Snowday and the Smithsonian (one of many)

I know I haven't written yet this year, and I've been meaning to for about a month, but it is only February. There was no work yesterday and today because of snow! How cool is that? That never happened in Utah. I cleaned our home yesterday, so I will use part of my free time today to update my blog!

At the beginning of January, Kelly and I decided to go to one of the Smithsonian museums in Washington D.C. I didn't know this before moving to Baltimore, but there is not "The Smithsonian Institution" there are actually a whole bunch of museums about different things! (I guess I probably would have learned that eventually from Night at the Museum 2.) We went to the National Museum of American History and saw a lot of cool stuff!

Kelly was excited from the start, because right in first room there stood C-3P0. It was the actual costume worn by Anthony Daniels in Return of the Jedi. American History at its finest!

Mostly we saw a bunch of oddsy-endsy kind of things:
A Stradivarius Quartet

Apolo Anton Ohno's skates that he wore in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City

Kermit the Frog

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers
We also went to a cool exhibit about Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln's famous stovepipe hat. Last time worn: when he went to see a show at Ford's Theatre April 14, 1865.

A blurry picture of one of his suits

I can't remember if this was a lifemask made of Lincoln shortly before his death, or if it's his deathmask.


We saw some other exhibits too, that I don't have pictures of. We saw Julia Child's kitchen, but there were so many people, I couldn't get a decent picture. It probably got really popular after Julie & Julia came out. We also saw the gunboat they pulled out of the Chesapeake Bay that was sunk during the Revolutionary War. It was called The Philadelphia, and was sunk in 1776. It was found in 1935 upright with the top of its mast just 10 inches below the surface of the water. They raised the whole thing and now it's sitting in the Smithsonian.

There was a presidents exhibit we went to, as well as the Bradford Dollhouse. That was hard to get close enough just to look at it properly. All I wanted to do was stand on the step and stare at the miniature rooms. It was really cool.

My favorite part was the America at War exhibit. It had an part for every war from the Revolution to the present wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course, I spent the most time in WW2.
Some cool things we saw:
Some of George Washington's clothes

Cornwallis' sword that he turned over to George Washington

George Washington's sword

Some nifty stuff from Okinawa


All in all, we had a really fun time, and I should have taken a lot more pictures than I did. We didn't even get to all of the exhibits in that museum because it was so big. Next time we go, we're going to see the original Star Spangled Banner-- the flag Francis Scott Key was actually seeing when he wrote the national anthem.

If the snow would ever let up, we might actually get back to D.C. before March. I don't mind driving in the snow, and it's really not that much, but it's like everyone's IQ significantly drops when they see snow around here! Oh well, I'm enjoying blogging in my pajamas at 3PM. It's supposed to snow another 10-20 inches today and into tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully we'll have another snow day tomorrow!

Snow Day

I waited for you
As snowflakes slid down the window
Colliding,
Joining,
Like diamond earrings falling slowly to the floor.

Christmastime in Baltimore

Today is my first snow day! We got about a foot of snow two days ago, it hasn't snowed since, and still no school! I like this place.

Kelly and I have been trying to get into the Christmas spirit, but it's been a little hard without snow and all the dead, brown Halloween-looking trees all over the place. Our apartment is looking good, though!

Our first Christmas tree, Dmitri. (a.k.a. DmiTREE, though maybe we should have named it Charlie Brown, because it looks kinda like his little tree.)


We built a gingerbread house together!
Of course the snow outside makes it feel much more like home and like Christmastime. When it snowed on Saturday, the power went out at our apartment for about 5 hours. It was kind of fun. We had candles and read and I took 3 naps and we did all the dishes and Kelly made us soup, and we had our wonderful "Level 6 warmth" down blanket from Ikea to keep us warm! It was a relief when the power came back on, though.

Church was canceled yesterday because of the snow, so we spent two days inside, and now today is a snow day! What a great weekend! Kelly did have work, so I drove him over and his boss was late so got to we sit together in the car for awhile this morning. And I'm meeting him for lunch!

I doubt tomorrow will be a snow day, but I also doubt that many students will show up. I'm planning a fun activity for the few that do come, and I have Wednesday off to fly home! (Looks like my World History kids get out of that test until 2010.) Kel and I are so excited to come home the day after tomorrow!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving and Nariman

The view from our balcony on Thanksgiving morning

Thanksgiving was a wonderful break off of school. We woke up to a foggy day and we spent it doing laundry and cleaning our home. (Our little apartment hasn't been that clean since we moved in!) Then Kelly made us a fine Thanksgiving feast of rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes from a box, dressing from a box, and cranberries from a can. It was tasty and more than enough for the two of us! Unfortunately, we gobbled it up before I remembered to take a picture of it.

The next day, Nariman flew in! We met him at the airport and then we wandered around the Inner Harbor and took him to dinner at a swanky seafood restaurant right on the water. We had so much fun just hanging out with him!

The next day we headed out early and went to the Edgar Allen Poe house here in Baltimore. (Nariman is a big fan of E.A. Poe.) Then we hit the road for Philly. We went to another Poe house up there and that was pretty cool. We made it just in time to see everything before it closed. After that we wandered around downtown Philadelphia and got hot chocolate (coffee in Nariman's case) and had a great time. We didn't get to see the Liberty Bell or anything like that because it was late. We were just killing time before our concert started.

I can't remember what this building is called! It's in Philadelphia, though.

Me, Kelly, and Nariman chillin' in Philly.

We got pizza for dinner (not as good as the pizza place by Temple University that kept me alive during TFA summer institute, but still good) and we went to the Mountain Goats concert! We only had about 4 or 5 layers of people between us and the stage and the Mountain Goats were great! I even mostly enjoyed the opening band, Final Fantasy. It was a guy with a violin hooked up to a synthesizer, then he'd play a little bit and then the synthesizer would loop it so it played over and over, so he'd keep layering the pieces. It was really interesting, but literally a little too repetitive. But really, the concert was so awesome! (Despite the annoying girl who wedged herself in front of me who smelled like cat litter.) It was so crazy, the lead singer looked and acted so much like my Uncle Kevin, and what didn't look like Uncle Kevin looked like my dad. I'm kind of wondering if they have a lost brother. It was a good show, especially since they sang my theme song of the year, "This Year" which contains the all-too-fitting line "I am gonna make it through this year, if it kills me." Yep, sounds about like my life at Baltimore Liberation High School.

We drove home late that night and were stuck in traffic at 2AM because of the stupid toll road. We got home past 3 and immediately went to bed. The next day we hung out around the apartment and went to Edgar Allen Poe's grave site. It was in the churchyard of an old church. That was the coolest cemetery I've ever seen. It was so old (you can't get old like that in Utah) and there were above-ground tombs and mausoleums and sepulchers. It was really interesting.

Kelly and me at E.A.P.'s grave

It must have been a good refrigerator to deserve such a fine burial

This marble slab in the cemetery has bent! Apparently it is quite a phenomenon and was on Ripply's Believe it or Not.

On Monday, Nariman was flying out in the afternoon, so Kelly and I both took work off and we spent the morning in D.C. We went to the National Archives and saw the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States. We saw the Washington Monument, the Lincoln memorial from afar, and the White House. Then we went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Since it was free, we didn't have a problem just seeing a few exhibits. Mainly, stuffed animals---not like F.A.O. Schwartz, but like taxidermy. We also saw a whole bunch of animal skeletons and went into a live butterfly room. One landed on my leg and wouldn't get off. We were told not to touch them because it could damage their wings or antennae or legs, so it just sat there and sat there and a bunch of people took pictures of it. Kelly tried, but it was blurry, but Nariman got a good one. Finally a lady with a brush got it off and I was able to walk normally again.

The National Archives

Kelly and Nariman looking at the Constitution (it was really dark, so sorry for the quality of the picture)

The Declaration of Independence. I had to take it in two pictures. In the bottom one you can barely make out John Hancock's big signature.

The Washington Monument
Kelly and Nariman looking at the Lincoln Memorial from the Washington Monument
It looks just like a penny!
I don't think Obama was home.
Giant Squid!!!
Nariman and some fishes
Kelly and the Walrus (it sounds like the title of a children's book)

Me and a seal
Kelly and Nariman and a GIANT TURTLE!
Flying Squirrels!
For cute! Too bad they're dead.
Fish skeleton
Dead butterflies.
Live butterflies!
Live butterfly who I started wishing was dead so I could get it off of my leg and walk normally again.

After that we hurried and got some lunch and ran Nariman to the airport where we said bye until Christmas break. It was so fun having him here! We're so glad he came and invite him back anytime!

Thanks for such a fun Thanksgiving break, Nariman!

Yoda

I'm trying to catch up! Finally!

A few weeks ago we catsat our friends' from church kitten, Yoda (named for how he sets his ears when he sleeps). He was adorable and quite a handful. Kelly had been wanting to get a cat for awhile, and I wasn't really willing to get one in this tiny apartment. Besides, I was raised knowing that cats are outside animals. Well, this little guy was so crazy sometimes, Kelly decided that our apartment is too small for a kitty. I win. We had fun while Yoda was here, though.

I tried so hard to take a picture of him sleeping with his ears down on the sides of his head, but this is the best I got.

The Aquarium

Last Saturday (I know, more than a week ago, now) Kelly and I went to the National Aquarium here in Baltimore. Kelly and I had such a fun time! It was awesome! There was an Australian exhibit, but I didn't like it because there were birds flying around, but you couldn't go back out the door, you had to go all the way through it to get out. It was so freaking scary! Kelly laughed at me and kept stopping to look at stuff. I didn't get many pictures except for the frilled neck lizard that was outside of the bird part.



Kel and I also went to the special exhibit Jellyfish Invasion! Turns out jellyfish can live in polluted water without a problem, so their predators die but they just keep breeding. There really is a jellyfish invasion!


We also went to a dolphin show which was fun. They were so cute!


There was also a special rain forest exhibit, and there were birds flying around in there too, but I actually got a couple pictures. Still scary, though.


The rest of the aquarium was fun. There were these dumb puffins that were swimming and swimming and swimming, but their beaks were against the glass so they weren't getting anywhere. It was pretty funny. We saw electric eels, poisonous frogs, sharks, stingrays, whale bones, and of course A LOT OF FISH!!! Including Nemo in his sea anemone and his pal Dorie, Dorey..Dori? I don't know how to spell her name but you know who I mean--the forgetful blue one who sounds a lot like Ellen DeGeneres. :)

Nemo!

Nemo's friend Ellen Bluefish!

This poor guy just kept looking at me
Ugly fish
Stupid puffin.
Cute swimmy-turtle
Stingray
Sharkbait ooh-ha-ha

The aquarium is not only full of awesome things, it's also an awesome building right on the Inner Harbor. The view was beautiful! After the aquarium, Kel and I ate at a Spanish restaurant called La Tasca that was situated right on the waterfront. The view was awesome from there too, but we didn't get any good pictures of it. All in all, we had such a fun weekend!



I loaded a whole bunch of pictures onto facebook, so to see more aquarium pictures, just click HERE.