Halloweens Past and Present

I can't resist posting old photos of Geek Girl. At the end of the post you'll see that after many easy years of creating costumes, we actually put some effort into this year's costume.

Eight months old and a happy elephant. (Thanks Jen!)


One year later and the head still fits!


Okay, 2005, let's be a Chinese princess.


2006 was a rough year. Geek Girl was an American Girl in Florence, Italy.

In 2007, Geek Girl wanted to be a friendly ghost.


In 2008, we were in Zürich, and she was Sleeping Beauty.


Last year she was a pirate fairy.


And this year she decided to be a dragon. Thank goodness for the internet. I found a cool pattern here. The whole family was involved in creating this costume. I cut out the pieces from foam board and cardboard and glued the easy bits. Daddy Geek and I worked together to glue the head (thank goodness for hot glue guns). Geek Girl did most of the painting with a little bit of help from me. I think it turned out pretty well, what do you think?



Geek Girl has been anxiously waiting for trick-or-treating all day. We had an afternoon ice skating birthday party to distract her and an early dinner. By 6 pm she was very happy when her good friend next door finished dinner and came over to start trick or treating.

Walking on liquid

This past weekend was the first USA Science and Engineering Festival. How lucky are we that we can just take the metro in and "celebrate science at over 1500 fun, hands-on science and engineering activities?"

We made inheritance bracelets (Daddy Geek and Geek Girl can both taste PTC); used maggots to spread paint around and create works of art; used licorice, toothpicks, and marshmallows to model a DNA molecule; built a catapult; and had to drag Geek Girl away.

The highlight of the day was running across a non-newtonian fluid -- if you step on it slowly you'll sink, but if you run across it, you won't.

Geek Girl will demonstrate.

Scrambled States

Last week was the book fair for Geek Girl's Elementary School. One of the books on her wish list was "The Scrambled States of America Talent Show" a sequel to "The Scrambled States of America." We've checked both books out the library, but she was excited to get a copy of her own. While Geek Girl was at soccer practice, I helped out at the book fair, and when I mentioned to the organizer how much Geek Girl liked the Scrambled States books, she suggested the Scrambled States game.

So on Saturday we open up the game and play. Then we decide to test how many U.S. state capitals Daddy Geek and I can remember. Back in the day, I knew all of the U.S. state capitals. I'll have you know I was on the Academic League too! However, all those old bits of trivia seem to have been replaced by new random facts, because I could only name 29 state capitals. Daddy Geek, on the other hand, remembered all of the state capitals except for Bismarck, North Dakota. Maybe that's why he can't learn new tricks?

How do you know if you're hurt?

Geek Girl had her fifth soccer game today. It was a perfect day for soccer -- cool and sunny. It's time to look for a long-sleeve shirt for her to wear under her uniform. For the first half of the season the parents were seeking the shade. Now we hang out in the sun.

Geek Girl has a lot of fun in practice and is learning new moves. She likes to "mark" other players on throw-ins, but she still doesn't always go after the ball like some of the other kids. Her coach has given her the assignment of practicing not to stop once she gets the ball and also to run at players with the ball.

Even though Geek Girl is pretty strong, a lot of times she acts like she is a delicate flower. We've been wondering how she would react the first time she got up close and personal with another player. Well, today she took a ball in the throat. There was a collective gasp from the sideline and then we asked her "Are you okay?" When she answered "I don't know," we knew she was okay and told her so and she continued to play. Later on she did take a pretty good tumble, but she got up and kept playing. Go Geek Girl!

Another tooth gone

Geek Girl lost her eight tooth this week. The new tooth needs the other teeth to move out of the way, so she has quite a big gap in her smile.


Here she is with Daddy Geek looking over her classwork from the week.

Opera in the Outfield -- Daytime version

This year's Opera in the Outfield was on Sunday, the 19th at 2 pm. That was the only time the Opera schedule overlapped with no games at the Ballpark. We knew we would have to leave early for a soccer match at 5 pm, so we planned to arrive when the Ballpark opened to snag seats and try the family activities.

It was a gorgeous day (maybe a little hot) and the Redskins were playing later, so maybe we didn't have to worry about getting there early, but it was nice to have a choice spot on the outfield (which we moved to the shade in the seats). Long Lost Cousin and family met us there and we had lunch and then went to try on some opera costumes and make some masks in honor of Verdi's "A Masked Ball."

Geek Girl decked out.


Daddy Geek and Girl Geek.


Geek Girl and friends and their creations.


I was a little worried that Geek Girl might not stay interested since A Masked Ball is more serious the Barber of Seville. However, she definitely enjoyed the opera.

Soccer Season

Geek Girl has decided to try soccer this year. Last weekend she had two matches. The team consists of twelve girls. When they play another team, they get split up into two smaller teams playing the opposite team on two small fields. After two quarters, one of the teams changes fields and they play two more quarters against the other half of the team.

Here she is in uniform with her ball.


And here are some action shots.



This afternoon's game is during the neighborhood block party. Also, at least four girls will be missing, so there definitely won't be any subs. When asked how she likes soccer, Geek Girl replies "I get hot and tired." Hopefully this afternoon won't be too bad...