Old Rag

On Friday 11/23/12 Daddy and I hiked up Old Rag. This is us at the bottom at about 10:45:

The trail was rocky and it zig-zagged back and forth a lot. I got tired soon after we started, so Daddy gave me almonds and chocolate-covered blueberries.

After a lot of normal steep trail, we came to "the rock garden", a part of the trail with a lot of rock scrambling. There was a rock that hung at an angle over another rock. I had to get on my side and squirm under it. A little after that there is a "staircase" of rock. Here I am in front of it:

Here is Daddy in front of it:

At one point we found a rock balancing on another rock. Here I am "holding it up":

After more scrambling and hiking we finally reached the summit. We reached the summit around 1:45. Here we are standing in front of the sign saying that we reached the summit:

Here we are on the tippy top of the summit:

Here we are where we ate lunch (in front of that rock):

Here is the view:

After all that we had to hike down again. We left the top around 2:45. The sign (see above) told us that we had 5.2 miles left. There are 9 miles in the trail. It took until around 5:00 to finish.

The hike was pretty fun, but it was tiring.

Announcing a new author!

Mama Geek and I are happy to announce that Geek Girl is now a full author on our blog, rather than a guest poster. Be on the lookout for some new perspectives from our third author, who is even now writing her first official post... Clearly, we have too many Apple devices in the house.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wieder Auf der Straße

Guten Morgen!

I'm on the road again, this time in Germany for the upcoming week. I'm meeting with colleagues for the kickoff of an international collaboration for data exchange.

I'm excited to be in Europe but I know I'll miss Mama Geek and Geek Girl. To help with that, GG gave me my traveling companion for this trip: TJ the Tiger.

I give you TJ catching up on the news:





And TJ having breakfast in the Lufthansa lounge while we await our connecting flight.




I'm also a happy aviation Geek - I've seen two A380s so far on this trip.

More to come this week.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

California explores LAX

My traveling companion on this trip got bored waiting for our delayed flight home. Have you ever tried to control a cat in an airport?

At first, she played solitaire...



She is well-read...



But then boredom sets in...




Cali is displeased...comfortable but displeased.



Yep, still delayed.




Yes, Cali, you are a cool cat. Now let me have my sunglasses back, please.



Yes, we are really in LA.




Hey, what's up? Oh, just stuck in LAX. Meow.



Hipster cat finds an acceptable bed.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Los Angeles, CA

Civil War Day

(Guest Post by Geek Girl who wants to know when she gets her own account.)

Today was Civil War Day! There were several activities. One was making quilt squares. I made two with patterns. I made up the designs on the others. This is my quilt:   

The symbols mean: sail across the Great Lakes, follow the North Star, river, follow river, bear den, berries and honey, gather for long journey, follow river and don't eat the berries, and stop at the log cabin by big pine. The message says: Sail across the Great Lakes, then follow the North Star until you reach the river. Follow the river until you reach the bear den, where you'll find berries and honey. Gather as many as you can, because a long journey is ahead. Follow the river and don't eat the berries you find. Stop at the log cabin by the big pine tree.

Another activity was making butter. They filled little containers with whipping cream. Then you could shake for two minutes. After shaking it, you would have butter and buttermilk.  You could put the butter on a cracker and eat it.

Another thing was making cartridges. You could wrap paper around sticks, and then flatten the tops. They would fill it with coffee beans as a substitute for gunpowder after you took the stick out.

Got Eggs

Geek Girl and I were busy this afternoon:




Now all we need to do is stuff them with confetti (well, maybe not all of them), order some new grates for the grill, pick a date for a party, and smash 'em!

Queen for a Day

Another year, another birthday. Spring Break is over and we have survived. It started off with a hike at Great Falls and an Odyssey of the Mind competition that involved two trips to the only Krispy Kreme in Northern Virginia (Geek Girl liked the donut machine). Daddy Geek had conferences in town and out of town, so Geek Girl and I stayed close to home. One day she read for over 5.5 hours! We also had a couple of playdates with friends, went to Oxon Hill Farm and National Harbor, and Potomac Overlook Park. There was an aborted trip to the zoo (didn't feel like dealing with the parking) and a quick visit to the Natural History Museum.

Daddy Geek returned from the West Coast this morning and we had the water boiled for his morning coffee. After freshening up we headed to the local library to stock up on more books because, horror of horrors, Geek Girl had run out of books to read. Then the local Easter egg hunt chaos. Now that Geek Girl is 9, it's a little easier for her to get eggs, but her first year in the 7-11 age group she didn't get any...

Here's Geek Girl waiting for the egg hunt to start:


And her unique way of transporting her Easter basket:


Afterwards we went to Liberty Tavern for the brunch buffet. Geek Girl liked the French toast, sausage, and brownies baked as mini muffins. After we waddled out of there we headed to the Tidal Basin to enjoy the spring weather. Lots of tourists and kites around. Stopped by the Floral Library again.

Armed with her sketch pad, Geek Girl recorded some tulips in crayon:


And took close-ups of others after we told her she had to stop drawing:


After our walk we went to The Sweet Lobby to pick up some birthday macarons:


There was a line out the door. Now that I've checked their Facebook page, it turns out they had a write-up in the Washington Post today so that may or may not have not contributed to the popularity. We got spicy curry mango, orange-ginger, cappuccino, chocolate, passion fruit milk chocolate, green tea, red velvet, milk chocolate, and red hot chili chocolate. It's a good thing we don't live too close!