Pictures of Floating Caterpillars

When we were going to walk around the lake this weekend, we nearly ran into a caterpillar "floating in the air." We watched it for several minutes, and it constantly did this curious back and forth twisting motion. You can only imagine my extreme delight when I discovered that it was actually climbing up a silk thread (I don't know if it's actually silk, but it looked very much like it) and it was rolling it into a ball as it was going!!! Oh so amazing I'm not sure if I got any pictures good enough to capture the ball, but here are some (of a few different caterpillars.) There was a HUGE caterpillar colony in the general area. Amazing.

This guy was being let down by another caterpillar about 7 ft. above him. You see some steps in the background. And though I'm sure there are caterpillars in these last pictures, they are clearly not the subject... this is part of the trail around the lake--one of my favorite parts of it, and also a small view of the lake. I'm thinking, maybe a good fishing spot? I may try it out in the morning...

Being an Aunt

Being an Aunt isn't like being a mom...or a grandmother...or a sister (and I wouldn't know anything about those anyway.) But I do know something about being an aunt, and that's because I have two adorable nieces. Part of the joy of having my brother and his family on the East coast is that I can fly up last minute (for astonishingly low prices) and visit whenever I want (or they need) me to.

Some people might not even like being and Aunt. Sometimes it means getting your hair pulled, and sometimes it means getting all worn out with 2 and 3 year olds climbing all over your body and pushing on the uncomfortable parts. But here are some fun things that I discovered about being an Aunt. (They correspond to the pictures... and though there were more fun things, I decided to limit it to these.) And honestly, I think parents do a lot of these things too.... All this is from when I went to Boston for a week towards the end of January. (less than a week after we got back from Williamsburg!)

1) Being an Aunt is fun when you can go "sailing" on comforters in the middle of the floor. Incidentally, this is almost as fun and not quite as energy-dependent as "going to the zoo".

 

2) Being an Aunt means I can read as many stories as I want all day long....and make them up too! (Actually, some of you may know that I do this even when I'm not "being an Aunt".) 

3) Being an Aunt means that I get to go to a playground, pretend I'm a real photographer, and have almost as much fun as the girls!

4) Being an Aunt means that I'm allowed to encourage them and take pictures when my nieces are being outrageously silly with their friends.

 

5) Being an Aunt means that I can cook something strange every once in a while. This happens to be octopus (or squid? I'm not sure, actually). I know Margaret doesn't look very excited, but she and Adelynn both put away quite a bit. Adelynn had never had any before and had picked it out at Costco as her "special treat." She told me about it a few days later and assured me that she would share it with me....that it would be our special treat. 

 

6) Being an Aunt means I can have TEA PARTIES at the genuine tea time of 4 o' clock every day because a) it's when the girls get up from nap time, and b) they always want a snack right then. So even though they're only 2 and 3, we get out the nice china and the tea cups and we have cheese and bread and fruit for snacks! SO fun. Every day after the first, the girls would ask me if they could have a tea party. What did I say? "YES!" 

And finally, 7) An Aunt and her nieces can have "girl time" when we pull out two enormous bags of little household items and set up a whole miniature house! I know it sounds so 5 year old of me, but it was SO fun!

It's hard to believe that it's already the middle of February, and I still have not started blogging again! Some of you may have wondered about the long silences, and I claim the very good excuse of not having internet (until this month) since last September.

That was when we moved. We were reborn into an existence that included trees and real dirt (and roadkill) and of course no internet. Which, many of you will be surprised to know, was quite wonderful. I read even more books, if you can believe it. And I took more walks. The Man and I talked more and we played games together. It's a sweet and simple life, and I can't wait to start a garden in my tiny backyard come springtime.

So here is a mostly picture post of various adventures since the middle of December.

These first couple are of our Christmas with my family in Alaska. There was so much snow!!! And we had SO much fun playing in it. We built a fort for our nieces for when they came after Christmas, and we built an enormous snow cave inside the mound of snow behind us (see the other picture for a better view of how big it was.)

On New Year's Day, we flew out of Anchorage and down down down to Cancun, Mexico, where we joined up with all my in-laws. It was very fun. Lots of beach, lots of sun, lots of free cocktails. How can you go wrong with that? The first several pictures were from the all-inclusive resort near the Mayan Riviera!

 

 

These were super cute creatures that frequented the dock between the resort and the beach. I think everyone wanted one for a pet!

Getting drinks with the girls at he piano bar....tequila!

Sand castles are the best! And this definitely wasn't our most impressive one....

Can I get an "awwwww"?

 These pictures are from Playa del Carmen, where we stayed for the second half of our trip. The beach was fantastic and the town was fun (I bought some beautiful serving dishes!) We didn't make this Mayan Temple, it was just so awesome that I had to take a picture of it. Below, there's a picture of me at a street quesadilla shop, and then some of the awesome banyan trees (I think they're called) and then a dead lizard from inside one of the Mayan ruins.

 

 

After we got back from Mexico, we decided that it was high time we visited some friends in Williamsburg, so less than a week later, we popped in our car and drove down to show off our tans. We had SUCH a good time. It was like going home to family! And spending a morning touring Yorktown was very worth it--especially since our friend's had a "driving tour" CD that we could just pop in our car and hear all about the battle without even getting out (if we wanted to.) As it was, we DID want to get out, and we really enjoyed exploring the sites, but I know I wouldn't have learned nearly as much without the CD leading us through the timeline of the battle. Fascinating!  After the battlefield, we went down to the water and had a fantastic fish lunch at the Yorktown Pub! Be sure to check it out if your ever in the area and hungry! 

And.... I think that's enough for now. My fun trip to Boston (not for the sights... for my nieces) will have to wait till next time. Do let me know if you need our new address (by email or facebook). I've been terrible about sending updates.

Something New I Learned Today

 

When I discovered that it was only in the low 70s this morning, I decided I might as well be outside while I could! So I walked down to this monument, which is where I go when I'm not sure where else to go. I knew a little bit about the monument and it's significance, but as most things do over time, it all seemed jumbled up in my brain. So I took some time and read all the different plaques that are posted around the memorial and learned some interesting things (that I probably already knew.) 

For those of you who are WWII buffs, you'll probably think this is abysmally simplified, but this is some basic info about the Battle of Iwo Jima and how there came to be a gigantic monument down the hill from my apartment. 

Iwo Jima is a little island south of the main islands of Japan. In 1945, it stood about halfway between Japan and the US base on the Mariana Islands. Because it was such a long way from the Marianas to Japan, there was no way for damaged bombers to make it back if they were hit by Japanese artillery. So Iwo Jima turned out to be a perfect stepping stone to get to Japan, and on Feb 19, 1945, the battle began. 

The Japanese surely realized how important the island was for the allies, and defended it fiercely. There were about 70,000 American troops, fighting about 21,000 Japanese on the island. One might think that the battle wouldn't last long--especially after this flag was raised on Mount Suribachi on Feb 23, just a few days after the battle started. But the Japanese dug their heels in and fought for another month, finally surrendering on March 29, 1945, after nearly 7,000 Americans and almost 20,000 Japanese died in the struggle. 

Joe Rosenthal was the news reporter who took the Pulitzer Prize winning photo that inspired this sculpture. Felix de Weldon made and cast the sculpture with his assistants. And in case you're wondering how he made a sculpture of 4 men from just one photograph, he didn't! Three of the men that originally raised the flag lived through the battle, and sat as models for de Weldon. The men in the monument are 32 ft high, and the flagpole is 60 ft long--hard to tell from a photo, but the monument is unbelievably huge. (If you look in the top photo, there's a man standing on the far right, and you can see how very small he is compared to the statues!)

All in all, the monument cost about $850,000, all paid for by donations from Marines, navy men, and friends. The Memorial was dedicated in November 1954 by President Eisenhower.

Sedona, Arizona

This is where I went over the weekend: it was so beautiful. Red rocks, blooming cactus, cool spring weather--Amazing!

  

 

My childhood friend, Sam, and her fiance, Joe, at the rehearsal dinner. (Aren't they so happy?) 

Washington DC in the Spring: 2011 edition

 

Cherry tree blossoms over a picnicking father and daughter nearby the Jefferson Memorial

 A beautiful street in Southeast DC -- D St SE, I believe (near 3rd)

 

"The Hiker" -- a monument I love but know nothing about. This is on Memorial Bridge between Lee's House in Arlington Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial

There are beautiful fields of daffodils planted between the highways, but they're accessible to industrious pedestrians (like me!)  

 The trees are starting to turn green around the WWII memorial. Each pillar represents a state or territory in the US, and there are two tall pillars--one for the Pacific and one for the Atlantic theaters of battles.

 This is Rosslyn, near where we live. Very city-a-fied.

 

 This is the Founding Fathers Memorial, a special island to one side of the National Mall. It's beautiful! I love weeping willows, they always make me thing of the penguin/tea scene in Mary Poppins.

Sleeping ducks are the cutest!

 

This is the little-known Women's Vietnam Memorial, dedicated to the women that served in the military and Red Cross during the war. 

 

 I don't think I'll ever be able to come here without thinking of the movie, Mr Smith Goes to Washington. I love that there is some guy just chilling out in the sun. It's odd to me. Perhaps it's because this monument is one of the closest to where we live, or perhaps it's because of the architecture, or maybe because it always seems to be a lazy summer day whenever I'm here. But this is probably the "homey-ist" monument for me.

 The Smithsonian Castle was the original Smithsonian, housing all the displays that people donated... becoming the first building of "America's Attic."

Fun on the Mall behind the Capitol

The Japanese Magnolia trees (that we often call Tulip Trees) sprung out early, while we still had several weeks of 40 degree weather (for which I was immensely grateful!) 

 

Even on a chilly, cloudy day, the cherry trees make it seem like summertime!

 Spring is a beautiful time to go explore the National Cathedral, and enjoy picnicking or lounging in the beautiful parks and lawns surrounding it.