Ben's Visit Part 3

On the third day we spent in DC, we went on a tour of the Capitol , then walked down the street to go on a tour at the Holocaust museum, which Tim had, so kindly, gone to pick up earlier that morning. When we got there, Tim said, "The tour has a weird entrance down the street," so we walked in and there were all these money posters. I read the signs about money as we waited for our tour and thought the signs were there because the Treasury Department was across the street, but as we sat down for our tour and a movie about printing money started, we were a bit confused. We pulled out our "Holocaust tour" tickets and found out we were actually on a tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing! And we didn't even realize it! The tour was actually really cool, and we saw them printing millions of hundred dollar bills. After the tour, we made it to the Holocaust Museum as well, so we just got an extra treat!




It was cold walking from the Capitol to the other museums, so I took a detour through the Botanic Gardens. I had never been there before, but I would like to go back. I only made it to about two rooms.

Ben's Visit Day 2

We started our second day in DC at the National Cathedral and Embassy Row, which I love to see. Tim pointed out that our National Cathedral is for an Episcopalian denomination which is actually the church of England...the same faith the pilgrims came here to escape from.Then we went to the Aerospace Smithsonian Museum...

This is actually an interesting picture, because it shows infrared rays. The two closer faces are Ben and me, both with blue noses = cold noses (Tim's was not this way). If you look very closely at our waist area, you will see Ben's black hands, and Tim's very red hand reaching in front of me. Mine are hidden in the picture, but not red= not warm. Ben and I both had very cold extremities. We decided that this proves Ben and I are genetically pre-disposed to poor circulation. ...And Tim should believe me now when I say my toes and hands are numb.

We finished up Day 2 with a visit to Obama. Actually, he was on the Late Night show this evening, but we still got to see his house from behind this big fence.

Ben's Visit Part 1

I had a blast my first time playing "tour guide" in DC with Ben. Our first day we went to the Archives and saw the monuments as the sun set. Korean Memorial

WWII Memorial at night. It's really pretty with all the lights.

Us looking at "Top Secret" documents in the National Archives.

Snow Day!

This is what I woke up to Monday morning. We had 6 inches total-which is a big deal here! It's funny how quickly they close the schools, in fact, some are still closed today (2 days later)! Needless to say, I got a snow day. I spent the morning making yummy breakfast for Tim, lunch with Scott and Aubrey (the roads were cleared), the afternoon at Target, and the evening worrying that everyone at the fitness center would be angry with us for closing (only 2 complaints so far).

An American Tale...

I finally had a day off work for working last Saturday, so we went to the newly re-opened American History Smithsonian Museum. We were there a few hours and still saw about half of the exhibits, but I felt we saw some important things like...The Star Spangled Banner. I am embarrassed to say I never realized it was the name of the actual flag raised in the song. You're not allowed to take pictures inside, but this cool artsy flag was outside the exhibit of the actual HUGE flag made that was hung after hours of fighting around the Baltimore Harbor in the War of 1812.We also saw the entertainment section which holds what I thought was really random things such as Dorothy's Ruby Slippers, Kermit the Frog, and Apollo Ohnos Speed Skates? It was also a smaller exhibit than I expected. We were not dissappointed by the Price of Freedom section which went through America's wars. The middle picture below is a bunch of WWII promotion posters.
Below is Tim as our Nation's Leader...we wish.
On the way back to the car we stopped in on the National Sculpture Garden. What do you think about the "sculptures" representing our nation? I thought it would have been statues of people or something, but I guess not.
And this was our view on our drive home...

Happy V-day!

We had a pretty good Valentines Day -minus the fact that I had to work (notice my tired eyes in the pictures-yes-107 hours in 13 days). Tim went to a lot of work to MAKE these chocolate truffles. He proceeded to make the super cute box, and give them to me (and some for his family) for valentines. I have a pretty amazing and talented hubby. I've realized a lot of our posts have to do with food or eating, but that is probably about right. We like food.

Cafe Rio in Virginia

One thing I really miss living in the east is any good Mexican food...especially Cafe Rio. When I first moved here I started making and rolling out my own tortillas. For Christmas, Tim got me a tortilla press and found some homemade Cafe Rio recipes which we tried out last weekend. They just aren't the same, but everything did turn out pretty delicious!