Trip to The Air and Space Museum in DC

Reid and Jacob have been learning about the Wright Brothers and this past week, World War I. We took a trip to the Air and Space Museum on Sunday - I'm not quite sure who enjoyed it most, the boys or the grown-up boy, Chris.

Chris, Reid, and Jacob outside the Museum:


If you look carefully, you might be able to spot the Capitol building in the background of this picture. It was extremely cold! Crowds were light, we were able to find a parking spot right across from the Museum - that's a rare happening on the Mall in DC!


Here's the main reason we wanted to visit, the actual Wright Flyer, the first plane flown by Orville Wright on Dec. 17th, 1903.


Jacob learning about airflow and its affect on a plane:


Jacob and Reid hanging out with an astronaut. Do you know why visitors aren't allowed to touch the front panel of the 'helmet'? It's made of a thin layer of gold and is easily damaged:


More moon adventures:



Do you see Jacob with the rockets?

Holidays

I'm way behind but wanted to put up a few pictures from the holidays.

This is what we did for Advent. The nativity scene belonged to my grandparents. It sat on their living room mantel throughout my childhood and young adulthood. Each evening this year we took turns reading an Advent passage from the Bible and then the reader would put up a star to count down until Christmas.


Every year our church has a family service on Christmas Eve that features a play. This year, I was the mother of Mary, 2 shepherds, the star, and the crucifer. It was very relaxing, we sat in the pew and watched, just the 2 of us! That's a first.


Here's the whole family on Christmas Eve, with our new rector, Mother Joy Rose:


Jacob and Lauryn in front of our church's nativity scene:


Christmas morning! Brianna was not amused to be awakened so early by her siblings, can you tell?


Here's proof that I can actually prepare and cook mush - it's a Christmas morning tradition that goes way back, I don't know how much generations, but through my mother's mother's family. You boil a fresh ham or pork roast. Then, you remove the ham and pour corn meal into the flavored broth. You then refrigerate it and fry it on Christmas morning in slices. Very yummy! The litmus test for a potential mate in our family is whether or not he or she likes mush ;-)


Chase's 14th (!) birthday, complete with cake and singing.