View from a Metro

The ride in to DC on the Metro is quite scenic (if I remember to look!) Here's some shots I took from the Metro on the way in to the baseball tonight.


Crystal City, just south of DC is a collection of apartments and office buildings.

Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport is very close to Crystal City, and convenient for all travel within the US. Note the Capitol in the background.

Crossing over the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

Crossing the Potomac. Lots of construction going on in DC at the moment.

Not your average billboard - Funnily enough, it's at the Pentagon station.

Hockey 3 ...

Tonight, James and I, along with Bobby and his mate Dale, went to the Ice Hockey at the Verizon Center. But it wasn't just any hockey game. The Caps were in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Philadelphia Flyers. They had come back from 3-1 down to level the series at 3-3.

Outside the Verizon center, the scalpers had changed their tune. Instead of trying to sell tickets, they were trying to buy tickets. I had bought my tickets a week ago when it looked unlikely that there would be a game 7.

Red is the home colour of the Caps and everyone got a towel to whirl around. Bobby was very happy to be here, in row P (only goes to row Q!)

The game had everything and was tied 2-2 after 3 periods, which lead to sudden death overtime. To fire the crowd up, they use clips from famous movies. Here John Belushi from Animal House gives his inspirational speech which way too many people knew by heart.

The crowd were on their feet (and very red).

Can you spot the Flyer's supporters?

Unfortunately, the Caps conceded the golden goal with 7 seconds left on a power play, thus ending their season.

Here's how the Washington Post reported the loss the next day (the golden goal was scored off a rebound from the goalie which went the opposite way to what everyone expected).

It was loud throughout the entire game. Here's some video showing how loud it was.

Gemma's Birthday Party

Today, Gemma celebrated her birthday with a few friends. They played games, ate cake and opened presents. It was a suprise for Gemma, and she was definitely surprised!

The Next Wave

After a quiet couple of months, we welcomed some more visitors from down under. James, Josie and the boys are here to spend a few days with us.

Alyssa read to the boys.

Gemma taught the boys piano.

Sam and the boys got into Lego and dinosaurs, but no photos were allowed (secret men's business)

Liz took them to Mt Vernon, and found this appropriate quote for all visitors!

THE Wedding

Whilst we are enjoying our time here, there are times when we wish we were back in Australia.

Today was one of them as our good friend Emma got married today. To get in the spirit, we dressed up as we would have for the wedding (except the girls would have been involved, and so in the bridesmaids dresses etc.)

And for those of you who know us and don't recognise us, here's a more realistic photo of how we would have been at the wedding.

We also got a preview of the dress, but the image was embargoed until after the wedding.

Not sure about the hat Emma?

C&O Canal Bike Ride

Today the kids had a day off school for a student free day for the teachers. Sam spent the afternoon at a friend's house helping him with a Playstation Star Wars problem.

The girls and I went for a ride on a new (for us) bike trail, along the C&O (Chesapeake and Ohio) Canal. The canal parallels the Potomac and was built to bypass the falls (including Great Falls), connecting the upper reaches of the Potomac (Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia), with the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic. Much of the canal has been preserved.

We started from the Roosevelt Island car park on the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Virginia, and crossed the Key Bridge into the District of Columbia.

Once across the bridge we worked out how to get down to river level again and found the canal and track. During tourist season, they run towed canal boats up and down this section. It's still a bit early in the season and today was a very ordinary day, cool and slightly drizzly. This kept the crowds down and we had the path mostly to ourselves.

We stopped here hoping for an ice cream, but again it was too early in the season!
As you can see, the ride is flat and smooth. It was quiet and tranquil and we saw lots of wildlife (ducks, squirrels and the like).


We rode the path as far as Maryland, thereby riding through 2 states, plus the district.



Finally back on home turf, a pleasant 11 mile ride.

Odyssey Reunion

Today we had a reunion for the Odyssey of the Mind team at the local Italian Restaurant. The kids started off by decorating some T-Shirts.
Sam had some fun with spelling Odyssey.
How long until they can eat the cake?
One more task from the coaches involving a lot of polystyrene and pipe cleaners.
And the solution ...

The award ceremony for finishing in the top 3.