{Museum fun}

As I mentioned yesterday, we also went to two museums when we went to the DC area for our all things boy weekend. I'll tell ya, the museums in our nation's capitol are amazing. Since my sister does live there, I've had the opportunity to go to quite a few---and many of them more than once. None were better than the two we visited on this trip. We first went to the National Air & Space Museum Annex near Dulles airport. WOW----it's HUGE! And it has SO much cool stuff. The museum is free---most of them in the area are---but this one has a $15 parking fee. My cool Dave Ramseyfied friend found out that if you go after 4pm, the parking is free! So after we went to the Brick Fair we headed to the museum and walked in at 4:05 for nothing!

This plane was enormous--of course, the boys recognized it and called it by name---this is the SR-71, but you knew that, right? 

Isn't that amazing? And yes, those are REAL PLANES hanging from the ceiling--not models! Here are a few more  pictures of things this museum has--

ummmm, yeah, Apollo Command module---very cool

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? THEEEEEEEEE Enola Gay--

what a great history lesson---and the boys didn't even know they were learning!

What the boys enjoyed most was this flight simulator---they were practicing here to go into the simulator and fight the enemy! They turned themselves upside down over and over once they were in there---they SO enjoyed it! TOTALLY worth the money!

This is what they looked like right after the ride!

SOOOOOO fun!

On Sunday we headed to the National US Marine Corps museum---best.museum.ever.....it truly is the best museum I've been to in years. We ended up staying there for HOURS--

I had admired this building from I-95 for years and never knew what it was--it's reminescent of the flag raisers at Iwo Jima.

Justin & Joshua in front of Iron Mike

Some of the exhibits we saw while we were there--the entire history of the Corp is in the museum organized through the conflicts and wars they have served in---really fascinating.

The boys were able to go into the shooting range and fire an M-4 they had made into laser guns---

Then they were given a print out of their shots---Joshua was labeled "Marksman"--he was excited about that!

In the Making Marines exhibit, there was a backpack that was the weight that marines have to wear/carry/run in---it's on the floor when you enter and you are encouraged to put it on and try to stand with it---it's REALLY heavy--- The boys were glad just to get it off the floor and on their backs!

This collage shows different "costumes" you can don when you enter to see what the marines wore over the years in existence.

Before we left we went to the bookstore--the boys found some fun items and I had to take their picture in front of this amazing Lego display---it's the Iwo Jima monument in legos---WOW! We'd come full circle----legos legos legos~

 And here we are on the way home--decked out in Marine shirts and dogtags!

What an amazing weekend! Thanks so much to Susan and Justin for inviting us to be part of this fabulous birthday adventure! It was awesome!

{A LEGOxtravaganza}

Early in the summer a friend asked me if Joshua and I wanted to go to a Brick Fair in the Washington DC area with her and her son in August. I was THRILLED to go hang out with my son AND my friend, thrilled for Joshua to get to go to a 'LEGO convention' and hang out with his friend. AND, my sweet sister Shannon lives in DC, so we got to see her, too. THIS was the "EPIC weekend of the summer" (according to Joshua) but I've already used the word "epic" in a recent post title, so I decided not to go there again.

The simple way to do this post is to just DO IT---this has been sitting here for WEEKS, so I'll just put up the pictures and tell you what was up. It was truly a fabulous weekend!

 

We got to the brick fair about 10 minutes before the door opened and there were HUNDREDS of people already there. Fortunately when the doors opened we moved pretty quickly.

One of the reasons the boys were so excited about this was the opportunity to buy

BrickArms products. BrickArms  is a company that creates cool weapons to fit LEGO brand products. The line was INSANE~

Here the boys are looking through little cups of tiny little guns and helmets for their mini figures---did I mention they were tiny?

Here's Astronaut Josh! 

Astronaut Justin

I LOVE this idea. It looks like they are in the newspaper.

Here are some of the creations we were able to see at the Brick Fair. Some of them were so creative. My favorite of the day was the Apocalego area.

 WOW---

Look at this---if you've never built a lego set, you may not appreciate this---I REALLY appreciate it---;D I've helped build a few and I can't imagine doing this---it's really cool.

We also went to a couple museums while we were in town---I'll put that post up tomorrow! This trip was so fun---really, it was one of the most enjoyable weekends I've had in a long time! I'd love to make it an annual affair---

{Epic Year}

Noooooooooo, this isn't a recap of my last year---just a card! HA! I know a few of you were QUITE interested in THAT post, but you can just go somewhere else! It's a card post~

Joshua had another friend with a birthday last week, so I put this card together. I used that same $5 stamp set I've shown before---Boy Basics: Game On. I think this was a good purchase---

Anyway, not much talk today. I did use this card as a template for mine---I like hers better, but I didn't have time to redo it, so there it is! 11 year old boys really don't care about the cards!  I also stamped the inside of the card.

The details are below if you're interested---I do have some amazing pictures of Joshua's Lego extravaganza weekend to share. Hopefully this week---we'll see if I can get it together---school is looming and I'm trying to get my room ready for students.....oh, and get Hannah ready for school---have I mentioned that she's leaving me on Wednesday the 17th--yeah, she is. Happy for her.....not for me!

Epic Year~
Stamps: Boy Basics: Game On, Grunge Me
Paper: Enchanted Evening, SS White, New Leaf
Ink: New Leaf, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise
Accessories/Tools: Mat Stack 5, Limitless Labels dies, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Cuttlebug, Corner punch

{A Summer Wedding}

Last Saturday I had the privilege of attending a wedding of a sweet girl our family has known for years. I have a few pictures to share. The wedding was so sweet! What a blessing to see two kids who love each other and love the Lord get married! They had a beautiful, personal wedding--I LOVED it!

Not a great picture, but I had to show it. The mother of the bride with her son. This family has a similar age spread in their children (two older girls, one son eight years later) as our family. It's been so fun to watch them grow up! 

Sister of the bride! So beautiful~

Ring bearer---the birthday boy from this post

Here comes the bride!!! (corny, I know!)

Prayer time---this was so sweet and encouraging!

 

  sweet~

 YEA!!! Mr. & Mrs!!

PARTY TIME!!

The reception was at the home of the groom's family in a tent---yes, that's Justin and Joshua marching into the reception----they have their dancing shoes on....what a pair! 

(of kids---not shoes!)

First Dance

I'm a sucker for the father/daughter dance---LOVE!

Here are some pictures of people at the reception!

Ring bearer & Dad---who also performed the ceremony! BUT, this is really just a set up for this next one---

WHAT IS A FOUR YEAR OLD DOING LOOKING LIKE A GROWN MAN? sorry for the screaming--- but this just cracked me up---except for the fact that he's on his dad's shoulders, he looks like a grown up with his glasses in his mouth.....too funny!

I was so disappointed in this picture---the other one I took that was SO GREAT of both of them wasn't focused----ugh! BUT, aren't these two amazing looking 5th graders? Good friends!

The Cupid Shuffle---before Joshua saw me taking pictures....things changed after that! Joshua also caught the garter----AGAIN....but I wasn't there to capture the picture. I didn't make him wear it like a headband like last time! 

Mothers and sons----I was far away and using my long lens......need that external flash, no?

Amy & Donnas---LOVE these women! Cheerwine---it's the drink of choice apparently!

When the bride and groom left they had a balloon release----it reminded me of another wedding reception from not too long ago!

Annetta & Mitch after the festivities!

Thanks for coming by---I have big plans this weekend---a road trip with those two 5th graders and a Lego convention.....now THAT'S FUN! You can BET I'll have the camera out for this one!

I don't remember when I had to make so many cards for boys---I'll tell you, it's tough to make a card for a 10 or 11 year old boy. BUT, I just refuse to buy cards when I have so much "stuff" to make one. I did buy a couple sets in the spring to make some "boy" cards and they have certainly come in handy lately. Joshua is at a birthday party sleepover tonight for a good friend. This is a friend who loves Legos so Joshua typically wants to give him a gift card to the Lego store---it's the perfect gift to Joshua, so he figures his friend would like it, too! I was going to make a separate giftcard holder, but I decided to just put it in the card---

I used the library Pocket die to make the pocket for the gift card--

Joshua and I attended a beautiful wedding this past Saturday and I'll have a post up about that soon---I love a wedding! And I have yet ANOTHER card for a boy, too---three in two weeks? CrAZy!!!

Thanks for stopping by today---

Happy 10th~
Stamps: Big Birthday Wishes
Paper: Kraft, Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening, Stamper's Select White cardstock, & Bitty Dots patterned paper
Ink: Memento-Tuxedo Black
Dies: Library Pocket, Wonderful Words, Mat Stack 4, By the Numbers
Tools/Accessories: By the Numbers impression plate, Cuttlebug