4/24/08
While we're being all patriotical...
...here's another tribute to our Armed Services. We went with Jon's family to the Air Force Memorial, which is one of our personal favorites to take visitors to. From far away, it looks like some sort of alien landing or some other weird object definitely out of place with its fellow DC monuments. But when you go there in person, it's SO impressive. Because these things are HUGE! And the arches are somehow so much more fascinating when you can see they're these massive pieces of solid metal leaning over you. Plus, the site offers a fabulous view of the city, and the monument is AMAZING at sunset. I love the way it turns pink and gold. The place has character.
So while we've taken many photos there before, of course we couldn't resist taking more, and we got a little creative. We got some pretty nice shots, and the best part is...no photoshop needed. That always makes us happy (especially considering the not-so-sweet-little-digital-non-SLR camera we have).
So while we've taken many photos there before, of course we couldn't resist taking more, and we got a little creative. We got some pretty nice shots, and the best part is...no photoshop needed. That always makes us happy (especially considering the not-so-sweet-little-digital-non-SLR camera we have).
The few, the proud
Jon's cousins are in the Timpview High Band and they got to come out to play in Cherry Blossom Festival! Among the tons of places they went, Jon got to go watch them play in front of Iwo Jima, where they were happy to run into the Marines practicing their routine. So I guess the Marines stood by and watched the whole time, which the high schoolers were obviously pretty excited about. Here are a few pics from the day.
Bureau of Engravin' and Printin'
While Jon's aunt, uncle and cousins were in town, we got the benefit of being part-time tourists, and the scored us some tickets to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a.k.a. the money factory. It was pretty fascinating to see how fast they bust those things out, but we learned that most of the money they're making is actually replacement bills, to jump in for all those sorry old bills that are falling apart. Turns out, the $1 bill has an average life span of 22 months, while the $100 bill has one of 30 years or so (or something like that).
It was interesting, quick, and to the point. We had probably the most excited tour guide I've ever heard, and I've never seen so many awful and corny jokes about money plastered everywhere, but we had a good time. And in the end, we even got to see how mcuh money we were worth by height, or how many stacks of $100 bills you could stack next to each of us from toe to head. Needless to say, we were both worth millions.
Thanks to the Hills for getting us in, and for being so fun to spend time with while you were out here! It was so great to see you!!! Tell everyone back in Utah hi for us!
It was interesting, quick, and to the point. We had probably the most excited tour guide I've ever heard, and I've never seen so many awful and corny jokes about money plastered everywhere, but we had a good time. And in the end, we even got to see how mcuh money we were worth by height, or how many stacks of $100 bills you could stack next to each of us from toe to head. Needless to say, we were both worth millions.
Thanks to the Hills for getting us in, and for being so fun to spend time with while you were out here! It was so great to see you!!! Tell everyone back in Utah hi for us!
4/23/08
The difference a little sunshine can make
So we ventured out among tourists a week later since we had family in town, and not only did we catch the tail end of the cherry blossom festival and some river dance performers on stage in from of the Jefferson, but the SUN was out!! I was so happy to catch some remaining blossoms and get evidence of them in full beautiful color. The difference in these pictures is amazing, especially compared to our first photo shoot that almost seemed to be in grayscale compared to these. I LOVE the sun!
The post that every DCer must have in April
Cherry Blossoms
Ahhh, springtime. At long last. Oddly enough, the blossoms came long before warmth did, and the day Jon and I set out to 'beat the tourists' bright and early at 7 a.m., was the day that turned out to be about 30 degrees, accompanied by a constant light drizzle of wetness. We FROZE! Besides freezing our fingers, we were pleased to see that both our coming early and the gloomy weather meant almost no one was there besides our cold little selves.
We took tons of pictures even though everything was kind of gray-ish, because that's what you have to do when there are cherry blossoms everywhere. Thank you Japan!! Since we have issues narrowing down our favorites, we're posting these in a couple segments to help them go down a little easier.
Ahhh, springtime. At long last. Oddly enough, the blossoms came long before warmth did, and the day Jon and I set out to 'beat the tourists' bright and early at 7 a.m., was the day that turned out to be about 30 degrees, accompanied by a constant light drizzle of wetness. We FROZE! Besides freezing our fingers, we were pleased to see that both our coming early and the gloomy weather meant almost no one was there besides our cold little selves.
We took tons of pictures even though everything was kind of gray-ish, because that's what you have to do when there are cherry blossoms everywhere. Thank you Japan!! Since we have issues narrowing down our favorites, we're posting these in a couple segments to help them go down a little easier.
The day we can all act like children on the Mall
The National Kite Festival
When you send it flying up there, all at once you're lighter than air...until someone gets over-ambitious with letting the string out as far as it can go without winding it back up in the handy-dandy string-holding handle when the kite drops and needs its slack tightened. I won't mention any names, but did I ever tell you that Jon can create a killer knot when he's left alone with a load of string? To Jon's credit, he kicked our kite into top notch, and Elmo flew record levels above most neighboring kites.
We went to the kite festival with our friends Odie and Tracy (who are loads of fun), equipped with some high-quality Target kites, and we of course ran into tons of Mormons on the Mall. Good clean fun always attracted our type. :) We had a blast and we were surprised how many people came. It was packed! We saw pirate ship kites, huge flying 3-D squares, and our favorite...a set of 3-D legs in running shorts. No body, just legs. Hot. We also stayed around long enough for the "chinese fighter kite wars," which were fascinating in that they took 3-6 people to control each kite, but kind of anti-climatic when it came to the fighting. We were expecting some killer speedy kite swooping, but we only saw gentle gliding and slight swaying into other participants' massive kites. Nonetheless, we cheered for the winners from Sweden (or somewhere like that).
Below are photos illustrating the kite scene, our kite flying joy, and the death of Elmo upon extreme string entanglement. You should have heard the way the kids screamed every time they saw Elmo flying--they all wanted one JUST like him.
When you send it flying up there, all at once you're lighter than air...until someone gets over-ambitious with letting the string out as far as it can go without winding it back up in the handy-dandy string-holding handle when the kite drops and needs its slack tightened. I won't mention any names, but did I ever tell you that Jon can create a killer knot when he's left alone with a load of string? To Jon's credit, he kicked our kite into top notch, and Elmo flew record levels above most neighboring kites.
We went to the kite festival with our friends Odie and Tracy (who are loads of fun), equipped with some high-quality Target kites, and we of course ran into tons of Mormons on the Mall. Good clean fun always attracted our type. :) We had a blast and we were surprised how many people came. It was packed! We saw pirate ship kites, huge flying 3-D squares, and our favorite...a set of 3-D legs in running shorts. No body, just legs. Hot. We also stayed around long enough for the "chinese fighter kite wars," which were fascinating in that they took 3-6 people to control each kite, but kind of anti-climatic when it came to the fighting. We were expecting some killer speedy kite swooping, but we only saw gentle gliding and slight swaying into other participants' massive kites. Nonetheless, we cheered for the winners from Sweden (or somewhere like that).
Below are photos illustrating the kite scene, our kite flying joy, and the death of Elmo upon extreme string entanglement. You should have heard the way the kids screamed every time they saw Elmo flying--they all wanted one JUST like him.
4/21/08
p.s.
and as for the recent "Meez" posting, let's all just get this out in the open that Jon doesn't really hold his hand over his stomach like that with whatever that weird wrist-flicking motion is, and I don't really make those seductive expressions with my eyes at everyone who walks past. But when you can deck yourself out as a cartoon, you might as well just go big or go home. Really.
Notice: good things to come
So someone at church yesterday so kindly informed me that Jon and I are very bad bloggers...referring of course to the fact that we take big blogging breaks, and then we send it all out in a smattering of posts and photos that is maybe a little too much of our life to take in at once. No hard feelings Julie, but only because you were completely correct. :)
Don't hold it against us. We're not gone, we're just slow.
But stay tuned, we're revving up for our latest marathon of posts. And when they come, don't forget to scroll on down...there's gonna be a lot of 'em.
Don't hold it against us. We're not gone, we're just slow.
But stay tuned, we're revving up for our latest marathon of posts. And when they come, don't forget to scroll on down...there's gonna be a lot of 'em.
4/7/08
Jon and Melissa Smeez
So, these homeys don't really look that much like us, but use your imagination.
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