National Harbor

We had a free Saturday (those are more scarce now that Jason is moonlighting) and so we decided to go to National Harbor in Maryland. It is not far away and very cool! Here are some rockers along the pier overlooking the harbor.

We happened to arrive when the US Navy Singers were performing on the outdoor stage. It was fun to hear. We walked around the pier and discovered these very cool sculptures which, when looked at from afar, depict a giant underneath the sand.

The kids had a blast climbing all over his face, hand, foot and knee.

Brendan was being super goofy. High five to the big guy!

 

He's trying to eat me!

 

 Somehow he managed to climb the giant knee and was very proud of himself.

 

The right camera angle is kind of creepy. 

 

Then we walked over to the huge ferris wheel to see the cost. WAY too expensive for a family of 6. The kids were bummed but we promised ice cream and they were placated.  

On our walk we came across this street performer who asked Brendan to help with a trick. The guy was comical and Brendan loved it. He asked Brendan to spin the plate and toss it to him. So Brendan did what he was told . . .  before the guy was ready. The plate clattered to the ground. It was funny. Then he was able to spin the plate and pass it on to the guy's stick while it was still spinning!  Ta-da! And applause all around.

 

If it hadn't been so cold we might have taken the dragon or swan paddleboats out but we had to get back to let the puppy out. The girls HAD to get a picture with this mermaid. 

 It was a fun little trip and we want to go back around Christmas for the fun festivities there. 

Winn's Visit

My sister, Shiloh, and her husband, Ryan, and two oldest (Camden and Sarah) came to visit us on a trip around the east coast. They arrived Friday night and we had such a fun time. My girls took to their cousin Sarah right away and played with her until they had to go to bed. She's now a celebrity at my house for Eva and Darby. Big girl cousins are great!

As for Shiloh and I, we had a great time reminiscing. I pulled out some old audio tapes that had us as kids on them. We played them for Shiloh's kids and laughed and laughed at our silly antics. We were crazy, but creative, kids. I hadn't laughed that hard in so long. We ended up staying up well past 1pm and my poor pregnant sister couldn't take it anymore. We helped them figure out transportation around DC the next day and then she fell fast asleep.

I think they had a blast in DC. They showed us pictures of all they had seen and done. Being from Utah, the kids hadn't ever been to the East. On their trip they'd see Philadelphia, Upstate New York, DC, the Atlantic Ocean and more. We showed them around post a little bit, mainly hiking around the Fairfax Mansion ruins and the Potomac behind our house. That night we took them to Wegmans, partly to show off the coolest grocery store ever and partly to help them stock up for their trip the next day (they were leaving from church to head to NY).

At church, after sacrament meeting, I wanted to introduce Shiloh to some of my friends. However, she got up and ran out the door. I was confused. When I found her, however, she was hugging a lady in my ward. It turns out that they had been friends from Sacramento over 15 years ago. How fun! Also, Ryan knows my bishop from growing up in San Jose. It really is a small world. We were able to get some pictures before they left. It sure is fun to have family visit. Love you Winn family!

     

Scout Camp

Jason here.

So a little while ago I accompanied the Boy Scouts in our ward for their summer camp. The army is good enough that if you are volunteering for a federally recognized organization they will put you on permissive temporary duty assignment, which is nice.

Anyways, they asked me to go and teach some merit badges and provide a semblance of medical support. We had a fun time and I gained a perspective on what happens behind the scenes for the camps.

I was able to get off work for three days to spend full time with the scouts. It was pretty hot, but it was fun. I have come to realize that camping without a large body of water nearby is sort of lame, but like I said, we had fun.

 This is where we came to earn the canoe merit badge. Thats a duck blind out there in Accotnick Bay on Fort Belvoir. I went swimming out there with my mask and fins and it was murky, weedy, boggy water. A bit later we saw a water moccasin snake swimming around out there and a park ranger told us he sees them all the time.

 Fireside skits are a fixture of scout camp and they are generally all ridiculous affairs. This was no exception.

 This is a member of the high council who came to speak to the scouts. He was chairman of the House Committee on Armed Service and spent 20 plus years in congress. He has some interesting things to say to the young men.

 This was my sleeping digs. A hammock with a bug net, ground roll, and woobie (army blankie). It was HOT and sleeping out in the summer air made me really miss my air conditioning. I am growing soft in my old age.

Again, my involvement with the boy scouts has been a wonderful thing, and being involved in an adult role has come to help me appreciate what my youth leaders invested in time and energy and what good men they were. 

DNA tests

We have been in touch with the owners of Stella's littermates. One of them did a DNA test on their puppy and emailed the results. Some of it just didn't jibe with what we thought Stella looked like. So we decided to do one on her ourselves since dogs can have different fathers than their littermates. It just came back. She is expected to be about 55 lbs full grown. She is husky, chow chow, and likely hound with a smidge of American foxhound and labrador retriever.

We've been trying to dissect which parts of her are which breed. We've concluded the following:
Stubborness, smarts, mask and eyes of a husky
Coloring, tail curl and watchdog ability of a chow chow
Ears and muzzle of a lab
Love of scent and body proportions of a hound

And the funny thing is that all of these breeds are called "high energy". Sigh.
But we love her.

Jason's Birthday

Jason turned 36 today! He still had to work but we managed to have some birthday fun. He called me right before he usually comes home for lunch to see if Paige and I could come into the office. They had a "surprise" for him.

Mrs. Bailey, his assistant, had a banner, pizza and cake for him and the clinic. We arrived in time to celebrate with them. It was fun.

When he got home, I gave him his card (picked out by the kids) and his gifts. I think he liked it. :)

I made Reuben sandwiches for dinner and we had apple pie a la mode for dessert. I had to leave for scouts so he had to do bedtime duty but he got to pick the "after kids are in bed" show to watch. I hope he had a good day. We all sure love him around here!

Stella and Margo

This is Brendan. So today, as I was walking Stella, I noticed another dog down the street. I knew who it was immediately. It was Margo (and Mrs. Veronica, her owner), Stella's best friend. They love to wrestle with each other.                       

And this is Stella and Margo:

                         

                                           

First Day of School

Today was the first day of the 2016-2017 school year. I am filled with nervousness. We had some mishaps already - Darby wasn't on anyone's class list at Open House and Brendan's teacher was switched last minute, after I had already met her (due to the fact that he is in Advanced Math and they didn't notice that when making initial assignments). Eva is really nervous too. Brendan now attends the new Upper School and the girls both go to the Primary School.

Here are the adorable ones before we left for the bus stop.

 It was hard getting back into the swing of things but we made it out on time. The bus wasn't too late for the first day either, which was nice. Eva kept saying her stomach hurt and insisted on bringing a plastic bag in case she threw up. Poor thing.

The girls waved, Eva looked anxious and Brendan was absorbed in a conversation (and too old to be waving at his mom apparently).

After school the bus was VERY late. We knew it would be late (it always is the first week or so) but this time it was almost 5:30 by the time they got home. I thought they'd all be cranky and exhausted but they got off the bus happy as clams (Eva did NOT throw up on the bus). We opted to go out to eat since I had not time to cook. They loved that.

Labor Day Hike

We decided that a family hike would be fun for Labor Day. There are nice woods just at the edge of post and we thought we'd go there so we could take Stella, who gets carsick on longer rides. Well, she didn't get carsick but I can't be sure if it was the length or the fact that she could see out the window from Brendan's lap. 

She has a LOT to learn about not pulling the leash and I spent the entirety of the hike working with her. Jason took the kids up ahead on the way in. They found cool trees and bugs and such. 

It was hot but there was a dog park on the way back so we let Stella play for a while. Paige was being naughty so Dad had to take her for a time out in the car. After a little playtime we all went back to the car for a ride home. Paige continued her naughtiness and was told multiple times to stop. She chose not to and so we pulled over and she had a time out on a park bench. This is her face while serving her time. 

Fun in the Streets

As we were driving home from the grocery store last week, I saw that the fire hydrant was open and water was gushing in the streets. Turns out that the fire department was flushing out the hydrants (I guess they do that every few years). It is right outside the Thompson's house so eventually my kids got their suits on and went to go play in it. Oh my goodness, they had a blast! 

 I took Stella out to see if she'd enjoy the water. Nope. But she wanted to chase the bicycles going past.

Stella update

The little puppy is now almost 17 weeks and she's 30 lbs. She's growing like a weed and is still super cute! She's gone two weeks without an accident in the house and slept through the night at 15 weeks. She gets carsick, hates baths, doesn't like peanut butter, loves liver and is friendly to dogs and kids but barks a lot. Her biggest fear is the trash truck.

Here she splashed all the water out of her bowl and then pulled the top off a puzzle toy to get to the treats (effectively defeating the puzzle but also defeating the mental exercise part of said puzzle). Stella gets the zoomies at least once a day where she runs uncontrollably around the house jumping on furniture. Her favorite toys are squeaky animals and the flirt pole (basically a moving squeaky animal).

She follows me around the house and sleeps at my feet. Jason calls me "the giver of good things" since I always have a treat in my pocket for her when she follows instructions. She loves him because he is her running buddy. She runs 4 miles no problem.

She loves to destroy cardboard boxes and empty milk jugs. She's starting to teethe so she chews on EVERYTHING! She knows how to target, "leave it" and wait patiently at the door. We are starting to see some teenage rebellion though and I'm told the next few months may be rough. We still have problems with her pulling on the leash. She started navigating stairs around 10 weeks and now can even jump on the table. Heaven help us as she gets taller.

Now that she is a in a routine, life is much easier with her. She gets regular naps, we've finally found a food that both her tummy and our pocketbook agree with and she will willingly go in her crate when tired (but not otherwise). She can go at least 4 hours in the crate without needing to pee so I can make it all the way through church now.

She is becoming more and more a member of the family each day. Its hard to believe shes only been with us since July.