A glimpse into the future

Last weekend we had some of my favorite visitors in town - Carrie, Jason, and Alan made the drive up from Houston to hang out with us for the weekend, which was a nice break from the painting extravaganza the weekend before.  I've always loved spending time with little Alan - he's just a sweet, fun kid and I love him to bits. And as a mommy-to-be of a little boy (boys! I need to brush up on dinosaur/Lego/truck/bug knowledge, I think), I think I got a glimpse into my future.  Let's just say if our little guy is anything like Alan, I probably need to learn more about trains.  Because trains are the most awesome thing ever.  So Craig did some strategic Googling and discovered that the Frisco Heritage Museum (who knew??) is the temporary home to interim exhibits for the Museum of the American Railroad (again, who knew?), and there's our Sunday afternoon.  Train time!!

We loaded up on homemade cinnamon rolls, spent some lazy time binging on HGTV and iPad time, and then made sure we loaded up on even more food at Platia so we had plenty of energy for the TRAINS.  After pretty much spending the morning eating, it was off to the trains.  And we had one excited little boy on our hands for the rest of the afternoon.

Trains are so awesome I love trains guys check me out on this train it's so cool!!  I love the enthusiasm.

Apparently I'm fascinated by trains, too, or at least when rivets and welding on the train combine to look with a face with a BACON SMILE.  Don't you think?!?

Tiny Alan. Ginormous train.  Happiness for a four year old.

Sweet, we even get to ring a train bell!

Now, I wouldn't exactly call the Frisco Heritage Museum the most spectacular museum I've ever been to. It's kinda tiny and adorable and doesn't have a whole lot going on, but it was perfect for some chill explorations on a beautiful weekend afternoon.  We spent a lot of time outside exploring the trains, but then inside we found a great treasure in one of the living rooms (styled for each decade!)...say hello to Duck Hunt.  The boys were thrilled.

Awww, father-son video game bonding time!

 Back out for one last train stop...

...and then our always-too-short weekend neared its end.  We also did plenty more eating and got in some quality playground time in the gorgeous weather (you're faking me out, Mother Nature - I know it's not spring yet) and played a round of Smash Up (thanks for the weirdly cool new game, sistah friend!) and just generally enjoyed friend time.  Yay for friend weekends!!

Science rocks

A couple of weekends ago I met up with the gals (before heading into work, of course!) for a delicious brunch followed by a couple of educational hours at the new-ish Perot Museum of Nature and Science - free member tickets courtesy of Kami's work connections, what what!  I was more than happy to be one of her honored guests since I have a nerdy love for all things museum.  Seriously, Smithsonianity (which I never quite tackled, but that was still a LOT of museums).

oh, hello downtown!

We watched this really cool building go from the ground all the way up during our Pdub days, and the sloped lines and crazy escalator encased in glass stuck to the side of the building were really kinda fascinating.  So I've been looking forward to actually checking out the inside of this thing for a while now.  Some highlights for you!

Just a small reality check on where we are.  You know, perspective and all.

Giant sea turtle attack from above!!

Seriously?!?  When??  Do they crawl into our mouths at night?  GROSS.

Heart rhythms, yeeps!

Crazy veins, super yeeps!

Come on, kid, you really think you can outrun a cheetah?  No way.

It was such a cool museum!  There are so many interactive exhibits, and a lot of the displays in dino land were North Texas specific - crazy that this alllllll used to be underwater. Pretty awesome way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Crazy cool building filled with super awesome sciencey stuff

Hill Country hi-jinks

Over Memorial Day weekend, I introduced Craig to the joys of Texas Hill Country by journeying to Fredericksburg with many good friends (all of whom have already managed to blog about this trip, whereas I'm the slacker who can't get around to it until two weeks after the fact) - and we had such a fantastic time.  Some of the details...

Vaughns picked us up for the trip down on Friday morning, and it's just impossible to head south on I-35 without making a stop at the Czech Stop.  Where else are you going to get your second breakfast of kolaches and awesome things like jalapeño peanut brittle?  Which is delicious, by the way - basically normal peanut brittle with a little kick at the end, and it just happens to be an unnaturally bright green. 

Our relatively painless trip continued with a stop for lunch at Hyde Park Bar & Grill in Austin (one of my favorites!)...

...and another very important stop in Blanco for a tour at Real Ale.  It was remarkably information and really fun, even if it was a little bit hot and windy, which made the trip into the massive beer cooler and our frosty samples all that much better.  Go forth and drink Fireman's #4, y'all!

We successfully made our way to Fredericksburg, picked up the keys to our extremely adorable rental house for the weekend, and quickly met up with the Reynolds to go grab dinner at Ausländer, which was extremely German and extremely delicious and fondly reminded the Vaughns and I of our extremely awesome time in Germany...and provided extremely large beers, which made Craig extremely happy.

We spent the rest of the night chilling at home, welcomed the Keffers, and turned in early to accomplish a very important vacation goal - rest rest rest.  The next morning Uncle T manned the kitchen to turn out a very tasty breakfast, then we hit the streets to take on another very important vacation goal - shopping!!  So many cute, cute things in this town.  I'm 100% in love with red and basically want to buy everything in that entire store, but I resisted.

More German awesomeness at Rathskeller for lunch, then more shopping...

I'm obsessed with all things kitchen-related, and especially whisks...

A stop at the toy store resulted in a very entertaining puppet show for Gracie

We then spend a very large chunk of the afternoon and evening on the spacious patio at Silver Creek, enjoying some beverages and tasty food and delightful live music, even if it was a touch on the warm side...I mean, Gracie needed a dose of water on the head, which very obviously lead to a stylish mohawk.

A relaxing evening at home consisted of a rousing round of horseshoes (Craig and I were the undefeated weekend champs!!  Ok, yes, only two games were played, and if Mrs. Keffer had played us again with any partner at all, I'm guessing we might have gone down...the girl has a knack for horseshoes), an excessive amount of pie...

Can you say margarita key lime, buttermilk, cherry, and peach praline?  Maybe a little bit overboard, but I'm a firm believer that there's no such thing as too much pie

...and quality front porch time.  Thank goodness for the sun going down and some cooling breezes.

The next morning we had a museum contingent (Admiral Nimitz Museum and National Museum of the Pacific War) and a home contingent, and let me just say that the museum contingent had their heads filled with more than they ever knew about what went on in the Pacific during World War II.  I could have spent days in that musuem.  I actually had no idea that Admiral Nimitz was raised in Fredericksburg.  And did you know that Craig's dad served on the USS Nimitz?  I was actually really impressed with everything the museum covered.

After a heavy morning of war and submarines and Operation Toenails, we certainly needed some relief in the form of Mexican food for lunch.  Nothing like margaritas to get your mind right.

Get your mind right for visiting wineries, that is.  We made our way to Rancho Ponte, Grape Creek, and Becker for a wonderful (though very windy) afternoon of tastings...

...and glasses enjoyed and live music and this close to crawling moments for Baby Grace (don't judge us for enticing her with wine)...

...and generally wonderful times with friends and even a few moments of flying through the air.

We picked up pizza for dinner and relaxed at home.  It was wonderful.  The porch swing and I became very good friends.

Check out the full photo spread from the weekend.  Perfect.  Other than The Lampasas Blow-Out.  Which involved a diaper rather than a tire.

Autumn light

If I'd known you were coming, I'd have baked a cake

Oh, wait...I did!  Last weekend two of my best gals came to town for some much needed girl time (and a reunion of the never-formed middle school girl rock band Erin & The Karries/Carrys/Kerries), and I decided we needed a cake.  For breakfast.  That's how I roll.  Plus remember all those apples?  I have to do something tasty with them.  I give you cranberry apple cake, which was at its best in breakfast form with some whipped cream.

Now that I've addressed the cake...on to our weekend.  Oh, wait, one more specific food/beverage item.  There's a fabulously beautiful pitcher I picked up in Spain - I realize your first photographic introduction to it is happening right now, sorry about that - and there's only one thing to do with this pitcher: fill it with sangria.  Pour that sangria into three glasses, accompany with cheese and crackers and grapes, and proceed to have GirlFest Talk Session for hours.  That's what Friday night was for.

After starting Saturday with healthy breakfast fruit (ahem, fruit in cake form), fortifying ourselves with coffee, and generally annoying the cat...

I believe someone has claimed the bed...

...we had a quick (and actually relatively healthy) lunch at Chop't (straight-up salads, ya'll!) in my neighborhood before heading out to Georgetown for an afternoon of shopping.  Since shopping is exhausting, we rounded out the afternoon with a random Erin-narrated driving tour of various parts of DC, then chilled with a down period at home.  More cheese, more crackers, and some Breakfast at Tiffany's.  Yes, please.  We then took Kerry to Virginia for the first time (check it off the list!) and picked up the boy for dinner - Mexican food at El Paso Cafe! 

All about that Mexican food!

We followed up our plates of cheesy goodness with dessert and wine at Grand Cru, where I apparently was rather focused on attacking my fondue.  Melted chocolate is pretty delish.

Chocolate, you are mine!!

Sunday adventures - we took a lap through the Air and Space Museum, pausing to reflect on such crazy things as people actually coming up with the idea to fly and to oh yeah GO TO OUTER SPACE.  Oh, and I made the girls pause in the middle of the street for a picture.  Don't worry, there's space for this...not smack dab in the middle of the vehicles...

We then headed over to the Musuem of the American Indian for lunch (I know, it's the only place I ever eat over there - it's just SO good!), and then a failed attempt to tour the Capitol.  I forgot it wasn't open on Sunday.  Oopsie.  And the Library of Congress isn't open on Sunday, either.  Drats.  But Starbucks is!  We walked over to Union Station, appreciating the beautiful fall weather and foliage along the way, and enjoyed some warm and tasty beverages.  Then, since nothing of historical significance seemed to be working out, we shopped again.  I'm very skeptical of this whole skinny jeans thing, especially on my non-skinny legs, which is why you need supportive and honest friends for the process.  I think it could be a possibility...

After further shopping adventures, we made our way home via the White House and a quick pass through the presidential portraits at the National Portrait Gallery.

After some tasty pizza at Matchbox, we dropped off Carrie at Union Station (boo - stay forever!), and then Kerry and I took our tired selves home and laughed our way through When Harry Met Sally.  I really think that might be my favorite movie.  Oh, and of course we stayed up too late and talked and talked and talked.  And Harrison did eventually warm up to everyone, even if he was being a little pushy about having lap space ONLY, no petting, thank you.  Silly boy.

I took a lot of pictures.  Check them out here.

A couple of my forever people here.  I think I'll hang onto them.  Love you girls.

Museum hopping? Not so much, says Mother Nature

Last Sunday I set out with grand plans to fully explore the Dupont Kalorama Museum Walk and hit up some of the museums that I didn't see last year on this same freebie weekend.*  I mapped out my plan of attack (literally - pulled up the map online and figured out my best walking path since I didn't want to deal with waiting in shuttle lines), which involved Anderson House - The Society of the Cincinnati, Dumbarton House, Fondo del Sol, and possibly another stop at my favorite from last year, the Phillips Collection.  Operation Do-Something-Kinda-Cool-Instead-of-Wasting-Away-the-Weekend is a go!

However, I got a bad feeling when I popped out of the Dupont Metro stop and was greeted with a sky that looked something like this**:

 

Hmmm...looming stormclouds don't exactly bode well for going from museum to museum.  Spending time inside a museum, yes, but I really didn't want to do more than quickish stops at each one - this was not going to be some Louvre experience.***

 

I had just made my way to Anderson House, headquarters of the Society of the Cincinnati, when the first raindrops began to attack.  I did at least have my umbrella, but flip-flopping around wet sidewalks, getting caught in errant rainstorms, and admiring beautiful gardens from indoors wasn't exactly what I had in mind.  So...I made the most of Anderson House.

Minor history lesson:  The Society of the Cincinnati was founded at the close of the Revolutionary War by the American officers and their French counterparts basically as a reason to get together every now and then and hang out to preserve the rights and liberties for which they had fought and to foster the bonds of friendship that had been formed among them during the long years of war.  At some point along the line they needed a fancy headquarters, and Anderson House, a Beaux-Arts mansion that was originally the winter home**** of an American diplomat (and member of the Society of the Cincinnati) and his wife, fit the bill in 1938.

Some additional tidbits for you:

• George Washington was elected the Society's first president general, a position he held until his death in 1799.
• The Society of the Cincinnati is the oldest private patriotic organization in the United States.
• Anderson House is filled with all kinds of crazy-cool art, including four hundred year old tapestries they're restoring, a large collection of Asian art, and painting of every shape and size, including a particularly impressive in scale painting by José Villegas - The Triumph of the Dogaressa Maria Foscari - depicting a fifteenth-century coronation in Venice.  I was in awe.*****

• Want to join?  You'd better be an eligible descendant of commissioned officers of the Continental army and navy and the French army and navy who served in the Revolutionary War. 

Oh, and you know what I realized after the fact?  Anderson House is always free.  Too bad I didn't get my freebie's worth on the typical $8 admission to the Dumbarton Oaks gardens or weekend $10-12 (free - with suggested donation - during the week!) at the Phillips Collection.  But I did get to see a pretty old house! 

The raindrops persisted, so I treated myself to a BGR burger (burgers are known to cure many ailments, including rainy day blues) and Metro'd home to watch the raindrops instead of walk in them.

* Why is it that we're drawn to things when they're advertised as "free free FREE!!" even though we wouldn't mind shelling out the $10 or so for what would likely be a more enjoyable experience since said experience would likely be less filled with all those other people who came just because it was free?  Just a thought.

** Ok, it didn't look something like that - it looked exactly like that.  Isn't that one reason to haul the camera around?  This way I don't have to come home and draw pictures and get out watercolors to approximate storm clouds.  Geez.

*** And, with a slightly ironic twist, my adventures in the Louvre with Carrie and Jason a couple of summers ago...extended by a rainstorm!  If it hadn't been for that rainstorm inspiring us to stay indoors just a little while longer, we might have missed the Code of Hammurabi and cool Egyptian things.

**** Again with the irony - a winter home in Washington.  What's wrong with Key West??  Oh, fine, you're a diplomat and need to hit up the hot social scene in the nation's capital between New Year's and Easter and host people like Winston Churchill and a couple of presidents.  Gotcha.

***** In case you can't tell what I'm in awe of, it's that giant painting behind my head.  It really was very impressive.  Here's a closer shot of the middle that my head is actually blocking:

Those empire waists really do wonders for the lower body!