Happy Father's Day!

For Father's Day, we surprised Daddy-O by dressing in camo and having a special venison dinner in his honor.

Hunter thought we needed a cake for our Father's Day party, so we decorated our standard Harris Teeter cake with every four-legged, antlered species we could find. As always, it was hard to keep little fingers at bay.

Leigh, who was convinced that today was Daddy's birthday, thoroughly enjoyed licking the icing off this buck's hooves.

We rounded out the evening with a little lizard-watching from the deck, throwing firecracker poppers on the driveway, begging Leigh not to pick pedals off the vincas, and taking a family portrait of the Camo Crew.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy--We Love You!

#1 Reason to Come Home

And if Sassy can keep herself out of Toddler Detention Home for the next 2 years, we'll take her to the Big City when she turns 5!!

Living for the City

Our weekend in DC was full of Firsts for Hunter, who seemed to really like being a City Slicker. Amidst the monuments and museums, he got to experience his first...

Subway Ride

Starbuck's Venti Bold
(just kidding--I had him hold mine while I fiddled with my lens cap)

Cab Ride

Dinner at a Fancy Restaurant

Chance to Order His Own $26-Entree

(vs chicken fingers from the Kids' Menu)

Taste of Watercress and Scallops

(neither of which he liked)

and

Room Service for Dessert!

DC Perspectives

...On Fogo De Chao
Hunter: When I put my card on green, it means you and Miss Allie should keep bringing me food. When I put it on red, it means you and Miss Allie should stop bringing me food.

...On Big City Traffic Hunter: I've never seen a stoplight on a stick before.

...On The Irish Elk

Daddy: 87 days, 12 minutes, and 4 seconds until Hunting Season.

...On The Hope Diamond

Hunter: It doesn't look that big to me.

...On Art Appreciation

Hunter: Come look at this guy's PeePee!

Mommy: Can you guys at least turn your heads around to look at the three Van Gogh's on the wall behind you?

...On Evolution


Mommy: Have we really evolved that much? You decide.

The Smithsonian: A Day at the Museums

We spent our first day in DC visiting the Smithsonian, or as Hunter called it, all those museums and stuff. After a long walk on a hot day, we finally reached the Smithsonian castle--which was a good thing considering that Daddy was hot, hungry, and tired.

The National Air and Space Museum

Our first stop on the museum tour was the Air and Space Museum. Practically everything in this place was a winner for the guys, although Mama Bear's enthusiam for rockets and planets does have a limit.

This was some kind of infrared heat detector that was worth a good 5 or 10 minutes of entertainment.

Just happy to hang with the Wright Brothers.

Here are the guys showing off their newly-acquired dog tags.


The National Gallery of Art

This was about the best I could do with my camera during our 3 1/2-minute visit to the National Gallery of Art. You would have thought I had taken these boys into the National Gallery of Boredom.

The Museum of Natural History

This one was another huge hit. Afterall, what's not to love about dinosaur bones, tectonic plates, and the science of the ocean currents?

Hunter's History Lesson: The Sights of Washington, DC

Chad and I took Hunter to Washington, DC this past weekend. Although we only had a few days, we managed to pack it all in--from the White House to the Smithsonian to the Korean War Memorial. We even showed up at the WWII Memorial at the same time that a group of veterans, hosted by Honor Flights and accompanied by TV crews, were visiting. Chad chatted it up with a former POW in Germany, but Hunter was way too shy to join in.

Although truly absorbed in what he was seeing, our little Tourist was equally as happy to get back to the hotel to watch Phineas & Ferb and eat the free chips left for us by the hotel staff.