Happy Birthday Gardy!

Grandma Ardy's birthday celebration wasn't traditional in any sense. We decided to go to the Smithsonian American History Museum. And the day was off to a great start!

We were able to avoid a lot of the traffic and found a parking spot immediately. It seemed like a sign. And it was...sort of.

I was a little nervous that the kids would be bored at the museum, but there are plenty of hands on exhibits. Here the kids are trying to wring clothes dry the old fashioned way.

I know what it looks like...but it's really just a bucket of wash water. Each bucket holds 21 pounds. I felt very grateful for my washing machine today.

This is one of the original Dumbo carts from the Disney ride.

Hey Bay! These are Dorothy's real ruby slippers. Super cool, huh! My niece loves (or at least used to) the Wizard of Oz.

This is a gunboat from the War of 1812. A 24-pound dumbbell (at least that's what it looked like) did enough damage to sink this ship. Technology - especially the technology of warfare - has come a long way.

Here's Gavin the Riveter. That's hard work! I don't know how all the World War II Rosie's could manage those machines!

Here's a Huey from Vietnam. Gavin was very concerned about the fallen solider. G: "Is he dead, mom?" Me: "No, he's just hurt." G: "Goliath probably looked like that after David got him." Me: "Sure Gav. If you say so."

Yep. That's the original C3PO. Gavin was so excited that he had to take this picture all by himself.

Laynie: "Thomas, he's the cheeky one!" Gavin: "That's not Thomas, that's James!"

Notice how nicely Gavin posed for this picture. Right.

This is actually a really cool story. This light house is from GALVESTON, TEXAS! Read the little blurb below for your history lesson for the day:

Gavin: "Look at the mouse, Mom!"

Me: "Gavin. That's a cat."

Gavin: "No!! It's a mouse. By the train!"

Me: "Gavin, that's a cat....oh, there is a mouse."

Gavin: "Open your eyes mom."

Remember how I told you I thought that the day was going to be perfect? Well...not exactly. As we were walking to the exit, we saw a man step to the side, take off his shoes, and wring out his socks. We thought it was a little weird. Then we noticed the MONSOON that was turning the Mall into a puddle-ridden disaster. But, we HAD to get home. Here's the best picture of the day.....

It's the Smurfs.

Can you see the little fingers peeking through poncho? Laynie was sound asleep in the back so we draped the plastic over the top of the stroller. She stayed nice and dry and slept till we got off the train and headed to our car.

Then we had homemade pizza for dinner (not my mom's favorite food, but she suffered through it for the sake of speed). And had a delicious homemade cake. Don't look too closely. whip cream doesn't make pretty frosting, but it sure was tasty.

We love you Grandma Ardy. And according to Gavin, she's still 30. Funny that she and I are almost the same age.