The Clark Family - This is Us

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Blueberries and dress up

All of us went to pick blueberries this past week; Caleb was especially cute.

Molly and Caleb played princess dress up, complete with shoes and lip gloss. Oh boy.

Caleb's soccer camp

Caleb was so happy to be doing soccer camp at his pre-school this summer. Here are highlights from his week.

Caleb with his team, ready to take on the opponent. (Caleb is third from left)

Caleb is there, saving the ball

Running with his teammates, trying to block their attempts at scoring

Caleb Clark (aka Taleb Tark) leading the way!!!

Caleb getting his award at the end of the game. This was SUCH a great week for him!!!

Random vacation pics

These are from my phone, not in any order whatsoever.....

All four of my kids on the hotel bed...

This is one tired pirate after a week at the beach

Our kids ***LOVE*** the metro in DC (flashin' their gang symbols too)

Toes in the fountain at Sculpture Park

Joyful kids on the way home after 12 days on the road. I <3 our kids!!!

After the parade (actually, we left 10 minutes early) we headed over to Air and Space where we were planning to have lunch and poke around. I think Michelle Obama would be horrified to know that the only food concessions in this Smithsonian Museum are McDonald's products!!!!!! How can the government endorse this kind of crap?? Really??? Seriously??? Ok, so after we all choked down nasty nuggets, fries and salads, we scooted over the the IMAX and bought our tickets for one of the movies. The kids really enjoyed seeing this, although Caleb was so tired (remember we have been on vacation for 11 days at this point) that he fell asleep during the movie. Afterwards, we wandered around, spent a lot of time in the Amelia Earhart section (the kid love the movie Night at the Museum 2) and walked through some of the old models of planes that have cockpits and partial cabin spaces. It was a fun afternoon, but it was hot and we headed back to our hotel for our ritual afternoon swim in the pool. We then ended our time in DC by having dinner at a restaurant owned by Ted Turner (Ted's in Arlington - such delicious food) and chilling out with Kate and Rob. What a memorable vacation!!

Cool planes hanging.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Kids in one of the cockpits.

Fourth of July parade

We were right at the corner, near the National Archives building. We wanted to take the kids inside to see the Declaration of Independence (they all love the movie National Treasure) but sadly, the line to get in stretched around two side of the block. No way were we standing in that line, in the heat, and then most likely missing the parade. We took cool pictures of the outside of the National Archives, then found our spot, right at the beginning of the parade, on the corner of Constitution Avenue. The following are highlights of the parade. It was an experience that I am glad we had, most likely may not have again.

The front of the National Archives building had a huge grandstand (for all those hoity-toity muckety mucks) and had music going. It is a beautiful building.

The parade began with all four branches of the military each represented by a division of soldiers. It is a beautiful sight to see all the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force servicemen. Rightfully they led the parade; they are the reason the United States stays strong. Thanks to all who serve or have served.

The 1776 re-enactors. I love these three cornered hats.

This man is touted to be the most 'realistic' Lone Ranger who currently performs. As is Silver.

Roller Derby chicks. They all had cool names on their jerseys.

Gigantic Fred Flintstone. Not sure what he has to do with our independence.

Super neat bicycles. One guy could stand on one foot and keep going. And it is a good 5 feet down from the seat.

The family of Hershey kisses, all represented. I totally approve of Hershey kisses, again, independence relationship escapes me.

Curious George goes to outer space. Working in DC might feel like outer space to some.

These guys were live (as in, they were real dudes standing on this float for probably 2 hours in the same pose) re-enacting the Iwo Jima flag posting. Truly made you proud to be watching.

When I saw this, I blurted out 'it looks like Easter threw up all over them.' The lady next to us thought I was hilarious. We laughed for a good 3 minutes. These dresses are, how do you say it, HIDEOUS!!!

Looks just the Michael J. Fox's delorean from Back to the Future. That is not the professor from the movie, though.

What parade is complete without the Anheuser-Busch horses, drivers and dalmation? The kids were flagging by this point - live animals helped out a lot to maintain interest.

Fourth of July in DC!! Sculpture Park

We spent Fourth of July day in DC proper. After getting off the metro, we discovered (why this didn't occur to us prior, we have no idea) that the parade was starting in about 15 minutes. We were right at Sculpture Park, this beautifully landscaped treasure, nestled in between a couple of long blocks. There is a huge fountain in the center with the sculptures fanned all around it. As it was really really hot, the kids and I soaked our feet in the fountain (which you are allowed to to, believe it or not. We got yelled at by an old lady docent at the WWII Memorial a couple years ago for the kids putting their hands in the water) which felt refreshing. The park was relatively quiet and calm, a nice serene spot to go in the middle of all the busyness and chaos of DC.

Legs and toes

My three treasures

My big treasure

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Vacation - Part II - DC/Arlington

We headed up to the DC area after the beach to spend a few days with our friends, Kate and Rob. Rob got us tickets to see the Nationals play the Pittsburgh Pirates (we had never been to that stadium before - really cool!) They have all these giant presidents that wander around and you can randomly walk up to them and have your picture taken. It was quite hot that day, but we ended up leaving our ticketed seats to find a cooler spot in the shade. Then Rob and Dave got me a milkshake from the Shake Shack. Best. Milkshake. Ever.

Me and the kids with Teddy Roosevelt.

Molly and Potter with Thomas Jefferson. I think Caleb was getting weirded out.

The ginormous scoreboard.

Our view of the field

Rob, and others who were not cooperating with the photographer

The Presidents race. These huge hulking beings do a run partway around the field. How they don't fall over and kill themselves is beyond me. Pretty entertaining, though!

Monday, July 25, 2011

PICTURE DAY!!!!

After not being 100% certain I would get all of the shirts done for all 14 of us, in an 11th hour rush, I stenciled and painted my little heart out. The result were these spectacular shirts that the individuals made look fabulous!!! Might be my greatest bulk production EVAH!!!!

Before the 'official' photos as the beach, some candid shots with some of the kids

On our way to the beach to find someone to shoot all 14 of us

This wonderful man, who we'd seen the whole week, graciously agreed to take multiple pictures on multiple cameras of our entire crew. Shots like this will make me weepy until I am 90!!!

And we needed a shot of the back of the shirts too - OKI!!!!!

Molly and Kate - girl time

Karoline shooting the guys - Tim, Bill, Dave <3

The ladies - Lin, Merrill, Karoline

Potter and Dave

Caleb, funny face and goggles; yup, he is going to be the class clown one day.....

Pirate Treasure Hunt

Surprisingly, Potter found an old bottle in the ocean one day that happened to have clues and a map that lead to some treasure right under our house, 'Pirate's View'. How fortunate for us to be in that house the same week that we found out there was booty there!!

Potter discovers the bottle bobbing around in the waves