Our D.C. Diary: Flying High

When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. ~Leonardo Da Vinci

I am starting to think Leonardo was not not being totally literal in discussing flight...but also referring to all life's new found tastes. Both Steve and I have gotten a taste for the city life and family travel that I can only imagine we will have the desire to do more adventures like this year in the future. In someways D.C. is feeling like home to us and in other ways just a taste of a new found hobby for our family. I find myself dreaming of what lies ahead for us and where in the world we will explore next!

This last week has been really great and has included more amazing little activities to occupy our time. Both kids have had multiple playdates and birthday parties...Sawyer got his first chance battling it out with a bunch of other 5 year-olds at Laser Tag...he was pretty psyched. Steve was able to attend the formal Intel Science Awards and some top secret field trips with other fellows. Natalie earned another stripe on her Yellow Belt and I am now skilled at busting knees and taking down large men if they attack me (thanks to my tall muscular husband for being my partner in crime). I also got a new mt. bike (whoop whoop!) to field test and have been successfully finding trails to rides. God, it feels good to be on a mt. bike again.

This weekend we had two family outings: Jones Point Park and Lighthouse in Alexandria, Virginia and the Udvar Hazy Space Center at Dulles Airport.

Jones Point Park was a beautiful setting on the Potomac with the oldest river lighthouse. More than anything it was great to let the kids go crazy and take some beautiful pictures. The Wilson Bridge that crosses over part of the park gives way to the coolest and most immense scootering location in the world....pretty amazing.

Udvar Hazy was yet another amazing place to visit. I am kind of mad at myself for not going there sooner. The space shuttle Discovery is the center piece to the largest aviation museum I have ever seen (and being from McMinnville and also DC...that is really means something). Not only was it mind-blowing to walk around a space shuttle, but the collection of planes there was also incredible. In 2 hours we saw:
1. Space Shuttle Discovery
2 A variety of Nazi planes
3. Apollo 11 Decontamination Unit (to keep out Moon Germs)
4. A Blackbird spy plane
5. A Concord
6. The Enola Gay (plane that dropped bomb on Hiroshima)
7. and about 10,000 other planes and space equipment...

Once again...we are thankful for our journey. We feel like we are flying high.