Seriously, In Maryland?!?!

Friday morning at 5am I woke up to the noise of the house rattling.  My immediate thought was earthquake, but I dismissed that thought just as quickly as it had entered my head.  Then I started to process what else it could be.  I concluded it was a helicopter flying over.  We have several aircraft that have flight paths over our house and they make the house rattle.  The only difference this time was I couldn't hear the aircraft and it lasted rather long, but still I was trying to come up with something logical.  This whole thought process took about 30 seconds than I was asleep again.  At 9:45am my phone rang. It was Shauna calling and the first thing she said was, "did you feel the earthquake?"  My response, "IT WAS AN EARTHQUAKE."  So my initial thought was correct, but just so unrational.  We don't have earthquakes here.  Then adding that the epicenter was on the border of Gaithersburg and Germantown made it even more crazy.  That location is like 5 minutes away.  It's on the way to church.  I know Californians are laughing at us right now, but seriously if you have never been part of an earthquake or live in an area where you know you don't have earthquakes one's brain tends to try to rationalize something else.  We have also decided our reaction to the quake stunk.  I just laid there.  Which I guess is another side affect of living in a place that NEVER has earthquakes.  So needless to say Friday morning was kind of exciting with everyone calling everyone else asking if they felt or heard the quake.  See I didn't feel it really.   I just heard the rattling of the house.  I guess when it's only a 3.6 you don't feel much of anything, but 3.6 is all the quake I want to experience.  Now I can say I have been in an earthquake.  Yes, you from California can laugh at me all you want.

Washington D.C.

When we asked Tade's cousin, Madison, what the main thing she wanted to see on her visit she told us it was the memorials and monuments.  We completely understood her wanting to see these places because that is what you see in the movies.  On their last night here we headed downtown so she could get her pictures.

Iwo Jima

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Wall

Korean Memorial

Seth posing in the dark near the Washington Monument.  What a little cheese.

I love my boys!

At the base of the Washington Monument.

Monocacy Battlefield

Jake and his dad are both very interested in history. So when they come here for a visit it is very easy fulfilling their interest. We have done Gettysburg and Antietam during past visits. This time they went to the Monocacy Battlefield just outside Frederick and only about 20 minutes from home. The kids were able to continue their Jr. Ranger activities here and get another badge.

This was Tade 6 years ago at Monocacy Battlefield when we were back east for an internship.

Tade 6 years later at the stone wall.

Taking the Jr. Ranger oath so they can get their badges.

Sporting their fancy ranger hats.

My goofy son posing with all his ranger stuff and a very mini musket.

Museums

Tuesday was museum day.  I stayed home with Andelyne while the rest of the crew headed downtown to the American History, Natural History, and Air and Space Museums.

The Ruby Slippers and Apolo Ohno's speed skating skates.

Amelia Earhart

Wright Brother's first flight

Fort McHenry

Monday was spent at Fort McHenry in Baltimore.  This fort defended Baltimore Harbor from the British during the War of 1812.  During this attack is when Francis Scott Key wrote the poem "The Star-Spangled Banner."  The Fort looks like this from above.

There was a Jr. Ranger program the kids could work on.  When they had completed their packet with activities from around the Fort they would get a Jr. Ranger badge.

Tade is counting the stars and stripes for one of the Jr. Ranger activities.

It is located right on the water in a beautiful setting.  You can see the massive ships in the background.

She's Official

The whole reason for Jake's parents visit was for Andelyne's baby blessing.  Here are a couple cute pictures of Andelyne in her blessing dress.  I know it's not your traditional frilly dress, but the sentiment behind it is so much more important.  In Madagascar there was a couple we were teaching, Solo et Misa.  They would make and sell little girl dresses.  Both of them would hand stitch all the details in these dresses.  It is amazing.  I couldn't do any of what they did.  I brought a couple of the dresses they made home from Madagascar with me.  Jake and I thought it would be really special to use one of these dresses as a blessing dress.

This is a blanket my Grandma Bennett gave me when Tade was born.  We have used it as a blessing day blanket for each of the kids now.

3-2-1 Blastoff

Saturday Jake went with the boys and his family to the Dulles Air and Space museum.  This is a museum we frequent.  It is not in DC and is big and open.  It always feels a lot less crowded than the museums downtown.  Plus it's full of planes, gliders, helicopters, and a space shuttle.  Perfect for two little boys.

Seth was having a rough day.  He had missed several days of naps and had been very active with his cousin in town.  He pretty much had a melt down in the museum.  Jake ended up sitting in the car with him for a while until he cooled down.

He eventually relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. Especially the time in the observation tower.