Summer Highlights

Thanks for coming back after such a long break! I missed blogging, but definitely needed the break.



We started off the summer with Evan and Sean going off to Boy Scout camp at Catalina Island. They had a blast! The girls and I got to go spend some time with a friend whose husband was away on a mission trip the same week. It was lovely. Lots of long talks, a few horseback riding lessons for Amy and giggly girls.


Sean and Evan on a long hike, pausing in front of the bay.

Evan with his group's camp staff.

Evan earned his merit badge for shooting and also made it into the dime club (five shots into the center). He has really good aim!


The whole troop with dads and even one grandpa.

The kids entered art work into the fair again this year. Evan took two first place ribbons for his photography and two second place ribbons for his paintings. Amy took two first places for her art.

Amy's watercolor.Evan standing in front of his winning photo of Emily.

In July we went to San Diego. We went to Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park, and the Midway museum.

The Midway Museum is an aircraft carrier that has been decommissioned and opened up for visiting. Here's Evan sitting in the cockpit of one of the planes.

Emily at the petting zoo. She kept wanting to hug this goat!

The kids at Sea World, taking a break in the shade.

We took our tent trailer and camped while we were down there. The kids loved being able to ride bikes and scooter when we got back from the day's activity.

One of my goals for the summer was to go through drawers and cupboards and clean! While I didn't get to all of them (or even as much as I had hoped) I did get a lot cleaned out. And when I went through the bottom kitchen cupboard, I found out that the whole shelf was sagging and about to break! Sean fixed it for me and then built me a nice sliding shelf so I could get into the back corner without having to lay on my stomach and blindly reach under the shelf.

The finished product!

Summer's harvest of lavender.

Church and Spies

No, this isn't the plot line for a new book. Rather, it denotes a couple of fun things we did while in Washington DC.

We attended church services at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. This church is lead by Mark Dever, a man chasing Jesus who intimates the leadership style of John MacArthur. The congregation is heavily weighted with young professionals searching for their identity in Washington. Pastor Dever eloquently preached about finding your identity in God. Enough said.

We also visited the International Spy Museum. This is a must see place for kids when visiting Washington DC. From the machine gun spitting James Bond mobile to real life stories of the CIA and KGB, this museum provides hours of fascinating entertainment.

Evan - Agent 007 of 2007

Ford Theatre and President Lincoln

Continued guest blogging by Sean from Washington DC ..........

The historic Ford Theatre is where President Abraham Lincoln was felled on the night of April 14, 1865, just days following the end of the Civil War. After the assassination the theatre was forced to close its doors under threat of arson by people believing theatre staff were part of the conspiracy to murder the president. The government purchased the building in 1866 and used it as a warehouse and office building. But in 1968, 103 years after the last theatrical production shown in the theatre, the newly restored Ford's Theatre re-opened its doors to performances. It also houses a significant museum documenting a tenuous time in American history.

We watched a great little play in the Theatre called "One Destiny" of a first hand recollection of the assissination as told by the threatre manager and an actor who was on stage when the fatal shot was fired.

The theatre box where the president was murdered.

The pistol used by John Wilkes Booth to murder the President.

History Lesson: Most of us know John Wilkes Booth was the assassin. What you may not know is that nine other people were arrested in the conspiracy of Lincoln's death and an associated plan to kidnap the President. Wilkes Booth was killed in a shoot out while being apprehended days after the assassination. Four additional conspirators were eventually hung, including the first woman executed in America, Mary Surratt.

The White House

We scored a hard-to-get White House tour through Congressman Ackerman's office. We arrived bright and early Saturday morning. As we entered the White House, a significant presidential motorcade was forming up. The President departed while we were in his "Green Room." Or was it "Blue Room?" Secret Service agents did an admirable job doubling as tour guides; answering technical questions from wall paper to china serving dishes.

During our visit, White House staff were busily preparing for a "State Dinner" welcoming the Queen of England. She feasted in the same dining room where we had stood only two days earlier - don't worry mom, my Queen idolatry was short lived and I have since washed the soles of my shoes.


Unfortunately, security was tight and we were not allowed to bring cameras inside the White House.

Sean and Evan at the North Entrance of the White House.

Later, as we were driving across the Memorial Bridge from Arlington Cemetery, Marine One - the presidential helicopter, came roaring out of the Potomac River on a serpentine route to the White House. Apparently, the pilots had been skimming the surface of the river as a safety precaution for the President. Pretty quick. Fortunately, I had been looking a photos on my camera so it was in hand for this quick snap! Pretty cool.

The following day we were fortunate to be traveling in the opposite direction of the President's motorcade as he took the Queen to various locations around Washington. The eastbound freeway lanes were closed while the motorcaade passed, creating a 6 mile traffic jam!

A "Capital" Capitol Tour!

Today we began our day dropping by the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court, BEFORE they opened......The early bird gets the worm.....or sent away by several Capitol Police Officers.

We scored a Congressional Tour of the Capitol building through New York Congressman Ackerman's Staff. From Ackerman's office we entered the belly of the Capitol, traveling underground to the main Capitol building.

The elected officials have a mini metro rail system they travel between their offices and the Capitol. We got to ride this back to the offices. Security was very tight.

PaPa, Evan, and Sean standing in the center of the Capitol, one floor below the rotunda.

The inner artwork on the ceiling of the rotunda depicts George Washington with 15 angels. Why, you ask?.......Good question.

Sean and Evan in front of the US Capitol.

On our way back to the hotel we popped into the Botanical Gardens.

Charles enjoying the Botanical Gardens

The Capitol's Botanical Gardens

Evan's feet and legs are a little weary but he survived another day!

More Time at the Smithsonian Museums

Guest blogging by Sean from Washington DC..........

On Friday we hustled back to the Air and Space Museum to catch some exhibits we missed with the onslaught of school tours yesterday...... Wow! This place is cool!

Evan standing in front of the original 1903 Wright Brother's Flyer

The Museum of American History was down for renovations. Several items were on loan, being displayed at the Air and Space Museum. Among them were....

The top hat Abe Lincoln had at the Ford Theater the night he was killed.

Thomas Edison's Light Bulb

The scarecrow costume, original manuscript, and Judy Garland's red ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz.

George Washington's Uniform

And Mr. Roger's Sweater!

PaPa again managed to convince Evan that the National Gallery of Art was a cool place to hang out. It didn't last long, but we did manage to see.....

RENOIR'S - "A girl with a Watering Can."

MONET'S - "The Japanese Footbridge."

VAN GOGH'S - "Flower Beds in Holland."

MANET'S - "The Railway."

The Boys in Washington DC!

The Boys are blogging from Washngton DC - Evan, Sean, and Grandpa "PaPa"

On our first night in Washington DC we took the subway to China Town for dinner. And when in China Town we let Evan pick where he wanted to eat for dinner. And, of course, in the China Town area of our Nation's capitol - Evan chose to eat at......

California Tortilla?

Evan's good taste was popular among the local cops. Four of DC's finest came in for dinner.

Our first full day in DC began at 6:30 (that's 3:30AM CA time!) preparing for our congressional tour at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. One of two locations where our nation's currency is printed.

We then headed to the Smithsonian Museums. First stop, the Air and Space Museum. It's amazing, breath-taking, the history hanging and parked within the walls of this museum.

Charles Linbergh's Spirit of St Louis.

PaPa posing with the actual Apollo 11 Re-entry Module. This was part of the space craft used during the first moon landing!

The school tour crowds started piling in so we took a quick trip to the National Museum of Art (seems it wasn't as exciting to Evan as the Air & Space Museum!).

An oil painting by 17th Century Dutch Artist Johannes Vermeer.

Then we stopped at the Museum of Natural History. Pretty cool.

Each room was a museum of it's own....

The Hope Diamond in the huge Gem exhibit.

Gold chunks in an alarmed display case.

Whew. What a first day! Tomorrow begins with a congressional tour of the Supreme Court followed by a tour of the Capitol building itself.

See ya soon!

Sean for the Boys.