Jumping in the Pool

The girls love to swim!  

Here is Madelyn perfecting her jumps and Kaitlyn trying to dive at the apartment pool.

Oh The Places We Went: Adventure 4

A few adventures are rolled into this one as I'm still trying to find some pictures.  Gamma Linda and Aunt Niki came to visit.  We took them on a tour of the new house and playground and around the city via the metro.  Everyone was a trooper.  

I believe this fateful metro trip, mommy made everybody run to get on the train so we didn't miss it.  It probably was not the best idea to rush two kids and two visitors onto an almost departing metro train.  Thanks troopers!!

 We enjoyed a visit to the downtown Air & Space museum.  Kaitlyn and Madelyn got to sit in a small plane cockpit.

Aunt Niki and Madelyn played a gravity game.  

After the air and space museum, we went for another carousel ride and then ate lunch at the Smithsonian Castle.  It was a fun little deviation from the normal lunch routine.  

Kaitlyn usually sat with gamma or Aunt Niki on the train rides.  Mommy kept Madelyn entertained and/or awake.  

 A quiet morning breakfast in our apartment.  

 The group headed to Old Town to eat at our favorite Greek restaurant.  

Kaitlyn took this shot of gamma Linda with my iPhone - good eye Kaitlyn!!

 Relaxing afternoon after a busy morning.  Kaitlyn made a dog house for her stuffed puppy Ruff Ruff.  

Madelyn enjoyed a bit of coloring.  

Oh The Places We Went: Adventure 3

Madelyn initially wanted to wear this out on our next adventure.  While stylish, mommy offered her favorite heart outfit as an alternative since it wasn't raining.  

On our third adventure, we visited the American Indian Museum children's exhibit.  It was a great hands on exhibit that we will go back to again.  

Kaitlyn and Madelyn weaved a big basket.  

The craft for the week involved making a paper native American Lakota quilt.  The girls really enjoyed the activity and wanted to do it again before we left.  The Lakota is representative of the Venus star in the sky that the Indians saw.  

Madelyn and Kaitlyn checked out a life size teepee and kayak.  

The kids exhibit also had several examples of native American instruments that the kids could play.  Kaitlyn and Madelyn tried as many as they could in the time we had left.  

After dinner, we took the girls swimming on our roof top pool at our temporary quarters.  Madelyn insisted on trying on the extra pair of goggles.  

We have two little fish who love the water.  They especially enjoy jumping in the water to daddy.  Stay tuned for video...

Oh The Places We Went: Adventure 2

Our next adventure downtown was short and sweet.  The girls wanted to ride the train again, so we ventured downtown and took a ride on the national Carousel.  The girls also ran around the National mall chasing each other and racing each other.  A simple adventure, but a pleasure to watch.  

Oh The Places We Went - Adventure 1

On our first adventure, we traveled to the Natural History Museum to see a special butterfly exhibit. The girls brought their magnifying glasses to see the butterflies up close.  It was amazing how beautiful all the butterflies looked.    

This photo shows the butterflies habitat.  They kept it mildly warm and humid so the butterflies flourished in this environment.  It was amazing to watch them fly, eat and loaf in their small 'home.'

The blue morpho butterfly according to Kaitlyn with it's wings closed.  See the photo below.  It was beautiful!  I could only capture it while flying.  This is Kaitlyn's favorite, so she exclaimed "blue morpho, blue morpho" each time it flew by us.  

Below are other pictures from the habitat.  

 

One of the curators showed the girls the butterflies as caterpillars, in their chrysalis, and burrowing into the ground.

After the museum visit, Madelyn decided to help mommy by pushing the stroller.  

Kaitlyn talked excitedly about our butterfly visit.  

The girls love all the places they can 'balance' while we walk around downtown.  

 We met daddy for lunch and had some extra time, so we stopped at a sculpture garden with a fountain. Of course, I gave the girls pennies so they could make a wish.  

The one sculpture that invited people to touch, sit or play on it.  

After a full morning and lunch with daddy, Madelyn just could not stay awake to catch the train.  So much for the afternoon nap!