Where Does the Time Go?

Nobody warned me that the days, months, years would actually fly by after a certain age. One day we’re celebrating our anniversary and the start to the summer heat, the next I’m pulling out sweaters wondering how it’s suddenly late-October and I have yet to buy a pumpkin. Before my memories start to fade, here are the highlights of our summer:

We went back to UD for our college reunion weekend. Naturally, we all acted exactly how we acted in college.

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There is a park in our neighborhood (Yards Park) that hosts bands on Friday nights all summer. It was easy to be regulars and convince friends to come visit for the evening.

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Looking back on my phone for summer photos my first thought was “Why did I take this photo?” Then I realized it was because this could possibly be my Lisa Simpson outfit (if I could only wear one outfit my entire life) – crab necklace, Ohio shirt, and polka dots. All my favorite things. And, I really love crabs. My crab necklace from Baltimore was a necessary accessory when we picked up a bushel of crabs to pick with friends on evening.

No other photos were taken because our hands were much too messy.

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We are really working on our camping skills, so for the Fourth of July holiday we went down to the family farm for some R&R.
IMG_4536.JPGIMG_4542.JPGIMG_4541.JPGIMG_4539.JPGThis summer I was busy with a “summer job” giving Segway tours around the city. It’s not over yet but it has been a total blast meeting people from all over the world to share with them my city’s history. I’m not going to lie, it’s been really nice having a willing (and paying) audience for my cheesy jokes. Remind me to tell you about the bushes outside of the White House…

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My parents surprised me one weekend with a visit to DC! I wanted to give them the full “DC Local” treatment since they normally come in the winter or over a holiday. We hit up Yards Park (I told you we went every week), visited the famed pandas at the National Zoo, and even grabbed some crabs from the fish market. All in a DC weekend.

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We also had a jam-packed weekend with one of our most favorite families. Not pictured: the parents.

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Went to the best and most entertaining concert of my life: Arcade Fire. I have never had so much fun at a concert.

IMG_4751.JPGSent some of our best DC friends off to London for a year of adventure and schooling:

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Went to Cincinnati for Labor Day and I got to see the WEBN fireworks for the first time (believe it) after a wild night in OTR.  Spent a lot of quality time with Mom’s kittens and my grandparents.

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Whew. I think that last photo sums it up! Now that I’ve gone through all of our photos, I realize we had quite a packed summer, full of travel and good friends – what more could we have asked for?

The Building Museum Gift Shop

There’s something about a good gift shop that excites me more than any other type of shopping (and I like most shopping). DC certainly has a lot of them, and to be honest some are just better than the rest. I would actually give a Gold Medal to the Building Museum for their gift shop.

The Building Museum is on my “Off the Beaten Path” tour I give to visitors. It’s a is a museum of “architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning” and is honestly quite interesting (even for us non-engineers). The setup of the museum is perfect for stopping in to beat the heat (or the cold) – it’s wide open inside with separate rooms for each of their exhibits, so you can just pop into a couple, without needing to spend the entire afternoon in one spot.

I might go into it in a later post, but some of the highlights of the museum include a 3D model of the Washington, DC area – both pre and post swamp removal (long story) – and past exhibits using Legos, or about the design of parking garages.

Yes, this is one of those museums you might lose Kyle in. 20140215-144744.jpg

 

 

 

Speaking of Kyle, this particular visit to the Building Museum was only to pick up a couple gifts for him in the museum shop. Being a non-Smithsonian, I guess that the museum has the liberty to stock whatever they want and they stock some VERY good things for the engineer, green building enthusiast, travel lover, map lover, or architect in your life, from child to adult.  Since my husband falls into at least a few of those categories, it’s easy to get him a gift.

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I mean, who doesn’t need some DC-map earrings and some ceramic Legos for their home?

Now hopefully someone comes to visit us soon so  I can have an excuse to actually visit more than the gift shop!