Tuesday Morning: Until Next Time

Tuesday morning, 8:30 a.m. "Parting is such sweet sorrow," but there's always next year.

Monday Night: Last Evening At the Pool

One last night at the pool. Even I went down the slide -- the BLUE slide! Of course, there could be no one sitting on the bleachers and nobody could go ahead of me in case I made a really big splash like Bruce did. After some serious slide time, Bruce and the cousins explored the rest of the pool.

Monday Afternoon: Badminton Tournament

Because of a wonderfully appropriate gift (THANKS, BRYAN & LAURA!) we had a great time playing badminton. OK, so Bruce won all five of his games and was easily the champion -- remember, Ben was still semi-sedated and in pain -- but it was a pretty close contest amongst the rest of us.

Monday Morning: Lego Lands

So can you tell which one was built by the females of the species and which was built by the male of the species?

Sunday Night: Bowl-O-Rama

Sunday night we headed up to the bowling lanes in Gaithersburg. No weenie duckpins for us tonight -- we were all about the real deal.

Sunday Afternoon: Pre-Tourney Badminton Practice

Some of us spent Sunday afternoon getting ready for the big tournament tomorrow . . .

Sunday Morning: Scarves & Hats

On Sunday morning we decided to lay low and rest up, as Grandma and Ben were still not 100%. The girls watched a movie and finished their knitting projects.

Zach sequestered himself in order to control the trauma of Harry Potter's grand finale.

And in the tradition of uncles everywhere, Bruce took a nap.

Saturday Evening: Chuck E. Cheese

A big finish on Saturday night! Grandma was not feeling well so she stayed home, but Ben made his first venture out after oral surgery. Not only did I apparently buy too many tokens (good thing Uncle Bruce had downloaded coupons), but the cousins were big winners, earning miles of tickets. I believe the final count was 1,112.



Zach and Bruce, rockin' the blue screen:

Saturday Afternoon: Tomb Of the Unknown Soldier & JFK Gravesite

Saturday afternoon, after cooling off in the Library Of Congress, we paid our respects at Arlington Cemetery. Very, very moving.

Saturday Afternoon: Library Of Congress

Saturday afternoon, in spite of mad crazy heat (100 degrees F outside!), we made it downtown in time to catch the 2:30 tour. Without a doubt, this is *the* most beautiful building in Washington. Note to 'rents -- Zach wants to apply for the Congressional Page program when he is a sophomore in high school. He would spend his junior year taking classes in this building every morning and executing his page duties in the afternoon; weekends he could crash at Uncle Bruce & Aunt Pat's.

Friday Evening: Gaithersburg Aquatic Center

Friday night was too hot to go to Wolf Trap, and "who is Bugs Bunny, anyway?" :-) So it was agreed that the pool was a far superior thing to do. I wish I had worn my bathing suit, seeing how much fun everybody had on the slide, but instead I got to take some good pictures.

Emily in the car on the way there:

The slide:

Zach was the first one to go down:
Katie was next:

Emily and Katie trying to avoid the big splash made by Uncle Bruce (see his hairy legs sticking up?!):

And some lovely parting gifts!:

Friday Mid-Morning: Cabin John Park & Potomac Community Center

Friday morning, while Ben was getting his teeth extracted, Bruce and Grandma and the cousins checked out the local park and the local community center.



Cleo made a new best friend!

Friday Morning: Free Time

Ben had to get his three remaining wisdom teeth pulled today, so Uncle Bruce & Grandma took the cousins to the park and to the recreation center. Then we had a delicious lunch of hotdogs and strawberry milk and had some free time.


And please note the score in this last picture -- when I took it, it was Katie 7 and Uncle Bruce 3 -- did not get any better -- Uncle Bruce ended up in Time Out for having a temper tantrum.

We did see the pandas yesterday @ the zoo

We did see the panda bears ... in case anybody is wondering ...

Friday Morning: Breakfast Waffles? Uncle Bruce's Are the BEST!

This was a HUGE plate of waffles -- at least 6 layers. They hoovered them, gulping them down between words of praise and some sheepish defense of their dad's waffles -- some mention of an old rusty waffle maker that makes the waffles taste "nasty"?

I am the waffle champion!
I am the waffle champion!
I am the waffle champion!

Thursday Night: Outdoor Activities -- Push Sister On Swing and Into Tree?

This was an interesting game. It started out innocently enough ... but then things turned ugly ...

Thursday Evening: Camp Cook Does Good!

Delicious! She's 1 for 1!

Thursday Afternoon: Smithsonian National Zoo

Wow, the Zoo is so much better than it used to be! I like that there were so many zookeepers and volunteers wandering around the exhibits, ready to answer any question that you might have. In this picture, the zookeepers were throwing lunch bags to the low-land gorillas -- filled with a carrot or two, lettuce, spinach, and ice cubes. When they were done, they ate the paper bags.


We all agreed that one of our favorite places was Amazonia, which featured some great underwater creatures.


We had lunch, and then we hit all of Zach's "must sees": komodo dragon, elephant, panda.

And one more stop at a misting station before going home to see what the Camp Cook had whipped up for us.