South Dakota Trip part 3

Even though we got to see a lot, the highlight of the trip was seeing all the relatives. Mom & Dad are proud of all their grandkids. Uncle Ron taught some of the kids how to play poker. South Dakota has some beautiful sunsets.

South Dakota Trip part 2

We also went to a mammoth dig site and museum, which all the kids enjoyed--they even got to dig for fossils (but couldn't take them home.) That's Nora being cute listening to the guide on the tour.

South Dakota Trip part 1

The kids and I traveled to the Black Hills for a Nemec family reunion last week. Lots of fun seeing sites, playing, and hanging out at a huge vacation home with my parents, my 4 siblings and their families (22 of us in all--just missing Karla.) Here are some pictures of cousins and N&K at a waterpark and at Mt Rushmore (the day after Greenpeace used it for a statement.) Guthrie was sure he could take that rock home if he could just get it off the ground.

Artomatic

The kids and I took the Metro down to a building near the Nationals Stadium to visit Artomatic. It's 9 floors of artists' exhibits. We mainly went to see our friend Bert's photography, but there were many other interesting pieces. The kids got to have their faces painted and created some of their own artwork, too.

Orioles Game

Monday night we went with the Hagemasters and some of their friends, Jody, and the Quiggs to the O's vs Red Sox game. There were 3 sets of twins in our group! The Orioles lost, but fun was had by all.

Udvar-Hazy Center

Nic & I went with Tim & Owen Quigg for a guy afternoon at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Katie and Shannon decided they'd rather go with Debby to work and play with dogs.

At the museum, we came across the model used as the mothership in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. If you look closely at the right side of the mothership photo, you can see R2D2 onboard. Also look for Darth Vader's TIE-fighter slightly left of center. They are just a couple of many little in-jokes the model-makers included.

Rock On!

Our friend Amber took this picture at the Fort McHenry Flag Day celebration. It's my new favorite picture of Katie.