Jeffrey's Eagle court of Honor

Jeffrey received his Eagle Scout Award this past May.

Look at that cute Color Guard!

It was neat that Dawson and Berkeley were able to participate.

Jeffrey's guitar teacher came and played God Bless the USA

Jeffrey and Brandon have been best friends since they were 3 and 4. It was really neat that they were able to get their Eagle Scout awards together!

Jeffrey certainly is an amazing young man, and we are so proud of him.

p.s. Here is the giant Eagle Award Marie and I made for the court of honor

Let's Play Music

Jacob has been in this great program learning music theory this year.

He was in RED BALLOONS and BLUE BUGS.

Here are a few cute pictures of the graduation ceremony this spring.

We Puzzeled and Puzzeled 'Til Our Puzzlers Were Sore...

We have found a new hobby in our family, here's how it goes.

Even Nabby helped, which wasn't generally appreciated.

"Just one more piece." BrookLynn and I have a hard time breaking away in the evening. Sam got tired of waiting to go to bed.

The Healing Power of Wheat Grass

I like to have a pot of wheat grass on the counter just so I can rub the tips with my palm. it it some how very soothing.
I guess Sam was having a particularly overwhelming day!

The National Zoo

Well the sun came out and we rode on to the zoo. (Notice the BUDS again....I am worried.)

It was a beautiful, perfect day!
First order of business, break out the lunch!

Sam and Jake had more fun exploring the ambiance than the animals! So many things to balance across and jump off!

Hurray for PANDA! Up close and personal.

Not Japanese cherry blossoms, but stunning! These were everywhere, the blossoms were as big as my outstretched hand.

Loving the map!

Berkeley and Jeffrey took off most of the day on their own. The highlight? An enormous reptile house, and an Orangutan swinging overhead across the walkway.

We are having so much fun!

- - - - INSERT MENTAL IMAGE HERE- - - -

I wish I had a picture.

We were waiting for Glen to get us all a little refreshment from 7-11 across the street when during a lapse of attention from Mom, Samuel ran up to pee on the nearest tree. Rather than snap a photo, I opted to point and laugh with the others, pretending he didn't come from me.

Squirrel!

A huge attraction for the kids, particularly Berk, were the squirrels. They were a distracted as puppies running off the chase these little guys around, and UP trees in the National Mall.

Air and Space Museum

It was a cold and rainy walk (green buds, no flowers) our first day on the town, but we were all excited and it wasn't so bad.

Berkeley and Jacob ... my thinker and my engineer! Watch for them in the news!

"HOW BIG WAS THAT THING?"

When we read about the Wright Brothers Berkeley wanted to know how big their wind tunnel was. We tried looking it up, and we found pictures, but no real dimensions. It was so exciting to find the tunnel itself at the air and space museum! And now we know!

Transportation

1,2,3,4,5,6....1,2,3,4,5,6...1,2,3,4,5,6.....

It was like a ceremonial chant. Every time a train came in, I was like some frantic mother bird.

Once we were all safely on board, the metro was definatally a fun way to go!