's snowing!!!

Global warming?!? Ha! The boys hung at the back door watching the snow come down expecting a massive snowstorm, no school ... for days! Sledding for hours, building snow men and snow forts! The minute the snow blanketed the ground, they were out the door playing.

The gang gathered on the deck and just had some fun watching the snow fall.

Holy snowflakes, Batman!

OK, so it wasn't much of a snow -- only an inch or two -- but the boys had lots of fun (and it was enough to get school canceled on Monday)!

Route 11 Potato Chips

Saturday, Jan. 20

We decided to take a trip out to Middletown, Va., to visit Route 11 Potato Chips. It's a small, independed producer of chips in Virginia, and we wanted to see how they do it.

It was a great drive, out I-66 to I-81 then north just a mile or so to the small town of Middletown. Route 11 runs directly through the heart of the town. It's in the Shenandoah Valley, just at the foot of the Massanutten Mountains. Lots of quaint shops line the road on either side, and the Route 11 Chips building is tucked back off the road a little. It can be kind of easy to miss when you're first out there.

It's a small place inside, a real mom & pop operation. We watched them make potatoes into chips -- a pretty simple exercise. They've got a variety of great tasting chips and the boys had fun watching them being made.

We didn't stay too long, we grabbed a few bags of chips to bring home and headed back out to have some lunch at a nearby Italian spot.

Max insisted we take a picture of the "dinosaur footprint" he found in the parking lot: