More of our time in Washington DC

Good day, pleasant readers! This is Marie-Grace. As promised, I am here to tell you more about our Washington DC trip beginning on October 29.

 That rainy day we went to the Federal Mint and the National Museum of Natural History. At the Federal Mint they did not allow pictures, but at the Museum we took a great many pictures! Here are some of them. 1: The famous stuffed elephant named Henry. 2: The famous Hope Diamond. 3: A diamond necklace. 4: A great lump of rose quartz. 5: Stuffed Spider monkey mother and baby. 6: An actual Egyptian mummy. Libby was quite impressed. 7: A stuffed ghost crab. 8: Pieces of a meteorite that fell on Arizona. 9: A stuffed Grizzly bear.

 The next day we left early for our tour of the Capitol. 1: The Capitol. They needed to do some repairs on the dome. They informed us that they should be done in time for the next inauguration. 2:The inside of the dome. 3:A beautiful chandelier inside. 4: the lovely tiled floor. 5:The original Wright Flyer at the Air and Space museum. 6: Another model at the Air and Space museum ( I don't remember what of). 7; Libby rushing past paintings at the art museum across from the Air and Space museum. 8: Myself lingering a long while at the same paintings. 9: Many famous paintings were there, this painting of George Washington being one of them. 10: One of my favorite paintings there by Frederic Edwin Church called El Rio de Loz (The river of Light). 11: Libby looking at the famous "Little Dancer"  statue. She didn't think much of it. 12: The impressive-looking outside of the art museum. 13:People inside the art gallery in the Capitol.

 On Halloween Day, we 1:first shared our lunch with an inquisitive squirrel. 2: Went to see  the outside of the White House, being that we were unable to obtain tickets to the inside. 3: Went to the international spy museum. This is the inside of the elevator. 4: The History of spies. 5; The secret identity I chose while there. If you want to learn more about the Spy Museum, click HERE. 6: Next we went to Ford's Theater. 7: I don't think she found it as interesting as I did. 8: Next we went across the street to the house Lincoln died in. This is part of a huge pile of books that were all written about Lincoln.

Then we rushed home because we were meeting Jewel and her former foster parents. We were quite excited. She came, and Libby immediately plopped down with her two dogs, Cookie dough and Jackson. I held out my hand. "Hello, Jewel. I'm Marie-Grace. What a lovely outfit." Jewel looked at down at her feet and fingered her scarf. "Um, hi. she said, then rushed over to say good bye to her former foster parents. Standing up, Libby whispered: "What was that? Her other foster parents never mentioned extra extreme shyness." I laughed. "She'll probably get used to us in a couple of days." I whispered back.

Have you ever had a foster child?

Our Trip Part 2: Our first day in Washington DC

 Hi all! This is Libby. So Marie and I have finished our Christmas break, and are going back to telling you all about our trip. We are sorry we are taking such a toads long time to "tell you all about it", but oh well, we're doing it now right? So anyway, the day after the last day we posted about (see HERE) we drove to Washington DC and got settled in with some relatives. The next morning we drove around almost till lunch looking for parking. Finally we found a small, free, parking lot over near the Jefferson memorial, right next to the river. We ate lunch there, watching all the planes come in ( by the way, if you have ever been to Washington DC you will know what I'm talking about. Planes always coming in, at this really constant rate like they are coming in then taking right back off again, just to come down yet again! I mean, goodness!) But anyway, going on.

 Here is a picture Marie took of one of the waterfalls in the FDR memorial. Isn't it pretty? I love waterfalls. So, we went here first. And I liked the waterfalls.

 And here, is a picture of Marie and I in front of one of the pools in the Korean War Veterans Memorial. I wanted to take dip in the pool but Dad said no.

 Next we went to the Lincoln memorial. I was so excited. It's super exciting for me to be at a place you have heard about and seen pictures of all your life. It looks almost like it does on the penny except you can barely see the Lincoln statue inside ( unlike on the penny) and of course, all the people. 

 It was a great, big, solemn feeling place inside. There was a little bookstore that I hadn't known about and Marie-Grace bought a postcard for her travel journal in it.

 Marie and I in front of the reflecting pool.

 On our way to the Washington monument, we stopped at this pool and watched the funny geese. We also met a girl named Isabelle who was very pretty and had cute pink highlights.

 As well as the pond, we also quickly stopped at the World War Two Memorial. It was really cool looking, but we didn't stay long. We were impatient to get to the Washington Monument.

 So we climbed all the way up there and when at the base, bent our necks almost at a right angle to see to the top. One of my main disappointments of the trip for me was that we were not able to get tickets to climb to the top. But, oh well.

 While we were still at the base of the Washington Monument, we saw a this helicopter come up. From the place it rose from, Dad guessed it came straight from the White House helipad. Is that cool or what?

 Since there was time before we needed to go to the car, we decided we would go to the National Museum of American History. It wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be, but I think we missed a lot of stuff, like the original ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz. I did like seeing the first lady's dresses though. That red one belonged to Mamie Eisenhower.

 On our way back to the car we stopped at the Jefferson memorial. It was really pretty but not especially memorable.

 That day was super memorable though. I love vacation.

Where do you like to take vacation?

The Captivating County Fair

Good day pleasant readers! Hi all! Libby and Marie-Grace here. A few days ago we had the pleasure of going to the county fair in our area.

The first thing I went to look at was my hummingbird poster, and it is going to the State Fair! Eeeeeeeeee!

 The first thing I went to look at was my cake. And yes, this is a cake. I covered it with fondant. It had got a very good score. At least, one the I was satisfied with.

 Here are some of the other cakes I saw. The green and purple flowered cake was the senior champion as well as being my favorite. Libby liked "the clown cake" best.

 My pie had gotten a blue ribbon. I don't see why! Marie's pies are fab!

At least the judges were smart with her Glazed Lemon Zucchini "cake". It was AMAZ!

Here is the embroidery I put in open class. Also, this Friday, I am putting it in an art show hosted by our church.

We were very happy for our piano teacher when we found her quilt had won first place in open class.

 While Libby looked at some other things, I surveyed the flowers in open class.

"Libby? Do you want to go inspect the animals now? I'm done examining the flowers." "Wow. Marie, isn't this AMAZ? These judges are smart after all."

"Look at the ity, bitty chicken! It's looking right at us!" "I do like ducks." "Doesn't that white one look like a duck in a nursery rhyme book?" "Look at the funny hairdo on that black one! And I used to say your hair looked funny!" 

 I've always wished I could have a rabbit. Me too.

When I was there, I decided all over again: I do not like pigs.

I do like sheep and goats . Our mother used to own goats when she was a little girl.  Does't that sheep on the bottom look like a wrinkled old granny sheep?

I like cows sometimes but not all the time. Fact.  Despite Libby's somewhat dislike of cows, we had a lovely time at the fair.

Have you ever gone to a fair?

P.S. It is now confirmed! We are going to Washington DC sometime in October. I can't wait!