Museum of Natural History

The Museum of Natural History has been in the news a lot lately. This is a great museum that we have visited several times. They have the dinosaurs, the butterflies, insects, the Ocean Hall, the Hall of Mammals and the exhibit of minerals and gemstones.

We had seen the Hope Diamond on a a trip to the museum this summer. As part of a 50 year celebration of the diamond's time at the Smithsonian, they are taking the stone out of its setting and putting into a new setting. For a short while, they put the diamond on display "naked"- with no setting at all. Gracie wanted to check it out, so we made a trip.

Of course, we had to peek in at the dinosaurs :)

And the insect exhibit had a Japanese beetle! Some of you may remember that we had a pair of these beetles as pets while we were in Japan. Ahh- fond memories!

Love,

4Vs

Time to catch up!

Sorry about the delay! For the next week we are going to get caught up on everything! They may be out of order, but by the end of the week you will know it all!

Love,

4Vs

US Capitol Visitor Center

Last week was visitor week at with the 4Vs. Last Saturday, 10/11, our friend Sandy Mosby came to visit from Oklahoma! Sandy was the PE teacher at Tinker Elementary. Her daughter Morgan came to DC for a Young Leaders Conference and Sandy came to DC to accompany her on the flight and hang out with us during the conference.

We ran all over town with Sandy! One of the new spots we visited was the new captitol visitor center. The center is located underground in front of the capitol building. The picture of the statue above sits inside. She is a replica of the statue located at the top of the building.

Mary Beth visited the capitol during the week prior to Sandy's visit. I went with a friend down the street to visit and catch some health care debate on the floor of the Senate. My neighbor Michelle and I visited Kay Baily Hutchison's office (Texas Senator) to get passes to both the House and Senate. Our timing was good- in the Senate we saw Senator John McCain speaking about access to prescription drugs from Mexico and Canada. It was great to see him in real life!

Despite our multiple visits, we have yet to see the rotunda area of the Capitol. Come and visit and we will check it out!

Love,

4Vs

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is my favorite place in DC (Mary B)! It is absolutely beautiful- almost more like a church than a library. There are lots of beautiful paintings and pictures and statues and such...

But the best part of the library is the main reading room. As a tourist, you get to stare down into the main reading room from a viewing area. Only researchers are allowed...

On a solo trip to the Library last month, I got a Research Reader pass and am now a card carrying member of the LOC! (It's actually very easy to do, just a bit of a hassle and paperwork). With me new little card, I can go into the reading rooms and and research or hang out! I know it makes me a geek, but I am excited!

Love,

mbv

Soccer Brock

Brock has enjoyed playing soccer this Fall with the Springfield/South County Youth Sports people. He has a really nice coach and a good group of boys. He plays full back and some mid-field. It seems to suit him and he has fun.

Mike gets to help out by being a flag guy... for offsides... I know there is a better title for this, but it escapes me. At any rate, he runs up and down the sidelines quite a bit.

Gracie enjoys sunning her toes and watching the boys run during the game!

Love,

4Vs

Old Post Office Pavillion

The Old Post Office Pavillion is located on Pennsylvania Avenue close to the White House. I, Mary B, took these pictures one afternoon while strolling the area after having lunch with Mike. The building looks great from the outside and has a tall tower with bells that you can visit. I didn't get the chance to visit that day, but put it on your list- the view of the White House and surrounding area is supposed to be great!

There is a great looking Ben Franklin statue out front!

Love,

4Vs

Grace meets George Mason

There is a little known memorial between Jefferson and the new FDR. It is the George Mason memorial. We liked him because you can get up close and personal with Mr. Mason!

Gracie liked him a lot!

Love,

4Vs

Bike Tour of National Mall

At the beginning of September, we loaded the kids and bikes up in the van and drove down to the National Mall. Gracie's bike riding skills have improved to the point that we thought we would do a bike tour of the monuments and memorials! You can cover a lot more ground on the bikes than on foot. We had a great time!

We started at the Jefferson Memorial- not sure where those pictures are, but then we rode on to the World War II memorial. If you haven't seen it, let us take you. It is beautiful!

After WWII, we rode down the reflecting pool to visit Mr. Lincoln and take a few pictures of the kids. Brock is working hard to make it look like he is leaning up against the Washington Monument!

Love,

4Vs

2Vs and FDR

The bike tour was our first visit to the FDR Memorial. It is a huge, expansive series of figures and walls and waterfalls. What a nice tribute to a multi-term president. Of course, Gracie's favorite part was the sculpture of Fala, FDR's dog.

She also sat in FDR's lap.

Brock strikes a regal pose with the most impressive statue!

Love,

4Vs

Daisy's new watch

Daisy dog has discovered that she can perch in the front window, like a cat, and watch the entire neighborhood. This is her new favorite spot in the house!

Love,

4Vs

Butterfiies

Time to get caught up in blogging! A couple of weeks ago, kids and I met Mike for lunch at Pentagon City mall. After saying bye to Dad, we went over to the Museum of Natural History on the Mall.

Kids enjoyed seeing the Hall of Mammels, the Ocean area, the Hope Diamond and lots and lots of insects. The highlight of the visit was the butterfly area. They had a little tent area filled with plants and butterfiles everywhere. Grace was in heaven!

We didn't go see the dinosaurs yet. We are saving that for a trip with Mike!

Love,

4Vs

Post Plumber

Sorry to leave you hanging dear readers! Life with fully working indoor plumbing and a husband at home was terribly distracting this week!

By COB Friday, we had water back in the house. Here are some shots of our yard scars.....

And here is our new basement floor. (It kind of looks like I have buried someone in the basement... I assure you this is not the case -though I was amazed at how easy it would be to do such a thing in one's own basement....!)

As a result, we are doing laundry and dishes with glee this week. General contractor will come and assess the rest of the job next week.

Happy September!

Love,

4Vs

More plumbing

I have learned a lot about plumbing in the last two weeks..... Looks like there is an end in sight for us today. Here is the arrival of the super, pipe pushing, mole machine.

And here is the machine in action.....

It takes almost an entire cul de sac of trucks, flat beds, inspectors and such to do such a job!

Success! The mole made its way to the basement. Now they attach the copper tubing to the end and pull it out from the basement back out to the street.

Soon we will have water! Now all we need is sheet rock, insulation, carpet padding, tile work and carpet repair..... sigh.....

(good news- Mike comes back home tonight!)

Love,

4Vs

Plumbing Progress

Thursday was a big day at our house! Lots of plumbers and lots of digging.

The goal was three holes- one in basement, one over the water line connection and one in the yard showing where all the important lines are located.

Since our yard is small, our tree is big and our ground is very compacted, it took the guys all day to get the first hole, the basement and the beginning of the third hole dug. Most of the day they spent digging with shovels by hand. I felt horrible for them.

By the end of the day, they had located most of the lines they were looking for. Sadly, they had to dig the holes five feet deep to get the job done. What a tough job!

Should have another day of digging and plumbing on Friday and water by the end of the day!

Wish us luck!

Love,

4Vs