Memorial Day 2011

Please take the time to read this article. The soldier was the brother of my mother-in-law's good friend.

These are pictures taken today while out and about in and around Where George Walked, VA.

Arlington National Cemetery

Flag half-mast at the Pentagon

Wreath laid during a City of Arlington/VFW memorial service 

City of Arlington Memorial Pillar 

Honor Guard

Stones were from originally from a memorial adjacent to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery (yes, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier... that was the former name of the Tomb of the Unknowns). I believe that it was erected in the early 1930's.

In Memory of Those Who Sacrificed Their All

Arlington National Cemetery, Memorial Day 2011

View from the pool

We signed up for a season pass at the Ft. Belvior O Club pool. Feels like we are at a posh resort. 3 pools, snack bar, tons of lifeguards. It is so wonderful!

Picking Honeysuckle

Ilsa has discovered the deliciousness that is Honeysuckle. Every morning after we drop off Ingrid, she fills a ziplock with blossoms to "eat" on the way home. Ahhhhhh... spring in Where George Walked is lovely!

Doctor Hoooooooooooooo

Isn't this clever? This DeviantArt image was t-shirt on Threadless.com recently.
Unfortunately already sold out. Vote to re-print!

Mr Bean - At the Beach

My girls have never laughed so hard... don't know that I can say I've laughed so hardly lately either!

Adventures of Tin Tin

Tintin by teasertrailer

Whovians, watch until the very end and note the screenwriter. SQUEEE!!!!

homemade toys

homemade toys, a set on Flickr.

Today, the girls built their own computers. Ilsa announced that hers is a Mac. Ingrid said hers is a laptop. Hee hee :)

A working lunch

Ingrid "built" a computer with an old keyboard she found in the basement. She told me she was looking for clothes on the Nordstrom website. Uh oh...

was this planned?

Found here.

10 things for which i'm thankful

It has been TOO LONG since I have counted my blessings... You know the rules, these are in no particular order:

1. Homemade pancakes
2. Mr. BikeMan is back in the saddle and commuting...and all but one of his many doctors have released him fully, and off of the antibiotics
3. I've been a mommy for 7 years now! Mother's Day was lovely
4. Summer break is 41 days away, and Ingy will be back home!
5. The tire swing
6. Longer days, and the girls don't want to come in at night...they want to play and play and play outside
7. There are lots of girls in this neighborhood...nice girls for our girls to play with late into the evening
8. Swimming lessons begin tonight
9. Our healthy garden -- looking forward to cucumbers, beans, peas, carrots, tomatoes and peppers
10. Mr. BikeMan signed up for the men's retreat at church -- a first in our married life. We've never attended a church that held a men's retreat that he actually felt would be beneficial to attend. This is a big deal.

if you've never watched Doctor Who...

This is the episode you will want to watch...apparently. Coming this Saturday to BBCAmerica (or in our case, at 12:01 am Sunday via iTunes)

And tell me if I'm crazy (I'm fixated on my theory that Rory is a fobbed Time Lord, BTW). At 22 seconds, I think this is RORY...

Doctor Who 6:3: Curse of the Black Spot Prequel

royal wedding recap

I'm sure there is very little to add that hasn't been said: lovely bride, gorgeous dress, happy groom, cool carriages, handsome military men, pomp, Anglophenia Overload...

I wrote out the following blog post, but forgot to make it live :)-
****************

It's 5:04 am here. I got up at 4:45 to watch live streaming on BBC. 

Watching the guests arrive...

Love their musical choices for the arrival of the guests. The ensemble is playing a particularly lovely arrangement of Greensleeves right now. Beautiful. 

This Anglophile is in a state of Anglophelia Ecstasy...

THE PRINCES JUST ARRIVED!!!! Squeee!!! I feel like I'm 11 again, watching the wedding of Charles and Diana!

*********'

I'm back... it is now 8:13 am. I went upstairs at 5:45 and woke up Ingrid so that she could make a memory :)  She was pretty groggy, but woke up quickly. She wasn't quite as interested as I thought she would be. She is only 7 after all. But she had a lot of questions: 

"Why can't the people in the church see the wedding?" 
"Why are the bridesmaids so little?" 
"Why are they kneeling?" 
"What's with all of those huge hats? They are getting in the way." 
"Why didn't the Prince and Princess kiss each other after they got married?" 
Then a declaration: "But I wanted to marry Prince William!"

Post-wedding reflections:

Glad to see Kate wearing such a beautiful, classic and cathedral-appropriate dress. Stunning. Perfect. Memorable. Timeless.

The order of service was lovely. Beautiful Bible readings. Perfect hymns. Loved the John Rutter anthem written for the occasion. (I'm a choral music snob.)

I don't understand all British traditions. Why would Prince William wear the uniform (even honorarily) of an Irish Guard colonel when he is neither a colonel nor in the Irish Guard, but in the RAF? British friends, please explain. Not that he didn't look spectacular, though.

Well, off to take Ingrid to school. I'm sure she'll be dozey today. I don't care. This will be one of those memories of a lifetime, even if she doesn't think so right now.

Old Presbyterian Meeting House

On the way home from work tonight, Mr. BikeMan stumbled upon one of those great places that are everywhere here Where George Walked: the Old Presbyterian Meeting House Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary Soldier.

 The cemetery holds over 300 "inhabitants" and is smaller than our modest back yard.

The church is still very active, and has a membership of around 1,000. The congregation was founded in 1760. They called their first pastor in 1772, and the first meeting house built in 1775.

Royal Wedding - sort of...

I know it's everywhere, but this made me smile...