Jaya and Bengt started on their First Lego League team this weekend. We got the standard parts and the competition mat but won't get the challenge for a couple weeks. They are very excited but will it will be very challenging to build and program the robot to complete the tasks. I am allowed to provide guidance but not solutions.

* Attended the last Adventure Princess event with Jaya. In a twist of fate, it was at the same venue where we had our first event, Fiesta Island. I will miss the good times, but I made many friends that I will have for life.

On Saturday afternoon, we all went down to Old Town to see the sites and visit some of the museums.

* First, we went through the McCoy House Interpretive Center. This is a very nice museum with each room representing a different period of Old Town's history. Unfortunately, the docent said this house is the first to be cut when the money gets tights so is closed often.




* In the Robinson-Rose House, we saw the wonderful model of Old Town from 1872.




* We did the tour through the Estudillo House. I enjoy the period costumes that the park employees and volunteers wear.



* The kids dipped candles at the candle and soap shop.



* We ate dinner at The Alamo Mexican Food, which is the only fast food Mexican food we could find within walking distance.

* Guides trip to Agua Caliente County Park. The weather was perfect and made for a great time at the mud caves and on the Moonlight Trail. Bengt's pinewood racer was the 3rd fastest in the tribe and he made the nation finals where he got the second round. The ranger was a bit persnickety and made us douse the campfires way too early.


* Walked dog at San Elijo Lagoon.

* Awesome Adventure Princess event at Agua Caliente County Park. Visited the mud caves which were amazing. They are formed by water carving tunnels through the hills, but they look like they were drilled out by man. Tested out the new pool which is unheated buy very refreshing.
* Kids had a piano recital.

* Hiked Elfin Forest Reserve for the first time.



* Adventure Guides event at Indian Hills.

* Spent most of Friday at Disneyland on the kid's new annual passes. Lines weren't too long and it wasn't that hot.
* Waited out the heat in our nice cool house (sans a/c).
* Grilled up a fabulous pork tenderloin with my rotisserie grill attachment. Haven't used it in ages, but it cooked up the roast beautifully.

* Adventure Guides trip to Dos Picos

Went to Washington D.C. for a week to see the sites.

• Washington Monument - always awesome. We didn't have trouble getting tickets since we stopped by early in the day. Apparently there is a walking tour that shows off some of the interior; I will give that shot next time.
  
  
  


• World War II Memorial - a bit underwhelming; it seems as though the designers went for quantity over quality. While deserving of a memorial, this detracts from the view from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.


• Lincoln Memorial - a classic.
  
  
  


• Korean War Memorial - having never seen this, I really liked it. The statues were impressive.


• Vietnam Veterans Memorial - goes without saying.


• Capitol Building - very worthwhile. Since we had to go through our Representative's office, we also got to visit his staff (although he was not there). Found out there is a staircase that leads up to the top of the Rotunda but is not open to the public. Make sure you find out about John Adams and how we use the acoustics in the original House chamber.
  
  
  
  
  


• National Mall - must have walked the Mall several times getting to all the places.
  
  
  
  
  


• White House - a difficult ticket to get and probably not worth taking little kids.


• National Gallery - didn't even get to a quarter of it; plan on spending days to see everything.


• National Portrait Gallery - unexpectedly nice.


• American Art Museum - ditto.


• Air and Space Museum - gets better all the time.
  
  
  


• Hazy Air and Space Museum - still a work in progress, but the sheer volume of historic aircraft make it a winner; the SR-71 is worth the trip just by itself.


• International Spy Museum - if you are interested in espionage, you can miss this. Don't expect much James Bond stuff, there is just a small homage to 007. The kids enjoyed it even though they didn't understand it.


• National Archives - first time here. They are trying to make it more than just the Charters of Freedom by adding some additional exhibits. Well worth it even thought the Magna Carta is no longer there.


• Natural History Museum - ours kids get to the San Diego version of this so this wasn't as big a deal to them.


• Marine Corps War Memorial - much more impressive in person.
  
  
  


• Flew in a helicopter (an R-22) with my uncle.
  
  
  

First Guides trip of the year!

The family and I went to the Nighttime Zoo this past weekend. I always love the evening zoo hours as most of the animals are more active, especially the cats.
One thing my son and I noticed about the bathrooms is that they don't have child level urinals. This is quite puzzling since half the patrons at the zoo are kids. Even my office has low urinals and kids are never there. Most of the bathrooms look like have been refitted with the no-water units, so why didn't they make them lower then? Very strange.

We recently had an ice cream man starting coming around the neighborhood. He has the typically van with all the advertising stickers on it. He also has the corny music. But this ice cream also smokes like a chimney and seems to hate kids. Once my two heard him coming and, after getting permission of course, ran to get their money. The guy saw the kids hurry off but didn't bother to wait and drove off. Now maybe his compensation packages is tied to mileage instead of ice cream treats sold, but now the kids aren't really excited when he comes by anymore.

Jaya and I spent an awesome weekend at Rawhide Ranch this past weekend. The girls got to learn horse riding, pony showmanship and vaulting. I highly recommend it if your kids like horses.

Does anyone hate Halloween as much as I do? Here are some reasons for my dislike:
* Standing out in the cold
* Standing out in the dark
* Kids who change their minds about their costumes on an hourly basis
* Having to go to work/school the next day
* Sugered up children

I must be getting old, since those are the reasons I like Halloween as a kid.

Spent two days at ArtSplash in Carlsbad this past weekend. The kids' school had a huge tile mosiac they were building. It will be mounted on one of the school walls. They also did some chalk art on one of the squares the school had. Saturday featured the Stomp-like Jr. Crew dance ensemble. We have seen them before and really enjoy their work. Sunday had a performance by the Fern Street Circus. That was very good as well.