Author Archives: Nora

Washington, DC./Virginia 2018: 3 of 5 A, Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum

14 Friday Sep 2018

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Day 1: Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Day 2: Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Day three was hot again so we opted for something indoors.  Because our hotel was not near downtown we again opted to drive and found there was ample parking (in unrelated buildings) behind the Air & Space Museum on the National Mall.

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We have been here before.  Some things the boys wanted to see again were the plane and cockpit you can enter as well as the walk-through of the Skylab.  See a theme?  For some reason the walk-through of the mock aircraft carrier is not as big a draw.  They also complete planes and spacecraft.  We still have a harder time convincing them to read all the smaller displays although we adults would like to.

Once again we tried to go through in an order different from what we may have done before.  We headed for the space area on the eastern end of the first floor first.  Space interests everyone in our house so it was a soft entry.

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We were going to stop into the large McDonald’s for lunch, but found it closed for renovations.  (I don’t know if it will be a McDonald’s after again or not.)  In its place they had fridge and freezer cabinets with sandwiches, salads, and microwaveable stuff.  None of it was very kid friendly so we ended up leaving for the nearby McDonald’s and returning after lunch.  Thankfully, while crowded, the nearby McDonald’s was big enough to handle the onslaught (I don’t think we were the only ones.).  It also had very clean bathrooms!

We returned to the museum after lunch to finish the eastern end of the first floor.  We continued with the western end and then headed upstairs.  The solar system rooms went quickly, but its always a challenge getting out of “How Things Fly.”  It is very popular and they do a good job keeping all of the hands on activities working.  This room is a big tricky with strollers though because of its many different levels.

The many levels is a general issue with the National Air and Space Museum as multiple exhibits have stairs and most do not have ramps at all.  We’re curious how things will look after the massive renovation that is just getting underway.  For those considering visiting over the next two years, read up on the state of the renovations before you go.  Because of the extensive nature of the renovations, at various times significant chunks of the museum will be closed.  Some of the exhibits will be temporarily relocated to the Annex also so if you want to see a specific thing you will need to do some research.

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The rooms on the west end that focus on the early years of flying were interesting for the kids because they had complete aircraft.  Same for the military rooms upstairs, although note that those are fraught with stairs.

The boys were interested to spend time in the rooms covering the Wright Brothers and the Apollo missions.  Stairs weren’t an issue here with the stroller, which was nice.  The final room we went in was “Time and Navigation.”  This is probably the least approachable for kids in its current form, though there is plenty for the adults to absorb.  We never really get to spend enough time there to read everything.

Plus we were going a bit fast at this point so we could sneak over next door before it closed.  See the post next Wednesday (yes, a special one, but it will be short) for exactly where!

 

Fall 2018 Freezer/Pantry Challenge

13 Thursday Sep 2018

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So last year I did both freezer and pantry challenges and updated you throughout the year on how both were going.  Thankfully, I have many fewer items this year that need using up (although some readers will notice a few things on the list again) so I’m putting the lists together.  Also, since I have next to no proteins on the list, I’m hoping/planning to move through these things faster.

Most everything this year is in the freezer so the pantry list is really short:

  • Coconut oil: I bought this originally to make granola which I haven’t made in the last year so we’ll see where this goes.
  • Veggie straws: I have one bag left over from summer when we take these to the pool.  I opened it today to send some into school for snacks.  Only two kids eat them.  Sticking to Thursdays (which are they best day to send these as snacks so they don’t get crushed), it will take me a few weeks to finish off the bag.
  • Bag of mixed nuts:  I think I’m just going to have to open this and break out the nutcrackers come holiday season.  They have not expired.

That’s it there!

The freezer list is a little longer, though not nearly as bad as last year.  Clearly not everything in the above pictures is on the list (see my free pint of ice cream in there).  These two freezer compartments are the most loaded with listed items though.  The other two are rather neat.  So, here’s what we have:

  • Beef bones: for stock
  • Hamburger and hot dog buns – one package each: Probably going to thaw these and use them for sandwiches as BBQ season is largely over.
  • Pre-made hamburgers: We weren’t fans of these and we have about 10 lbs left from what we purchased for our big summer BBQ.  I’m going to try cooking them up and draining them (80% vs our usual 90%) to use as regular ground beef.
  • Twelve (8 + 4) egg whites: There are a couple of options here, add-ins for sous vide eggs or macaroons being the most likely.
  • Nine cubes of cilantro in chicken broth: This goes with a specific recipe which obviously I haven’t made enough of recently.
  • Eleven servings of butternut squash ravioli: Clearly I could eat these faster, but they feel more right in the fall than the summer.  I will get to them all eventually.
  • One serving of mushroom ravioli: I need to sell this to someone as its not my thing.
  • One gingerbread loaf: Clearly I need to thaw this when we have a shortage of desert options.
  • Four bagels: We’re working through these.  They’re all sliced for easy toasting.
  • Three blocks of cream cheese: I can’t think of anything to do with these besides cream cheese frosting, ie carrot cake.  My kids aren’t super interested in this though so I have to time it right.
  • Chopped walnuts, slivered almonds, and chopped pecans:  These are odds and ends that could be used up.  The walnuts and pecans I do use from time to time.  The almonds are left over from granola making so either I’m back to that or I need to come up with some baked goods to use them up.
  • Some frozen celery sticks: These should go with the beef bones, and other things, for stock.  I just need to remember that!

Grocery Update: Week 36, 2018

11 Tuesday Sep 2018

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This will be a short post because I only made two stops last week!

First, I spent $119.29 at Wegman’s on Friday, mostly on meat and milk.  Yes, everything else fit in one bag.  The ice cream was my free item of the month; the bread was 50% off.

I haven’t been talking too much about our menus lately as I’ve been trying just to get back on track with posts.  But, to give you an idea, we BBQed the chicken and ribs for dinner Saturday night (with two thirds of the corn from below).  Then we used some of the ground beef for chili Sunday night.  We’re back in soccer season so Monday was a split dinner with hot dogs for the younger ones and pizza for the late set (up to four now that our soccer playing twin has aged into the late practice slot).

To balance things out I spent $120.54 on produce on Sunday.

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All of this is local.  We ate the yellow corn with the BBQ.  The heirloom tomato went on the pizza.  The pepper and white corn are for chowder tonight, assuming I can make that happen.  I’ll eat the peaches for lunch over the week.   I don’t have a plan for the green beans, but the kids love them so I grab a batch every time I go in season; this is only one meal’s worth.

The plan for tonight is flank steak (under the chicken above), corn chowder, bread (pictured above), and either green beans or spinach salad depending on how things play out.

 

Washington, DC./Virginia 2018: 2 of 5, Smithsonian’s National Zoo

07 Friday Sep 2018

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Day 1: Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Continuing on our DC area trip, on Day 2 we went to the National Zoo.  It was very hot (as one should expect in DC in August), but the chance of rain was lowest so we opted for this outdoor activity.  We had been here once before, but not the two-year old and we though she would really like it.

Last time we took the subway; this time we drove and parked onsite.  I didn’t find either transportation method to be particularly difficult.  If we had been staying near a METRO stop we would have taken it again, but we weren’t.

Our youngest has a thing for elephants recently so we spent a lot of time with those.

We saw just about all of the exhibits, including the pandas who were outside for the first time I’d ever seen.

A few exhibits were closed and the big cat area seemed to be sparsely populated, but neither was enough of an issue to cause concerns.

I like that this zoo is clean and less smelly than others. We also appreciated the farm area.  While we used to live near farms and therefore saw cows and chickens rather regularly.  But, that is much less common today so its nice to see those animals entering zoos along with the more standard African safari fare.

Near the parking entrance they seemed to be finishing up a brand new bathroom complex and kid’s play area.  The play area wasn’t open yet, but looked fun.

We took the full day and saw just about everything.  We missed one house, reptiles maybe?  It is hilly, but I’m not sure what they could do about that.  Some of the buildings have a very old school feel to them.  Having been to more recently built zoos, this is noticeable.  But, its over 100 years old and still very popular so there is something to that too.  The kids did notice the lack of giraffes and some other seemly “standard” zoo animals, but everyone did enjoy what there was to see.

That being said, we had a few issues.  The food was hit or miss.  They had no “basic” juice for kids, or milk.  When I ordered the bacon cheeseburger (only burger on the menu), I was told they were out of bacon.  You can bring your own food and it’s definitely worth it.  What they did haven’t wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great and it was expensive.  At least bring your own drinks.

We also had an issue with the bathroom signs.  In one case I tried to follow the signs (and asked a few staff along the way) and from almost the middle ended up all the way at the parking exit to use the bathroom.  This is a long way for a five-year old.  As it turns out I could have found one quicker to the right, but the sign pointed left.  Something in between would have been greatly appreciated.  It’s not that the bathrooms were hard to find, just that they were very far apart.

In summary:

  • plan for a full day.
  • bring your own food, or at least drinks, especially if you have a stroller to put it on.
  • follow the loop from either the parking or METRO entrance to see pretty much everything.
  • use the bathrooms when you’re near one.
  • and, be prepared for significant hills.

 

Washington, DC./Virginia 2018: 1 of 5, Smithsonian Air & Space Annex

06 Thursday Sep 2018

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I let you know already that we spent in a week in the DC area in August.  Some of these places we had been to before, but enjoyed.  Others were new to us (or some of us as I had actually been to all of them years ago).  So, over the next few weeks I’ll give you an overview of each of the five places we went, in order.

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Day 1 was at Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.  We have been there twice before; it is a favorite every time.  The kids love the scale of the place – the big hangers with complete airplanes and helicopters are a wonder to behold.  It really does take a full day to take it all in, especially if you want to see one of the IMAX movies.

We decided to go here first because there was rain in the forecast (see clouds above, although it didn’t rain) and it was the shortest drive after a long travel day.  We also consciously did the loop in the museum in reverse of our usual order as folks do tend to tire towards the end.

The museum is basically “T” shaped and divided into three categories: military, space, and civilian.  There is also a restoration hanger, a control tower where you can watch planes landing at Dulles airport, simulators, and IMAX movies.  We did the civilian planes first.

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Then we looped back for lunch (McDonald’s, though they will let you bring in food).  As we passed the cockpit of the Enola Gay the boys remarked on its similarity to the Millennium Falcon.

After lunch we went up to the control tower and purchased tickets for the older ones to watch one of the IMAX movies later in the afternoon.  The wind direction was perfect because planes were coming in to land on either side of the museum’s control tower such that they were almost at eye level as they went past.  (More on this later.)

After lunch we went to the military wing.

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The older boys are finally getting old enough to understand the sides in the World Wars, the existence of the Korean and Vietnam wars, and the significance of the military in general.

I always appreciate it when they leave some airplanes in an un-restored state.  Dusted and cleaned up a bit yes, but not patched/painted/etc.

Finally, we headed to the space wing.  I finally figured out the corner to wedge into to get the entire space shuttle in one picture!

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The space wing has many more small displays and plaques to read than the other areas.  In this way it is the most like the main Air & Space museum downtown.

Finally, we sent the older ones off to their IMAX movie and I took the younger three up the observation tower again.  It was packed!  What I didn’t realize initially is that most folks up there this time were plane spotters.  This because obvious a few minutes later when an Airbus A380 came right past the window.  I was so busy showing it to the kids that I didn’t get a picture of it until it was past us landing.  But, I did get a picture of the Boeing 747 that came a few minutes later.  You can imagine the even larger plane this close!  Definitely not some thing you see often.

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Anyway, after the A380 went by almost 2/3 of the crowd headed for the elevator.  I also because aware of the number of people checking their phones to see which planes were coming next.  That’s how I knew to be more ready for the 747.  Apparently after the 747 went by there weren’t any other big planes due (at least for a while) because everyone headed for the exits.  We stayed a bit to let the crowds clear and then headed down to meet the rest of our group and end our visit.

Summer 2018 Recap

05 Wednesday Sep 2018

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Because I knew most of our summer would be occupied with baseball and swimming, I didn’t set myself that many goals.  But, here’s what I did set out to do.  And, the mid-summer update.  So, let’s see how that last month went.

On the schedule this summer:

  • Swimming lessons for the middle four will run most of the summer.  This also results in our spending lots of time at the pool.  We missed two swimming lessons: one because it rained and one because it was painfully hot so I decided to leave for our 4th of July trip a bit early.
  • Our oldest has one week of baseball camp.
  • The oldest three have one week of track camp.
  • Kids B-D have one week of tech camp.

Somehow I never did list the baseball team.  We made all the baseball games and practices, as well as a few lessons.

We have a list of day activities for days in between.  And, hopefully we’ll get some movies in on rainy days. (Thus far we’ve had only one.) We did get in some movies: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, all the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, Avengers Infinity War, and Skyfall, among others.

We traveled to DC.  We went for mini golf and bumper boats.

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I need/want to accomplish the following:

  • Finish up school/spring sports:
    • Dry all soccer cleats and put away
    • Clean all sports water bottles (3)
    • Empty back packs
    • Clean lunch boxes
    • Clean all school water bottles (8)
    • Check status of all items in preparation for next year
  • Keep the woods from encroaching on our yard
    • On one side we have a five leaf vine thing and the plant in these pictures.  This second plant looks sort of like ferns when kept trimmed, but it puts out creepers that wrap around trees, thicken, and eventually kill the trees.  I think I did a pretty good job keeping this side in check.  I may need to beat it back some more next year though. 
    • On the other side we have the same five leaf vine, raspberry plants, and a different sort of climber.  This one doesn’t strangle the trees, it just creates a net over them that doesn’t look very good.  There’s also poison ivy on this side, which I am very allergic to, so I’m less brave about tackling things.  I had someone come in and remove the bulk of this as my only option was to bag it for the yard waste truck.  They removed the volume of an entire commercial truck!  I sprayed the poison ivy a few times and did make some progress.  There’s much more to be done.  Unfortunately after their work was done, first we traveled, then it rained, then it was very hot.  Maybe next week I can get back to it. 
  • Throw out/donate/sell/etc. another 465 items.  This counting thing has been working well for me.  I had planned to do this again in the late fall, but there’s enough kicking around now that I’d just assume move it along.  I made it!  I went in chunks as shown.  I missed one item in these pictures, but clearly got most of them.  Clearly there’s a bunch for paper recycling.  The bottom picture is all fabric recycling.  The “5” will go to Goodwill.  The other two did hit the trash.  The lower picture is a mongrel collection that completed the 465 items.  I added my Pampers points so I can get rid of the packaging.  Everything else is broken in some fashion.

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  • Tag 465 items for the fall tag sale.  My rules for above were that it has to get out of the house within the time period.  Since the tag sale isn’t until the end of September these items don’t meet that criteria.  As a result there are many things that should be leaving our house that aren’t going anywhere yet.  But, tagging needs to happen sooner rather than later.  I’ve set aside a number of things, but haven’t actually tagged them yet.  I need to get moving though because the sale is at the end of September.
  • Prep for the 2018-2019 school year.
    • Purchase a new lunch box and water bottle (I actually found one in our collection of freebies that he’s happy with.) for the incoming kindergartner.
    • Complete preschool paperwork for the youngest.
    • Pay bus fee.
    • Purchase school supplies after the lists come out in mid-August.
    • Check fit of soccer cleats for four kids.  Upgrade as needed.
    • Check fit of baseball cleats for oldest.  Upgrade as needed.

 

August 2018 Grocery Review

04 Tuesday Sep 2018

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With the Monday holiday, I decided to push this post to Tuesday.  I expect to post Wednesday (normal Tuesday post), Thursday, and Friday this week to get back on a more regular school year posting schedule.

Last week was another big one for groceries, largely because I went to BJs for the first time in about two months.  I also stopped at Target and purchased a number of things that we use during the school year, but not during the summer.

On Thursday, I went to both Target and BJ’s as they’re fairly near one another.

First, at Target, I spent $59.28.  I didn’t get a picture before things started getting eaten (actually drunk), but it included a large number of single serve boxes of raisins & craisins, lots of grape juice, some granola bars, and some Gatorade.

Then I ran over and spent $241.07 at BJ’s.  Again, I failed to get pictures of everything – notably most of the non-perishable items this time.  There was a flat of Coke, a rotisserie chicken, honey, croissants, barbecue sauce, peanut butter, canned soup, bread, two types of cereal, chips, shallots, sweet potatoes, rolls, and chocolate chips.

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That finished off August so the totals below will won’t include the rest of the week.

On Saturday, I spent $127.39 at Stop & Shop.  There were many things on sale this week we will eat.

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Then on Sunday I spent $24.71 at the farm stand and another $81.24 at Wegman’s.  I’m sense a trend here because I clearly forgot to take pictures of the farm stand visit.  I got broccoli, corn on the cob, green beans, and a heirloom tomato.

Finally on Monday we happened past a different Target.  I hoped to get more grape juice as it was on sale, but they were out.  I did get a few items that BJ’s had been out of totaling $19.85.

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August TOTAL: $925.60

  • Stop & Shop: $181.00
  • Wegman’s: $371.42
  • BJs: $241.07
  • Other: $132.11
    • Local: $72.83
    • Star Market/Shaw’s: $0
    • Trader Joe’s: $0
    • Target: $59.28
    • Other: $0

Wow!  That came out much lower than I was expecting.  It turns out I had a few VERY BIG trips, but not that many trips overall.  Exactly the opposite of July.

Grocery Update: Week 34, 2018

30 Thursday Aug 2018

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First week of school this week.  No two days are the same.  Lots of back to school events.  The first day where they all have full days of school is next week.

So, I’m behind.

But, I wanted to get this one up so a grocery post on a non-Monday it is.

Last week didn’t have many stops, but they were rather large.  Coming back after vacation and school startup (which changes our meal needs) will do that.

On Monday I spent $25.58 at the farm stand (melon picture) and $56.09 at Stop & Shop (milk and bananas pictures).

Tuesday’s stop at Wegman’s was a big one any given week – $217.04.  There were a few things that didn’t make the pictures, but we ate them before the picture was taken.

On Saturday I spent another $94.59 at Wegman’s.  We’re going through a lot of milk and cheese with everyone home.

Finally, on Friday I spent another $47.25 at the farm stand.  This is the time of year when we eat the most produce as the local options are full of things we want to eat.

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That brought our total for the week to $440.55 or almost two weeks of grocery budget!  And, the month will get worse today since I’m headed to BJ’s for the first time since the beginning of summer.

Two Weeks in Review: Weeks 32 & 33, 2018

21 Tuesday Aug 2018

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We really haven’t done much to prepare for school yet.  That will be this week’s task.

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Last week we were on vacation in DC & Virginia.  I’ll post more about each of our locations over the next week or so, but first some general trip thoughts.

  • We drove.  This works well with so many people and a relatively short trip.  We also needed a car while there.  But, I do have some thoughts on that subject.
    • First, I’m not sure Google Maps can properly estimate traffic hours into your journey.  It persisted on sending us through NYC on the George Washington Bridge.  Much past experience (paper map driving days) tells me to take the Tappan Zee/Garden State Parkway route.
    • On the plus side, Google Maps did suggest a new to us route east of the Tappan Zee bridge which we will have to make note of because it was much better than our previous trips on the Saw Mill Parkway.
    • I also wish the Google Maps app could let you quickly switch between routes like you can on a computer.  It is very difficult to check alternate routes while underway.
    • Why oh why are rest areas in New Jersey so terrible?  I somewhat understand the issues with the ones closest to NYC.  There’s a big time gap between rest areas on the east and west of NYC so lots of people stop immediately after; that’s a big drain on anyplace.  But, we stopped much further south and still terrible.
    • On the other hand, big thumbs up to Maryland House.  I remember this one from childhood trips and it is still excellent.  I’d like to assume the other rest stops in Maryland are just as nice.

And now for the previous week.

  • Three kids were at tech camp.
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  • Our oldest spent the week preparing for a Home Run derby, which ended up being rescheduled and then cancelled for weather.  It has been very rainy here the past two and a half weeks.
  • I signed the middle four up for fall swimming lessons.
  • The boys had haircuts.
  • One child went to two birthday parties.
  • We went to one doctor’s appointment.

Grocery Update: Week 33, 2018

20 Monday Aug 2018

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It will be a short post today because we got back from vacation last night.  We were gone for an entire week, during which I spent $10.97 on one gallon of milk and two containers of juice.  Otherwise food went on the vacation budget.

That does mean that this week will have quite a few stops so next week’s post might be rather long.  It also means school is just around the corner so hopefully I’ll be able to get more than one or two posts up per week.  I certainly have a new set of material!