Daddy/Daughter Weekend Day 2

Sometimes, I get lucky and things come together by random chance and good moods. This was one of those lucky days.

Today was clear, crisp, and sunny: a perfect outside day. After breakfast - spent sitting at the table reading the Sunday Washington Post (with Geek Girl reading the kid's pages and stealing the comics from me when I wasn't looking) - Geek Girl and I decided to go to the National Zoo to introduce Wholegrain The New Kitty Santa Brought to Tai Shan and the tigers. We walked to the Metro to maximize sun time and chatted the whole way. Much of the walk was taken up with a very complex story involving the Animal Agents (superhero animals that save the day in myriad ways) that I won't try to repeat here.

Geek Girl kept wanting to know how many "points" she was earning -- she gets 100 points for every mile she walks, and the points are redeemable for whatever treats Mama Geek and I deem appropriate. She sometimes plays along with this, but often you can detect the eye rolling already underway. Today, she played along.

Geek Girl Magic Moment #1: "Daddy, I'm glad Mama and [Auntie Geek] are having fun. Mama takes care of me a lot. You don't get to take care of me very often because you have to work. We should have more days like today."

Once at the zoo, we walked through the Asia Trail, stopping along the way to see the fishing cats and watch the otters wrestle. Geek Girl read and asked about all the interpretive signs, and eventually we reached Tai Shan the panda, who was lunching on bamboo and soaking up the sun. Geek Girl "gave him a letter saying Happy New Year" (I just repeat it; I don't explain it) and then announced it was lunchtime. After a quick stop, we headed on down the hill, stopping in the Small Mammals building and the Reptiles building and for extended visits to the elephants, tigers, and lions.

Geek Girl Magic Moment #2 was the extended joyous amazement I felt while watching the flashbulbs of learning going off in her mind as Geek Girl alternated between intense reading of the interpretive signs and questions to me about various aspects of what she was seeing. "Daddy, what would you do if there was an elephant soooo big it could jump over the railing and walk around? Or soooo small it could duck under the electric fence and walk around?" "Daddy, what does 'om-ni-vor-ous' mean?" "Daddy, I learned that a woman's ov-i-duc-ts and a lizard's don't go to the same place. And *you* don't have o-vi-duc-ts! And what is a u-ter-us anyway?" (This exchange was particularly funny as there was a grandmotherly lady standing there reading the same sign and trying not to laugh, especially about me being informed I lack Fallopian tubes.) "Wow, that tiger sure looks hungry. I hope it doesn't swim across the moat and climb up here. You know, tigers are really good swimmers, Daddy." "Daddy, what would you do if the tiger came to get us? I think I'd have to fight it. I'm a Super Dragon, you know." "Daddy, that donkey was sooooo soft and fuzzy!" At one point, a random dad we had repeatedly run into said, "Wow, that sure is a little girl with one big personality!" That about sums it up.

We left the zoo only because it was closing and only after promises to return soon to see all the other stuff we didn't see, and walked up the hill into Adams Morgan where we found a small playground for Geek Girl to enjoy as the sun set. Next stop: coffee (for me), hot chocolate (her), and small snacks (both of us) while we warmed up, and then a walk to the Dupont Circle metro.

As we left the coffee place: "Daddy, tell me another Little People story! It's been sooooo long since you told me one." [For those who don't know: the Little People are really small people who live in our apartment and go on adventures around it, experiencing everyday objects as huge mountains, lakes, vines, fields, etc. Each story has a mystery Geek Girl has to solve, like the time the Little People visited the Cave Monster (my tongue as I snored with my mouth open) under Two-Cave Mountain (my big schnoz). The Little People first appeared when Geek Girl was freaked out about a small boogie boarding accident and I needed to calm her down by giving her a puzzle to solve. They've been a hit ever since. Desperate fathers take note: some spur-of-the-moment things are winners, but be prepared for them to last.] This time, the Little People went on a three-day journey from Geek Girl's bedroom, through her bathroom, and to the bananas on our counter for the Festival of the Yellow Tubes. This story carried us all the way back to East Falls Church, and then we walked home with Geek Girl talking about the different types of dragons and various other Animal Agents.

We stopped off for dinner at a local place where Geek Girl Magic Moment #3 happened: spontaneous consumption of vegetable matter. In mid-sentence, she looked down at her plate and said with immense seriousness: "I'm going to eat one of those carrots. Super Dragons don't usually eat carrots, 'cause we're predators, but I'm going to eat you, Mr. Carrot." And she did. I asked her to eat another one, and this time the response was: "Super Dragons don't usually eat carrots, but sometimes they will if their Daddies tell them to." "Good, sweetie, now finish that one, please."

We rounded out the day with a game of Monopoly, Jr. and a book before Geek Girl headed to bed. She fell asleep almost instantly and is now happily snoring away, which is hardly surprising when you consider that she earned about 600 points today and probably asked just as many questions along the way.

Daddy/Daughter Weekend Day 1

Auntie Geek is visiting us for a couple of weeks, and she and Mama Geek are off on a sister's trip to New York this weekend. That means Geek Girl and I are on our own for a Daddy/Daughter Weekend. I've really been looking forward to it, and I didn't realize how much Geek Girl has as well.

Yesterday was grey and damp, but above freezing for the first time in a while. Geek Girl and I drove Mama Geek and Auntie Geek to their bus for New York, and then headed into DC to pass a drizzly day. First stop: the National Building Museum, which we had heard was full of fun things for kids and certainly was full of families when we visited. Unfortunately, Geek Girl was bored by the activities, which were aimed at younger kids or kids more interested in buildings and architecture, so after about an hour, we headed off the National Museum of the American Indian, where Mama Geek and Auntie Geek lunched the other day; they highly recommended it.

Geek Girl Magic Moment #1 came on the way into the museum, when she spontaneously grabbed my hand and informed me very seriously of the top five things I do that show her that I love her, including this gem: "You take me to museums and explain things to me, even when I ask a lot of questions." (Have we ever mentioned she's inquisitive? An hourlong visit to a museum can easily involve a dozen or more "Daddy, why...?/Well, sweetie,..." exchanges.)

Geek Girl enjoyed her chicken fingers while I ate venison with greens and cornbread (yum!), and afterward, Geek Girl led us on a tour of one of the galleries. She was interested in the different interpretations of the universe that were held by the different cultures, and especially in the loop of videos showing traditional stories on stars and constellations. We also enjoyed some music and a little talking time before deciding to head home via Dairy Godmother in Alexandria (highly recommended). We had a low-key dinner and read books together before bedtime.

Geek Girl Magic Moment #2 came when she cuddled up with me on the couch, put her head on my shoulder, and said very seriously: "Daddy, I really love it when you read me bedtime books even when you're tired." A very nice way to end the day.

Waiting for relief

Actually, it's not that bad. Now last night, when Girl Geek was literally bouncing off the walls and saying "I'm not tired, I'm not tired", that's when I needed relief. But the end is in sight I hope.

Daddy Geek and Auntie Geek have both landed. Daddy Geek is at Dulles waiting for his big suitcase. Normally he avoids checking a bag, but since I insisted he be a gift courier, he brought the big suitcase. Auntie Geek is at National waiting for a taxi. Since the airport metro station is closed, the demand for taxis is a little higher than normal.

Girl Geek is in the bathtub, warming up after playing in the snow. After writing messages in the snow (with her gloves) and making a couple of snow angels, we ended up at a nearby parking lot. We built a volanco and some dinosaur nests. It was just like playing with sand, except that it was cold and wet. When we wandered over to the basketball court we found that someone else had built an igloo.

School has been cancelled for tomorrow, but we don't know if Daddy Geek will be going in or not.

Snow & Cookies

Daddy Geek left on Saturday morning and Sunday morning Geek Girl and I woke up with colds. Geek Girl has been well enough to go to school and I've been suffering from sinus congestion, but we're okay. Auntie Geek was supposed to arrive in the wee hours of this morning, but there's this little snowstorm here that has canceled flights and things.

They joke around here is that anytime snow is predicted there is a run on bread, milk, and toilet paper at the grocery store. I was at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's yesterday morning and it wasn't too bad, but I'm sure it got worse as the day went on. I was stocking up on yummy things to eat with Auntie Geek (oh well) and baking supplies.

So, Geek Girl and I have been doing some Christmas baking. Check out these cute reindeer cookies.


Geek Girl wanted me to say that the cookies look yummy.

I'm trying to take it easy and being very careful to wash my hands frequently and not cough in the direction of the dough and baked products.

Here are some pictures of the snow on our balcony. Daddy Geek told me I should take Girl Geek out and I'll probably regret not doing so due to hyperactivity, but I don't feel like dealing with sopping wet child by myself.

An appropriate saying on our balcony door.


And a shot of the door from the floor.


Depending on how quickly the school bus routes get dug out there may or may not be school on Monday. And who has school the week of Christmas anyways? Virginia does because they don't start until after Labor Day.

Daddy Geek and Auntie Geek are both scheduled to arrive tomorrow afternoon (at different airports). Daddy Geek was planning to taxi home anyways. I'd like to pick up Auntie Geek, but I'm not sure if I should really be out on the roads. Right now the above ground metro stations are closed, including the one at National Airport, but hopefully it will be open tomorrow.

Checkers

Geek Girl and I have a cold this week and since we were out yesterday, we ended up at Wendy's for dinner. Geek Girl's toy was a travel checkers set. I've been too tired to play her, but she's been willing to play her right hand "Rightie" against her left hand "Leftie". Last night Rightie won, and today Leftie won (or the other way around). It's kind of cool that she's patient enough to finish a checkers game now.

Our little tree

It's been a busy week with classes, playdates, dinners, and a birthday party. So busy we kind of forgot to bathe Geek Girl. Oops.

Anyways, somewhere in there we found time to set up the tree. Our challenge? How to get a Christmas tree home in a two-door car? Solution: small tree on top of the TV stand. (We don't have a TV anyways).

Here's our cute little tree (and of course cute Geek Girl).


This morning Daddy Geek was going to take a taxi for his annual trip to his San Francisco conference. However, the taxi arrived earlier than scheduled and then took off because Daddy Geek was busy getting ready rather than answering his mobile phone. Fortunately I was up, so I woke Geek Girl up and we drove Daddy Geek to the airport and watched the sun rise on our way home.

So now Geek Girl and I are on our own for over a week. But Auntie Geek will be here in a week!

Cool Field Trip

Geek Girl came home today with a permission slip for a field trip in January. Her class is just going on a field trip to The Capitol. How cool is that? Hmmmm... maybe I need to email the lead room parent to see if they need any more chaperones... Or Auntie Geek and I will have to go by ourselves while she's here.

Edited to add: Woohoo! I am officially a chaperone for the field trip.

Here comes the snow...

This weekend the area had its first snow. Saturday morning started with rain which turned into snow. Here is the snow curl that formed on our balcony.


And here is the view of the neighboring area from our balcony.


Saturday night we had our first raclette of the season and unfortunately the snow kept away some of our guests, but we still had fun. Hmmmmmm... raclette.

On Sunday morning there was blue sky, so we headed to the C&O canal to go for a snow walk.


Geek Girl had fun making fox prints with her new snow boots. Thanks Nai Nai!


And Daddy Geek and Geek Girl made me a snowheart.


We also ran into a bunch of feeding ducks. One of them was not like the others. This guy had a blue beak. Daddy Geek tells me it's a pintail duck.


And the male mallards had the brightest green we've ever seen on ducks.


However, it was starting to get colder and some of us were getting hungry, so it was time to turn around and head back to the car.


Note: edited to fix type and add pintail duck

Art on the Walls

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. For Turkey Day itself, we went over to my cousin's for the main meal and it was great fun for Geek Girl to play with the girls and neighbor boy and we had fun meeting cousin's friends.

On Friday, we sent Geek Girl to art camp. She likes art, we would have six hours without her, what can go wrong? Well, someone forgot to open up the community center on time, but we were able to clean out the front room and she created three works of art.

And so finally, after living here almost eight months, we finally have art on the walls. Here is Geek Girl's latest creation. A Sophie Harding inspired giraffe.


And Ansel Adams flanked by a couple of Uncle K prints.


On Sunday, Geek Girl woke up early and it was a clear day so we decided to head down to the Mall and go up the Washington Monument. Daddy Geek dropped me off at 8:30 am and the earliest we could get tickets was for 11:30 am. So we headed down to Gravelly Point to watch planes land. Hopefully Daddy Geek will post the video soon.

We also had the opportunity to walk *in* the reflecting pond as we were waiting for our ticket time.


It was a nice Thanksgiving weekend, but I wish it had been earlier so we would have more time to get ready for Christmas.

note: Edited to change nine months to eight months. Apparently I can't count these days. I have confirmed that I can still do simple derivatives, but unfortunately my integration is not as quick as it used to be.

Hysterically funny hysteria

Via this post on this epic thread on reddit, I have just come across one of the funniest Web sites I've ever seen seen. Mama Geek and I spent several minutes laughing and giggling hysterically. Highly recommended.

Thanks, pigferret!

Clothes Organization

Most of Geek Girl's clothes hangers are the pink, orange, green, and blue ones from IKEA. She's been running low on hangers so I picked up some white hangers from Target yesterday. Last night when I went into her closet, I found that she had taken her white shirts off of the colored hangers and put them on the white hangers.

Have I mentioned that Daddy Geek's shirts are grouped by color? My clothes are lucky if they stay on a hanger.

Rock Creek Ramble

Last Sunday was a beautiful crisp fall day, perfect for a late morning stroll through Rock Creek Park. Geek Girl was happy to find a stick for making dragon footprints -- have we mentioned she is no longer a tiger, but rather a dragon these days?


She walked ahead of us down the trails, which were blanketed with pretty fall leaves:


That meant Mama Geek and I enjoyed the relatively rare pleasure of holding each other's hands, rather than Geek Girl's hands, which made the hike extra nice for us.

We went up one of the side trails, and then linked up with a main trail alongside the creek itself. It certainly lives up to the name:


We also found a hollowed-out tree trunk alongside the trail -- watch out for wild dragons!


Geek Girl also was happy to meet several dogs and a horse along the way. She gathered many acorns for her nature collection, and "planted" a bunch as well. After an hour or so, we stopped for a snack along the creek and then headed back to the car and off to one of our favorite restaurants, A&J in Annandale (spicy wontons, potstickers, and soup dumplings - yum!), for lunch. All in all, a very nice Sunday outing.

A Long Overdue Visit to Milwaukee

My mom died when I was two. I would try to keep in touch with that side of the family, but it was hard. The last time I saw my grandma was in 1996. After Geek Girl was born we kept saying we had to go visit her, but we never got around to it. So part of our reason for picking Chicago as a destination was its proximity to Milwaukee.

On Friday night my aunt and uncle had driven down to Chicago for a meeting and they took us out to dinner in Chinatown. Saturday morning we had breakfast in the condo and had fun watching a "boat" parade pass by below.


After my aunt and uncle picked us up we drove up to Milwaukee to see my grandma. She's 96 years old and still doing great. I think she was quite happy to meet Daddy Geek and obviously very happy to meet Geek Girl.

Here are some pictures of the family reunion.

(Addition by Daddy Geek: note that four generations of Mama Geek's family are in this picture!)


Tai Po had fun stealing kisses from Geek Girl. We thought Geek Girl was rubbing them off, but she said that she said she was rubbing them in.

My uncle is recently retired and one of his projects has been scanning in family pictures. I was thrilled to receive a CD of pictures of my mother and her family. More than a few tears were shed. I was very happy that we had finally made the trip. Afterwards we went out to lunch and then my aunt drove us to Chicago O'Hare to catch our flight home.

Windy City - Day 2

Our second day in Chicago was, shall we say, a bit more focused. We started off the day with a visit to the Chicago Children's Museum, followed by -- oh, who are we kidding? We spent the day at the Chicago Children's Museum, which was definitely worth every penny of the $10/person we paid.

Geek Girl and me at Navy Pier

Among other cool things about the Children's Museum is that they let adults play, too. Kids can just climb the stairs or take the elevator to the top floor to play. Or they can climb up a rope structure, across a rope tunnel bridge

and then along some wooden bridges to the same place. And they even let Daddy Geeks do the same...umm...not that I did that or anything...

The Children's Museum had a bunch of fun activities. Kids can dig for dinosaur bones, make flying machines out of foam rubber and then test them in a 2-story tower, play in the Inventing Lab, make skyscrapers, and more and more. They have some cool displays where digital raindrops fall from the sky and interact with your shadows - you can shelter each other from the rain, cup your hands to collect the rain, and more.

Now, a brief diversion. Back in Switzerland, Geek Girl loved Kindercity - a kid's museum just outside Zürich with lots of fun activities. In particular, Geek Girl loved the exhibit that let kids make artificial rivers, float boats down them, control the flow, etc. She liked it so much that she has asked us to take her there again more than once. And yes, she knows how long it takes to get there. ("Daddy, we just get on the plane and fly. And we can stay for a few days. We'll go to Kindercity and the zoo and see my friends. And then we can come home. Mama doesn't even need to go with us.")

Well, now we have found a Geek Girl-approved acceptable substitute: the WaterWays exhibit at the Chicago Children's Museum. We saved this room for last, knowing how she would react. And boy, were we right. Geek Girl and I spent several hours in this exhibit, playing with the big river they have, changing the flow and seeing the results, and as you can see, floating boats downstream:


We were here so long that Mama Geek was able to duck out for an hour and a half for an afternoon snack at Xoco -- and Geek Girl was unaware Mama Geek had even left. Of course, I had no fun whatsoever and was only faking it for my daughter's benefit. I mean, how much fun can you really have making artificial rivers, dams, and weirs, and then having a dam break and watching the flood run downstream. Honestly, I ask you. Yeah, about that much fun - we had a blast.

Geek Girl's review: "It was the best thing with water I've ever seen. I wish Daddy Geek could get me a water table like that with a lock!" (Note: she started dancing just now - three weeks later - when I asked her about it. Not that she's excited or anything.)

We left only because the museum closed for the day, and even then the only way we got her out the door was to promise to take her to the ferris wheel at the pier, where I took this picture of Mama Geek and Geek Girl:

and she took this one of me and Mama Geek:


Auntie Geek is coming for a visit in December, and she and Mama Geek are planning a trip to New York while she's here. Which of course means Geek Girl and I will be on our own. Geek Girl is already making plans: "Daddy, it's not very far to Chicago. We can just fly there, go to the water exhibit, play, and then we can fly home. We can even stop to have some pizza if you want. Mama won't mind. (bat eyes)"

Trip to the Windy City - Day 1

After seven months in the area, it was time for a trip to new territory. Several days of debating and Web searching later, we had tickets for a whirlwind tour of Chicago, followed by a special trip that I'll let Mama Geek write about. Some incredibly generous relatives of Mama Geek let us take up temporary residence in their spectacular condo right near Navy Pier (Direct quote from The World Traveling Geek Girl: "This is awesome!" Daddy Geek: "Holy ----!"), and we got to enjoy the High Life (the condo was on the 27th floor)...

Our first day started with this great sunrise over Lake Michigan:


and after getting organized, we took the CTA to breakfast at the Bongo Room (huuuuuuuuge pancakes in multiple exotic flavors, plus darn good coffee). We then waddled off to the Field Museum (free on Thursdays!), where Geek Girl met Sue:


and spent some time practicing palaeontology in the Crown Family PlayLab:

(which also has a great music room where you can make as much noise as you like with taiko drums and other percussion instruments, among other things). We spent a few hours at the museum, going through the evolution and geology exhibits in addition to the Play Lab - very definitely worthwhile.

And now, a word from Geek Girl: "I got a toy T-rex and I named her Sue, Jr. after Sue. Mama gave me the money and I put it in a machine that made Sue, Jr. out of plastic. She's red and stands on a stand. The stand says 'T-rex' on one side and 'Field Museum Chicago' on the other side. The machine that makes Sue is called Mold-o-rama." (That's because it uses injection molded plastic to make the figurines.)

From the Field Museum, we had a great view of part of the skyline, including our next destination off to the left:


Mama Geek and I stopped off at a vendor for Chicago-style hot dogs and bratwurst, and then we walked along the lake and through Grant Park toward the Willis (formerly-known-as-Sears) Tower, stopping off for a bit of artwork (and donuts) along the way:

Geek Girl takes Sue, Jr. to meet Calder's Flamingo

Our online searching had said that the Willis Tower Sky Deck line could take a really long time, but I guess visiting on a mid-November Thursday has its benefits: no line for us! After a quick elevator ride, we stepped off at the 103rd floor to a spectactular early evening view of Chicago below:

(The condo is somewhere in that picture, but it's hard to see...).

Geek Girl the World Traveler had the following reaction: "It's just like Google Earth with 3D buildings -- only we're really there!" Yes, she spends too much time on the computer.

The Willis Tower has added an innovation since the last time I was there -- "The Ledge", a series of four glass boxes that stick out of the building, so you can stand inside the box and take pictures past your feet straight down through 103 floors of air:

(note Sue, Jr. in between my feet and Mama Geek's feet). Mama Geek and Geek Girl had no trouble stepping out there. I, on the other had, had to convince several hundred thousand years of evolution that I wasn't going to fall through the floor. Ultimately intellect won over instinct. (Or more correctly: Daddy Geek can't let Geek Girl think he's a wuss.)

We spent an hour or so up there, and then it was time to head to the Art Institute, which was also free(!) on this Thursday evening. Geek Girl liked the lions in front:


and we all enjoyed a brief trip through the Impressionist exhibits. Geek Girl's review of A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte: "It was so cool! The silly pet monkey was the best part, and I liked the dog running in front of the monkey. It's cool that it was painted with just tiny dots!" She was also interested in Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's mark that he used to sign his paintings, which led to us drawing similar ones for The Geeks.

At this point, Geek Girl's battery was definitely running low, so we cut short the visit and headed off for Chicago-style pizza before crashing back at the condo. We had a great time - a fun but very full day.

Sunday Wandering

We've been a bit busy lately, so we haven't posted much recently. Time to catch up a bit.

The first week of November was very stressful for me, so when the following weekend came up, it was definitely time for some low-key relaxation. We spent a very pretty Sunday wandering around and stumbled across some (for us, anyway) unexpected treats.

First on the non-agenda: Geek Girl and I introduced Mama Geek to Theodore Roosevelt Island (not to be confused with that other Roosevelt Island to the north). There is a pretty 1.3-mile trail around the perimeter of the island, where a kind passer-by snapped this picture of The Geeks. Lots of nice fall foliage as you can see.

Part of the trail is along a boardwalk over a tidal wetland, where we saw lots of ducks and Geek Girl enjoyed looking for tiger tails among the cattails and reeds. Mama Geek took this picture of Geek Girl and me on the boardwalk:


After finishing the walk, we were ready for lunch and headed to Columbia Heights for pizza, followed by a meander around the neighborhood. It was an interesting mix of old and new buildings, including this brightly-colored house that caught our fancy:


Afterward, it was time to "go home", which of course means "stop for coffee and a snack", so off to Georgetown for a stop at Dolcezza, followed by a bit of hill-climbing to burn off the gelato. We stumbled upon the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, a very pretty old mansion at the top of the highest hill in Georgetown. It has a spectacular set of gardens that are free to wander in from November to March (they cost $8 the rest of the year), so wander we did.

First, Geek Girl practiced her tree-climbing skills:

(She notes: "I'm afraid of Daddy-longlegs - good thing there weren't any!")

Here's a shot of Geek Girl and Mama Geek being silly:


And a couple of garden shots for Grandma:



On the way back to the car, we uncovered a playground at Montrose Park, where Geek Girl played until we dragged her away to head home. Overall, we had a very nice day with no real plan.

Halloween Weekend

Okay, so we are not taking as many pictures as we used to. So no picture of our "what you get when you cross a pirate with a fairy" daughter. She wore an eyepatch, fairy wings, fairy skirt, and held a magic wand.

Instead, I will share with you Halloween pictures from the past.

Halloween at 8 months old.


Recycled elephant costume at 1 yr 8 months.


Chinese princess at 2 years 8 months.


We were in Italy for Halloween in 2006 so she was an American girl in Florence.
In 2007 she was a ghost.


And last year in Switzerland she wore her Sleeping Beauty costume.


We went to a neighbor's house for a party and group trick-or-treating in the building. It was raining outside so it was nice to stay inside and dry.

On Sunday Geek Girl and I went to the Spooky Sounds family concert at the Kennedy Center. Here's Geek Girl wrapped up warm waiting for the metrotrain.



Unfortunately things did not go as well as I hoped. Geek Girl does like classical music. But I guess I forgot that sitting still and watching instruments is maybe not as interesting for her. And she was tired and hungry. Heck, in the past I've gone to opera and plays, but not as many instrumental performances. Lynda Carter was the narrator for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Wonder Woman has aged well. In hindsight we should have just left the performance when she started fidgeting too much but oh well. Live and learn.

Fall Foliage Fun

Today was a sunny, crisp, breezy fall day perfect for outdoor time. We decided to take a hike along the Potomac from Riverbend Park to Great Falls Park and back.

Before we show some of the scenery, Geek Girl the Tour Guide would like to say a few words:

Now for some of the scenery. We saw lots of lovely fall color:

We also saw a cute fuzzy Wooly Bear Caterpillar:

Geek Girl was thrilled when we discovered later that the Wooly Bear Caterpillar becomes the Isabella Tiger Moth (thank you, Wikipedia): "Wow! It starts off as a bear and becomes a tiger! That's so cool!"

Once we arrived at Great Falls, we had lunch and then headed off for Geek Girl to record her promotional video and to show Mama Geek the flood pole. Next, Geek Girl decided she wanted to go down to the river. This involves a pretty steep climb down a rocky chute, but she was definitely a Super Tiger Tigress and scrambled down to the bottom with me. There, she snapped this picture of me

and some friendly folks took this picture of the two of us right at the river

We also had a front-row seat to watch the kayakers at play:

After a little while, it was time to climb back up - Geek Girl did a great job again, except this time she slipped and landed bottom-first in the little stream going down the gully. Despite this little setback, she hiked back all the way to Riverbend Park and got an unexpected treat: some riders were there on horseback and let her pet and feed a carrot to one of their horses. "It was fun, but it was kind of gross when the horse slobbered all over my hand!" is Geek Girl's review.

This was an easy and fun trail for a sunny fall family walk, and is definitely Geek-recommended. It's even suitable for visitors (grandparents, perhaps?) who might want to see some fall color next October.