Rainy Saturday Fun

Saturday was a warm, wet day with lots of rain showers and thunderstorms. It was definitely time for some inside fun.

The day started with an unexpected knock on our front door. Our neighbors had tickets to see Disney on Ice at the GMU Patriot Pavilion in Fairfax, but at the last minute something came up and they couldn't go. They very generously offered the tickets to us, so off The Geeks went on a Saturday morning. Thanks, neighbors!

We should note that Geek Girl didn't want to go originally. We don't have a TV and we don't watch much Disney stuff, so for her it really wasn't much of a big deal. Unlike the hordes of other kids taking their parents to the show: we saw countless Disney princesses of all kinds pulling Mom and Dad along, very excited to see all the Disney princesses on ice. Of course, the marketing machine was also in full swing and there were myriad ways to separate Mom and Dad from their money with random plastic bits (guaranteed to break down microseconds after leaving the show). Again, we're happy Geek Girl doesn't go for that kind of thing.

Of course, 30 seconds into the show, Geek Girl was mesmerized. We all had a good time, and Geek Girl was especially happy to help keep Mickey from eating the poison apple. And to help say the magic words to turn regular Minnie Mouse into Princess Minnie Mouse. And to be fascinated by the skaters. Her hands-down favorite, though, was when Santa Goofy got stuck in the chimney and had to be pulled out by his feet. (Oh, and we and the parents nearby were amused by the Pumpkin King's wardrobe malfunction. Let me just say I wish I had leg muscles like that.)

After the show, we went to Woodlands in Fairfax for some yummy Indian veggie buffet food. Highly recommended.

Next, it was off through the pouring rain to the originally planned destination for the day: Air and Scare at the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center out near Dulles Airport. Wow, was it rainy! (All together now: How rainy was it?) It was so rainy that I dropped off Mama Geek and Geek Girl under the canopy over the main entrance and drove off to park -- and had to stop dead for about five minutes because it was raining so hard I couldn't see. Eventually it slackened, and I ran for the museum, but even in just a few minutes of walking, I got soaked.

Once we got inside, we found that the museum had been turned into a big trick-or-treat and craft festival, with lots of kids (and adults! oh, wow, the adults!) in costume walking around. Geek Girl went in costume as "what you get when you cross a fairy with a pirate: a firate!" (Her costume was fairy wings and a fairy skirt, magic wand, and an eyepatch. No, we can't explain her either.) She had a good time going around collecting candy, driving robots:

and making various crafts. I had a good time wandering around looking at various famous aircraft, including an SR-71 Blackbird

and the Enola Gay. We also were alternately amused and bemused by the plethora of adult Jedi, Sith, Stormtroopers, and Darth Vaders; we also discovered Geek Girl can explain Clone Wars in frightening detail, considering her only exposure to it came during her short visit to our friends in Massachusetts. All in all, it was a fun way to spend a few hours, and we'll probably do it again next year.