13 Colonies and 5K in one weekend

Yes, Daddy Geek races triathlons.  But Geek Girl and I are also active (upon coercion).

Washington D.C. is filled with streets named after all of the states.  The Washington Area Bicyclist Association organizes an annual 50 States & 13 Colonies ride.  Note: the roads aren't closed so we're riding next to cars and sometime on uneven pavement.  Each year the course is different and you don't get the directions until the morning of the ride.  Geek Girl and I aren't quite ready for the hilly 65-mile long 50 States course, but we were willing to give the 15-mile 13 Colonies ride a try.

Here we are at the start:

We knew that showers were predicted and it did spritz off and on.  We made it to lunch at Eastern Market relatively dry.  However, after lunch, the showers became cold rain.  The ride was no longer fun, so we decided to stop for a break to wait out the rain.  We continued along the ride and here we are in front of the White House.

Daddy Geek did take pictures of the street signs for each of the Colonies, but I'm not going to show you all of them.  Here's a picture of the Connecticut-Rhode Island sign.  Do you see Geek Girl and me?

So, where should a fun group ride end?  At a pub for beer, of course.  Here's Geek Girl before going in to pick up her t-shirt and glass of water.  I don't think they gave her a beer coupon...

Unfortunately, on the ride home Geek Girl had a small crash on a steep downhill.  It probably didn't help that the roads were still a little wet.  But she was a trooper and was able to ride to the car.  We all slept well that night.  Which was a good thing, because the next morning, Daddy Geek and Geek Girl had signed up to run a 5K fundraiser for the schools.  I volunteered at packet pick-up and they showed up a little later for the race.  Here they are at the start.

They walked the first mile with a friend, who turned off for the end of the 1 mile fun run.  Geek Girl (under protest) continued on the 5K course with Daddy Geek with intermittent running.  We all slept well that night too.  And now we have Girl Scout camping to look forward to this weekend.

Squid Hats

A couple of weeks ago was Cephalopod Week. Cephalopods are squids, nautiluses, octopodes, and cuttlefish. Daddy found some Vampyroteuthis infernalis (vampire squid) hat templates. I colored them, cut them out, and taped them together. Here we are wearing them:

Geeks in squid hats

Earlier Mommy had put them on some of the bears upstairs. I gathered them together, put the hats back on, and took a picture. I couldn't get the squid heads to stand up straight.

Beebo Bear, Ping Pong, and Grizzy Bear in squid hats

Last, I took a picture of a cephalopod wearing a cephalopod hat. This is Cuttles the cuttlefish:

Cephalopod in a cephalopod hat

Conclusion: Squid hats fit geeks in all shapes and sizes.

If you would like to make your own squid hat, here is the link: Squid hat PDF

A Fairy, Patriotic Toes, Concert, and Taking Flight

Some photos from our summer so far:

Geek Girl started off the summer in drama camp.  Here she is costumed as April the Magic Fairy:

Daddy Geek and Geek Girl painted each other's toenails in honor of our nation's birthday:

Geek Girl's clarinet teacher is a member of the Air Force Concert Band and he suggested we attend one of the summer concerts.  We went last Friday night and enjoyed the lovely evening and beautiful music. It was held at the Air Force Memorial:

D.C. is known for its hot and sticky summers.  Daddy Geek and Geek Girl decided to escape the heat Sunday and go jumping at a warehouse full of trampolines:

Last Day of Elementary School

Remember that September day back in 2010 when Geek Girl started 2nd grade?

Today is the last day of 5th grade and elementary school, sniff sniff.
Backpack is a little smaller now compared to her.

Today's predicted high is 94 deg F!  She has early dismissal, a story she's working on to give to her teacher tomorrow, and then an end of year sleepover tonight!

Spring Break Trail Runs

We spent Spring Break visiting family near Las Vegas and taking a trip to the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, and various spots.  It was warm, but not too warm, so I took the opportunity to take in some of the trails near our relatives' house.

The first day was a 10-km run along the Anthem East Trail [official city map - PDF], a relatively flat and runnable trail with pretty cacti, wildflowers, Joshua trees, and a trail user only slightly slower than I am:

Pretty morning beavertail cactus flowers

Joshua Trees

Desert tortoise on the trail, from a distance - zoom FTW!

Our last full day, I ran up to the summit of Black Mountain on Trail 404 of the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area.  I had no trouble finding the trail -- sorry, geek humor.  It's about 6.5 miles round trip from the official trailhead, with a 2100' elevation gain; including stops for pictures, it took me about 60 minutes for the climb and about 35 minutes for the descent.  This is a great trail that climbs steadily through switchbacks among volcanic rocks coated in desert varnish

until about the last quarter mile, when it becomes too steep to run (though climbable even in regular running shoes).  Bear in mind, there is no shade on the run unless you go early in the morning before the sun rises over Black Mountain itself.

The views from the top and along the trail are great:

Panorama at the top

The Strip is in the background at center

Here's the survey marker at the top (BLACK 1925, NGS Permanent ID FS1178).  The two remote marks are in good shape, too.

On the way down, I saw lots of pretty wildflowers, barrel and other cacti, Joshua Trees, and some speedy little blue-tailed skinks sunning themselves on the rocks.

Desert poppy(?)

Barrel cacti, Joshua Trees, and switchbacks

Blue-tailed skink

Beautiful desert scenery, great trails, a good workout, and solitude -- what more could you want?

Scratch Paper

Geek Girl is very environmentally conscious.  She's constantly telling us that we've left a light on in a room.  She is also very efficient in her use of scratch paper:

Eleven years and counting...

Geek Girl turns 11 today.  It has been a busy weekend of activities, only some of which are specifically birthday-related, but a good time except for late both evenings, when various meltdowns occurred.

The most recent meltdown was triggered because Geek Girl -- deeply engrossed in one of Terry Pratchett's books -- ignored several warnings and kept reading even when told it was most definitely time to stop.  Much wailing and crying begins.  I remained calm, which apparently made things worse ("You're not even getting upset!  _wail_ _sob_"), but eventually Geek Girl calmed down, too.

[Just a brief diversion to note that I think we're definitely in the early stages of pre-teen emotional instability.  Should be a fun few years...time to learn to meditate standing up.]

I gathered up some homework papers and the book and headed out of her room to get Mama Geek for their nighttime ritual.  Geek Girl followed me, which was unusual.  She gave Mama Geek lots of hugs, and hmmm, shocker - the book suddenly reappeared in her hand, having been oh-so-surreptitously picked up.  (Read: I saw it happening the whole time.)  I took the book back, and Mama Geek said, "Oh, we trust her, right?"

I picked up the cue and handed the book back to GG, saying, "Oh, yes, of course.  We trust you, Sweetie; we know you know it's bedtime, not reading time."

Back to Geek Girl's bedroom for our traditional goodnight ritual.  At the end, Geek Girl says, with a frustrated yet resigned tone: "I can't even sneak reading, since you and Mommy said you trust me!"  

I just smiled and said, "Well, Sweetie, of course we trust you."

Geek Girl: "Then why did you just pick up my book light?"

Me: "Well, you won't need it anyway, right?"

GG: "Darn it."

The other funny part is that she wants me to set an alarm for the middle of the night, which would correspond to the exact moment she was born.  I just said, "Do you know what Mommy would do to me if I woke up in the middle of the night just to come wake you up so you can be awake at the exact anniversary of your birth?"  

GG, just as sweetly as anyone could muster: "You could just set an alarm up here, just for me.  Mommy wouldn't even know."

Me: "Nice try, kiddo.  Go to bed now."

She is currently sighing and making the usual noises she makes when trying to fall asleep and not fall asleep all at the same time.  Plus residual sniffling.  I should probably go help with that.

Brace Yourselves!

(Can you hear the groan from Geek Girl and Mama Geek?)

Geek Girl got braces today!  They are much simpler than the ones I had as a kid -- no bands, just brackets.  Plus she got to pick the color.

Here's a before picture, following a request to "look demonic":

Yeeeesss, preciousssss

She actually resembles her aunt (my sister, to be precise) in that one more than I've ever seen before...hmmmm.

"So, how have you been?"  "Mrghfjgph..."

After -- blue braces abound!

She has blue-green bands holding the main wire in place.  Tonight's dinner: milkshake.  


Oh, and Geek Girl wanted me to post a picture of the mascot for her orthodontist, Penny:

Penny for your thoughts, kid

Penguin Day

[Note: GG wrote this last night, but we waited until now to post it...]

Right now, I am wearing penguin PJs. I think penguins pretty much sum up my day.

First, this morning, Mommy made me try on long johns and a parka that made me feel like a penguin for no apparent reason.

Next, I was reading a book that took place in a cold place. Penguins live in cold places.

Finally, we went to an ice skating rink where the thingies that less experienced skaters use for balance are penguins. I found out that I am very good at falling down on ice skates, and composed a (sort of) epic poem commemorating how it feels to have fallen down on your bottom on ice at least four times. Here it is:

Owie owie owie ow,

Ouch ouch ouch.

Owie owie ow,

Ouchie ouch ouch.

Ow.

Here are some pictures at the rink:

 With a penguin in the background:

And some videos:

Then, when we were done, we got cupcakes. Yay!

[Edit this evening: Some people Daddy follows on Twitter said it is #PenguinAwarenessDay.  Did you know that some penguins dive 900 feet down to eat squid? (I read that in Zoobooks.) ]