Making our way to the Washington Mall

A nice shot of the Washington Monument.
Potter and Molly at the entrance to the World War II Memorial. That is my favorite memorial in Washington D.C. A definite one to visit if you have not done so yet.

A rare digital picture of me in front of the giant pool at the World War II Memorial, with Molly in the background.

The kids and I are putting our hands into the pool. That is, until a volunteer lady came over and told us we weren't allowed to do that. Caleb didn't understand this and was very upset. Screaming ensued!
The reflecting pond, with the Lincoln Memorial in the background. We did not walk down this time to the Lincoln Memorial, and likewise, we didn't see the Vietnam Memorial, which is right across the way.

Walking along Pennsylvania Avenue

A really cool view of the Old Executive Building. Walking around the perimeter of this building, it is so big you can't fathom it. We were wondering how much stone it took to construct!!
A shot of the fam in front of the White House. It was such a pretty day that it only made the White House that much more beautiful to look at.
A stately shot of the White House. Really gorgeous!!
Caleb makes it into a picture, in front of the White House no less. Notice that he is carrying his favorite item in the world, the ever-present green Starbucks straw!!

The Treasury Building. Potter said that the head of the Treasury Department must have a really, really large checking account!!

National Zoo - Elephants!

The elephant decided to walk around and get a drink while we were there. The kids all got a kick out of seeing him use his long trunk. It is amazing to see how big they are in person!

More National Zoo

The tiger finally decided to get up and move around a bit while we were there. I think he had been sedentary for a loooonnnnggg time and there was big excitement when he got up to stretch his legs.
The pandas are always a big draw at the zoo. Last time we were there in September of 2005, this 'baby' had just been born and was not on display. He is now something like 240 pounds and HUGE!! He looks just like Potter's stuffed panda does, sitting on his rear and chowing down on eucalyptus. It was really quick fun to see so up close and in person. We also saw the office where they have all of the panda cams that you can watch online at the National Zoo website. There is a women there who sits with a joystick to move the cameras whenever the panda decides to move around. It is very cool, you should check out the website.

A cute Potter and Molly picture right outside of the Panda habitat.

A tired Caleb who doesn't get to be the center of attention in pictures too much.

A mostly complete family shot of us in front of the Oryx. They are horse-sized animals with the longest horns I have ever seen.

Miscellaneous cute kids this weekend

This was too cute to pass up!! Caleb loves to help with the laundry, now he is the laundry!


Molly's doll Lavendar is getting some dinner. We had to use real spoons and real bowls. Thankfully, we didn't have to feed her real food. And there are no real poops to clean up either!



Caleb loves getting piggy back rides from Potter, and Potter is pretty strong to hold Caleb at that angle on his back. Two happy brothers!!

Caleb is stacking blocks!

Annual Poly Sci B-Mets game

Every May, the grad students in Dave's department put together a cookout at one of the B-Mets home games. There is a pavilion along the third base line where there are tons of tables and a fenced in area (good for keeping children in view), along with huge tables of hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken spiedies, and all the other usual baseball game fare. Everyone has a great time (there is a keg for the adults, so that helps out too!) and the kids can enjoy either watching the game along the fence line, where they are face to face with the outfield, watching the trains go by (behind the outfield) or they can run around and use up their energy! Luckily, the weather was perfect, nice and cool, no rain, and a little sun before it got later in the evening.

Caleb finally warmed out to not being held the entire night and started wandering around a bit. The visiting team's bullpen abutts the area where we picnic, so kids can go right up to the fence and chat with the players, get baseballs signed, etc....Caleb became fascinated with one of the relief pitchers (I think it was because he was so tall, at least to Caleb), that he kept going over to the fence to engage him. At last, he was able to get a high five from him and he turned around and ran straight back to Mommy!!!

Potter, Dave and Caleb enjoy the nice night, good view of the ballfield, and hanging out along the third base line (and the outfield).


Something rare: a family photo!! One of the spouses of a grad student offered to take this picture when the night was still young and all the kids were in good humor!


Nothin' better than a cold beer and keeping watch on the game.

Live action - feeding geese at Grippen Park

That noise you hear that sounds like an ultrasound is the massive wind that was blowing. Sorry, I didn't realize how loud it was until I loaded the video to blogger.

Feeding geese at Grippen Park

Potter with one of his friends at the Susquehanna River.

It is amazing how many friends you can make with just a couple slices of bread!!

Bat in our backyard

Yesterday, while having some friends over with their kids (which I did not get pictures of :( ) Potter noticed a bat that flew onto the back porch under the deck. We moved him back to the woods in a shovel (he was very unhappy about this and hissed and flapped his wings frantically) and he then attached himself to a tree. We are certain that he is ill or injured. Today, I got a picture of him on the tree. He has since fallen to the ground, although still alive, but I don't think he is going to last long. It was, however, a rare thing to see a bat this close up that is living and the kids did think it was a neat thing to experience.

Planting of the flowers

Home after Nanticoke, planting the flowers the kids selected in the pots and also planting the front bed with impatiens. Caleb, you'll notice, has gotten out his snow shovel and was happier shoveling than planting!!

Mother's Day Tradition

Our annual Mother's Day tradition, which occurs on the Saturday before Mother's Day, is to get flowers for planting in all the beds and pots around the house. This year, we went out to breakfast at Friendly's, since it is very close to our house, and the we went up to Nanticoke Gardens, which is our favorite nursery in the area. The kids just love picking out a whole rainbow of colors and with only a little bit of direction, they do a great job. I think that they would bring home one of each flower if we had the space!!


Potter and Molly at the pansies.

Picking out the perfect impatien is a hard job!!

Mother's Day - Flowers galore!!

All the marigolds at Nanticoke Gardens. This year we didn't buy marigolds since we have planted a ton of marigold seeds and hope that they will do well enough for us to have them in a pot in the front of the house.


The baskets this year at Nanticoke were absolutely beautiful and as you can tell, Dave and I had to duck down to avoid getting hit in the head by the fuscias. We ended up getting another Million Bells like we did last year.



When you first drive up and get out, you are immediately surrounded by a sea of pansies in just about every color and variety imaginable.


The most fun for the kids is, once a flower has been picked out, sitting it on the cart and then driving the cart all around the gardens!

My family with all of our flowers; we are ready to plant!!

The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have returned!

This afternoon, the Grosbeaks returned to our backyard to sample the black sunflower seeds in one of the feeders. I have gotten a picture of the male (who is the more colorful of the pair), but then after these were taken, another male and female came and spent quite a long time eating. The kids think this is so much fun!

An Indigo Bunting (we think!)

We are fairly certain that this morning while having breakfast, we spied an Indigo Bunting out on our feeder. With our new 'squirrel repellant feeders' we now see tons of cool birds in our back yard, including some rose-breasted grosbeaks, but we have not gotten good pics of them yet. The kids are having a lot of fun and learning how to identify tons of birds.

Our new addition to the family

Skipper is our newest family member. He joins his crabby friends Spike and Skittles. He seems to be adjusting well and making friends with Skittles. He follows him all around the crab tank. Spike, as usual, just keeps to himself. He is quite the loner. At least we've got a couple interesting crabs to enjoy!

Clark kids photo shoot

Potter, Caleb and Molly are such loving sibs...we are so lucky!!


I love how they love to be so close to each other, literally!!! What beautiful children, if I do say that myself!!

Molly's tattoo

Molly went to a birthday party this past weekend and her goody bag was eerily suited towards her love of Ariel and being a princess. She wore her new sunglasses all the time and kept walking around the house showing off her Ariel tattoo. Lucky for her, it didn't come off in the bath last night and she happily showed it to all of her friends at school today.

Caleb is 19 months old!

Make it fast! I am not sitting here much longer.


Hey, is that a huge truck going by?


I've had enough. I don't have time to waste on these pictures all the time. Gotta go!

This was my favorite shot of him this month. So angelic looking. Finally calm to sit for 30 seconds.

Potter is citizen of the month!

Potter was chosen from his class, by his teacher, as citizen of the month for April 2008 and was given an award this afternoon at Tiger Time in front of the entire student body. We are extremely proud of him and all of his fellow 'citizens' this month!