Our trip to Sonoma earlier this year has had the unfortunate effect of turning “winery” into a bad word. So the word was not uttered when we decided to enjoy a picnic on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
Our Everyday
Sharing our stories, big and small.
Penny mini-golfing, 2013
Every year the National Building Museum features a temporary exhibit that corresponds with the summer months. In the past two years they have created incredible indoor mini golf courses, each hole unique and inventive designed by different area architects, designers and builders.
This year they are featuring “The BIG Maze.” The Museum, in partnership with BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, will create a never-before-seen large-scale maze for the Museum’s historic home. Soaring approximately 18 feet high and measuring 60 feet by 60 feet, the maple plywood structure will boast a series of twists and turns for visitors to weave through and explore. – National Building Museum website, August 2014
Tigger: Come on, Rabbit. Let’s you and me bounce, huh?
Rabbit: Good heavens! M-m-m-me bounce?
Tigger: Why, certainly! And look, you’ve got the feet for it.
Rabbit: I have?
Tigger: Sure! Come on, try it! It makes ya feel just grrreat!
“Here
In my place and time
And here in my own skin
I can finally begin
Let the century pass me by
Standing under night sky
Tomorrow means nothing
Summer is not complete without a visit to the National Zoo. No pandas or cougars were to be seen but the gorillas put on a great show, thumping their chests and eating kale.
Histor (noun) learned, wise man
Hot air balloons
Our preschool, LANK, has a wonderful art summer camp called Gallery LANK. This year’s theme was Art in Motion. Penny, our docent, greeted us at the door and led us on a tour as she highlighted her work.
This was our first year fully participating on the Pinecrest swim team with Lucas swimming in the 8 and under group and Penny and Oliver swimming in the Pee Wees program. We started the season unsure if Lucas could even swim a full 25 meters and ended with him learning all strokes and even winning a heat! The best win was having one child fully independent in the swimming pool.
The Lollipop Meet is a non-competitive swim meet dedicated to just the 8 and unders, including the Pee Wees. Every swimmer receives a lollipop after each event.
Penny did free stroke, back stroke and kickboard relay.
The formula of parenthood is:
T = CPV
C = child’s reaction to sibling snatching or sibling teasing, non-serious injury, or not getting the right color plate or whatever it is he/she must have at that exact moment
P = your mood
V = a variable to capture all variables such as the weather, traffic, the passive aggressive remark your neighbor, boss, or mother-in-law said that morning
T = your tantrum. You will start with words, maybe even some profanity because honestly the child will not comprehend anything you are saying, that will be spoken with increasing volume which will devolve into hand gestures, vein popping, foot stamping and door slamming. You will blame all external factors (V) that has led to this moment, blame your husband and his role in raising this hell-spawn child, attempt to comprehend why a child cannot comprehend, curse your child because at this point he/she is no longer a child but an adult with purposeful intentions, then berate yourself for cursing your child and being a terrible parent.
Strength and severity of T will vary. Who says math is an exact science?
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is an international exposition of living cultural heritage. Initiated in 1967, the Festival has become a national and international model of a research-based presentation of contemporary living cultural traditions. Over the years, it has brought more than twenty-three thousand musicians, artists, performers, craftspeople, workers, cooks, storytellers, and others to the National Mall to demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and aesthetics that embody the creative vitality of community-based traditions.
Usually divided into programs featuring a nation, region, state, or theme, the Festival has featured exemplary tradition bearers from more than ninety nations, every region of the United States, scores of ethnic communities, more than a hundred American Indian groups, and some seventy different occupations.
Our Everyday 
