A Skirmish

Last weekend we took advantage of the beautiful Virginia weather and headed to Fort Ward for a Civil War re-enactment. We were looking for a Saturday activity that wouldn't take all day and completely wear us out. Fort Ward is just up the road from us, and Ben loves anything to do with the military so it seemed like a good choice for us.

Fort Ward isn't a very big fort. It was used during the Civil War to protect the Capitol from the South. We were able to walk around and view the various activities going on. The kids watched a cannon firing demonstration, although they never actually fired the cannon. Bummer.

Later we watched a drill by the 5th New York infantry Zouave. Benny loved their red uniforms.

Benny had the opportunity to practice his rifle carrying skills. He loved the one on one attention he received from the re-enactor.

Finally, we watched the 3rd U.S. Infantry perform a skirmish firing drill. This was the highlight of the day! The soldier's used blanks, so they actually fired their weapons. Every time a rifle fired Sophie would exclaim "POW!".

We couldn't leave without a little souvenir, and since Benny loves to dress up and roll play, a Civil War era hat seemed the perfect fit! Although, we aren't sure why he chose one from the South! To his credit, he did chose a Cavalry hat.

More fun to come!

A Recap in Photos

I'm feeling a little crunched for time these days.....There is so much to do while our busy, busy two year old is napping. So, I decided to recap our last few weeks in photos!

Nick and Sophie at a Junction City General's Game

A little sibling rivalry-Ben and Sophie fighting over who will hold Addie for this 4th of July photo.

Happier Moments....

4th of July-Ben made these Indian hats for everyone at the BBQ-11 people. He was very excited to find goose feathers down by the river and decided that everyone needed a hat for the 4th of July. Oma happily obliged and spelled out everyone's name for him to write, so we could each have our own personalized hat! Even Addie had her own hat!


Sophie playing baseball with Uncle Matt

Ben at the Air and Space Museum by the Wright's first plane.

Sophie had to have her picture taken too!

Nick and Addie in front of The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Nick enjoying a Father's Day beer at the Fish Market in Old Towne Alexandria

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery

The girls new pretty yellow room

Ben's new room-he's over being mad that he doesn't have the same curtains from his room in Kansas!

And finally, our new house!

Nick is enjoying his grad school classes that he started this past week. He has night classes Monday thru Thursday, but Wednesday's class meets online, so he doesn't have to travel all the way to Capitol Hill for school. He is home all day with us, and will be until New Years. After that, he will have both grad classes, and will work during the day on the Hill. We are enjoying our time together very, very much. Our biggest challenge has been trying to make and eat dinner by 4:30 each day before he leaves for school. I'm sure we will figure it out. He gets up really early to do his reading and schoolwork before the kids wake up.

We are still working on unpacking, but are getting closer to being done every day. The basement still needs a lot of attention, but we will get to it soon.

We have enjoyed seeing old friends from previous duty stations. We have had a few dinners with the Childress Family (from Anna Log-under our friend's blogs), who were stationed with us in Germany. They have a daughter Anna, who is a year older than Sophie, and a son, Joshua who is three days older than Addie. Anna is such a sweet girl, and we look forward to many play dates and more fun times.

We have also met up for lunch with the Garcia family, also from Germany. Kenny was a platoon sergeant in Nick's troop, and his wife Sandy is a lovey German woman. They have two girls, Kira and Kelly, who are one year older, and one year younger than Ben. Ben had a great time with them this week at Uno's Pizza. We also look forward to spending more time with them.

Further afield is my friend Angie, who was stationed with us at Fort Riley. Currently he husband, Theron is on a short deployment to Afghanistan and should be home by the end of the summer. Nick looks forward to catching up with him. Angie came down from Maryland on moving day to help me unpack. Thanks Angie!

We have only had one major outing with the kids. We took them to the National Air and Space Museum, and they had a blast! There was so much to see and do, I think we will have to make several trips before we see it all. Thank goodness, the admission to the Smithsonian museums is free! We took the metro into the city, and that in itself was a huge treat for the kids. We had a great time, but the trip made us all very, very tired. It's two days later, and I think we are still recovering. We can't wait for more adventures.....