Who’s the Smartest?

Nearly all of my life I've had a little sister nipping at my heels, and now that's she's once again caught up to me in numerical age for a couple of months, I thought that it would be appropriate to share this revealing news article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19373032/site/newsweek/page/0/

I didn't even have to read the full article. I just read the blurb at the top and knew that it was good reporting and good science. "A new study suggests that older children tend to have higher IQs than their younger siblings." All of us oldest children out there already knew this to be true. We're just happy to know that our younger siblings have found scientific evidence to support our claims.

Caci, are you glad that I started reading the news again?

And just to prove that I'm not only looking for articles that help me tease my sister. Take a look at this gem:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19458575/

Again, I haven't read the whole article. Actually being able to speak intelligently about what was written is not nearly as much as reading the blurb and filling in my own ideas about what the article must have said. This one says, "Some 3.3 billion people – more than half of humanity – will be living in cities by next year…" hmmmm.

Is it just me or does that make you wonder where the other half lives now? I don't think it takes much for a group of people to be considered a city. Pretty much all you need is a group of people living together, right? So, does this mean that the other half of the population lives alone? And if they do, how do they get mail?

Even out in the relative middle of nowhere my mom still has a city listed as part of her address, so would she be counted as part of the half that lives in the city because of her address or part of the half that doesn't because of her location? These are important questions. Is the other half of the world actually moving to cities or are the cities just going to get bigger and we'll give people new addresses? I really can't comprehend the pros and cons of this without understanding whether we are talking about widening our social service infrastructure or crowding our busy streets.

I should probably read this article to better understand what they are talking about, but I don't have time. I've got to go put a sign to rent out my backyard playhouse to some of the people moving in from the sticks.

There’s No Place Like Home

Our day yesterday was long and tiring, but we are finally back home. We started by packing our things and getting ready to make the trek to the Baltimore Airport. Since we had a little spare time, I flicked on the TV and found Return of the Jedi on HBO. It didn't take very long before I realized that I've been a poor father. My kids knew Darth Vader. That was it. They couldn't recognize Chewbacca, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, C3P0, R2D2, none of them. Oh well, I guess we'll have to do a Star Wars marathon sometime soon.

Anyway, the time came to head out, so we gathered our things and rode to the very farthest reaches of the Washington Metro system (about 45 minutes) and waited for the airport shuttle. Packed on the shuttle like sardines, we rode another 30 minutes to the airport and were dropped at the first available curb. Following that, we walked from concourse E to concourse C to find the American ticket counter and get our boarding passes so that we could go wait in line for security. While the security line at DFW was a surprise on the way out since I almost never wait in line there, it was no surprise to stand in line for twenty minutes in Baltimore. No other airport that I've ever been to gets people through security as quickly as DFW.

Once through security we had to find something to feed the kids. Our choices were Wendy's and Potbelly's. We went for Wendy's, and found the same level of customer service as we had noticed throughout our trip. Our order was slow in being prepared and incorrect when we got it. When asked to have it corrected, they begrudgingly slapped a few things together, wrapped it up in foil and called it a hamburger. Reagan had ordered a salad with her chicken and wanted some ranch dressing. She stood at the counter unacknowledged for at least five minutes before Leah went up there and got their attention; even then Reagan ended up with chipotle dressing instead of the ranch that was requested, but her sisters shared their dipping ranch with her so she didn't have to go back to the counter. I tell you what, I really think that we are spoiled with great customer service in most places down here in the South.

Finally, we were on the plane and it started to rain. Guess what, we got to wait on the tarmac for the weather to clear. Then we got a report that bad weather was moving in to the DFW area, so we needed to wait on that too. The pilot warned us that it could be up to an hour and half, but we ended up only sitting for about fifteen minutes. Definitely not the worst that I've had to sit through. We kept getting weather reports about DFW during the flight and somewhere (probably over Kansas or Oklahoma) we got put into a holding pattern.

We flew around in circles for about an hour before we were allowed to continue on toward DFW, but with everything backed up we were going to have a to take our time getting there. It seemed like ages, and the kids were so tired of being on an airplane, but we finally started to descend. I expected to have another bumpy ride on the way down and got the sick bags ready for everyone, but we actually came down smooth as silk all the way to the runway. I was very impressed. After all of that and waiting on our checked luggage, our plane that was supposed to land a little before 6pm had us leaving the airport a little after 8pm.

We grabbed some dinner on the way home. Enjoyed some good customer service; it was so nice to be able to send one of my kids to the counter and have them be taken care of, and then we finally got to the house. All of our suitcases are piled up in the living room since it was a little after 10pm when we finally got to the house. We just threw pajamas on all the kids and everyone went straight to sleep.

It was a great trip, but definitely one of those vacations that makes you long for a vacation when it's all over.

It’s a Good Thing Aunt Sis Isn’t Here

Really, I think it would have been pretty cool if Aunt Sis had been able to make this trip with us, but Emma was quick to point out that our choice of restaurants this evening would not have been good for Aunt Sis. We had dinner at a seafood restaurant on the shores of the Potomac River, and Aunt Sis really can't abide seafood.

Earlier in the day, Leah and the girls headed out to Georgetown while I went to meet with one of our clients. I went to Georgetown with Leah the last time that we were in DC, and I decided that I would rather work than go back out there. As it turned out, neither Leah nor the kids saw anything that they wanted while out there, so they picked up some sandwich stuff and had a picnic near the World War II Memorial. About that time, I finished my meetings and joined them.

We went to the National Museum of Art for a little while because it was blazing hot and raining a little, and you'll see below that Abbie did her best impression of the Mercury Fountain sculpture. The kids also got to see a few great paintings and sculptures and learned a little bit of art history. I'm sure it was not nearly what Melissa could teach, but it was the best I could do.

Finally, after that we were able to rent the bikes and ride around. The kids had been wanting to do that since we got here, and they really seemed to enjoy. All except Abbie, that it. She was frustrated because she didn't feel like she could control the bike very well. I think that it was just a little too big for her. Emma had a blast, though, because we got her a tandem trailer, so she had her own handlebars and working pedals. Sydney had the best deal of all, though, a trailer. She just rode around in the shade of her canopy as if a princess in a chariot.

We were all pretty beat after that. It's been a fun, but tiring several days, and we are all looking forward to going home. We made reservations at the restaurant I described above and headed down there in the hotel shuttle. After waiting nearly half an hour past our reservation time ("It'll just be two more minutes," they kept saying), eating barely passable food, paying an outrageous bill, and putting up with barely decent service, Leah and I decided that restaurant service in the South has spoiled us. At least we have one thing to look forward to when we arrive back at home.

Speaking of stuff to look forward to, I just talked with Aunt Sis, and she is all set to pick us up from the airport tomorrow, and she mentioned that she was going to put in a pot roast before she headed out. That means we'll have dinner waiting when we get home. We're really going to miss her when she moves out.

Monday, June 25, 2007

The Smithsonian

To go through all of the different museums that make up the Smithsonian would take days and much of it would bore the children to tears, so we have trimmed our visit down to a few key areas. Today, we went to the first two: The Museum of Natural History and the National Air and Space Museum. I guess technically the zoo was the first since it is also part of the Smithsonian, but it's so far away I forgot to count it.

The kids really enjoyed the dinosaur exhibits in the Museum of Natural History and we spent probably two hours in only three or four rooms. Reagan and Abbie both went over every exhibit in detail reading nearly all of the captions and explanations. After that we tried to find some lunch. Remembering that we had seen a McDonald's on the Mall earlier in our trip, we headed there to get something quick and easy. Apparently, free enterprise is alive and well in DC because a quarter pounder with cheese is about $9 at the Mickey D's on the mall.

Instead of stopping there, we went a few blocks over and ate at a more traditional McDonald's location. By the way, the kids are loving the fast food, but Leah and I are tiring of it quickly. Anyway, this particular McDonald's was about the nastiest fast food joint that I've ever been in. Our feet stuck to the floor no matter where we walked, there were no clean tables, the restrooms were locked (and I'm not sure that wasn't to keep something in), and every person behind the counter (most of which had untucked and disheveled uniforms) was extremely rude. At least we didn't have to pay $9 for a fast food burger, though.

After eating, we wen to the National Air and Space Museum (one of my favorites) and spent another couple of hours tracking down the Wright Flyer ("It's the real one!" Reagan discovered after reading the caption) and Amelia Earhardt's plane (the only thing Abbie wanted to find in there). In addition to those finds, we also went through a very cool series of rooms that the kids really enjoyed that provided a series of experiments so they could learn about how airplanes fly. They even got to sit in the cockpit of a plane and work the controls (today was a light picture day, and those are really the only shots I got). Finally, my favorites, we saw "Glamorous Glennis" (the X-1 Yeager flew to break the sound barrier), "The Spirit of St. Louis" (Lindbergh's plane), "SpaceShip One" (Paul Allen's commercial spaceship that won the X-Prize a short while back), "Voyager" (the plane that circumnavigated the globe), "The Spirit of Texas" (Perot Jr.'s helicopter that circumnavigated the globe), and a wide variety of space vehicles from probes to lunar landers.

After all of that, we went to rent bikes and discovered that they are only open until 6pm on Sunday. We've postponed that until tomorrow, assuming that we have time then. We're also planning to visit the National Art Museum (another of my favorites) and possibly the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Right now, the kids are already in bed and we've got some dinner on the way to our room. I think they would go to sleep on their feet if we made them go out anywhere else.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

How to Fit on the Subway

We had a really full day today, so full in fact that my camera battery is currently dead. I'll post some shots as soon as it gets recharged. In the meantime, here's a rundown of our day:

We slept in a little, and that was good for everyone. After eating, though, we set out on our adventure. Our first stop today was the International Spy Museum. I couldn't take any pictures inside, but believe me when I tell you that you're not missing much. After paying the hefty fee to get all of our family in the door, we waited in line for about 20 minutes. Finally, we were let into the exhibit, which was advertised to us as being "great for the kids." In fact, we saw lots of neat Cold War Era items, but since our kids are all under the age of eleven, it was pretty much meaningless to them. It was really not what we expected, and at the behest of the children, we left after seeing only about half of the exhibits.

Since it was nearly lunchtime, we hunted for a place to eat. Word to the wise, when in DC, plan ahead for eating because there's not a McDonald's on every corner. We ended up taking the train back to Crystal City which is a shopping center beneath an office building. We ate Subway in the food court and pretty much got raped on the prices. At least we all had sustenance.

Ready for more, we took the Metro to Arlington Cemetery where we witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The kids were great, standing and remaining silent through the process as requested. I understand that there is a guard there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, which is pretty cool; the one thing that I really wonder is whether or not they go through all of the pomp and circumstance after the cemetery is closed to visitors. Like at 2am, are they out there putting on that whole show? Or are they like, "Yo, Bob, kinda cool out this evening." "Yeah, Skip, it's a bit nippy….There's some hot cocoa hidden in the bushes on the left." "Thanks, Bob, see ya in an hour." Almost makes me want to sneak back in just to see.

While we were at the National Cemetary, we also stopped to see the memorial for the Challenger and Columbia crews, Robert E. Lee's house, and the Kennedy gravesites. From the Lee's mansion, there is a great view of the city, and I hope that my pictures turn out okay so you can enjoy, too.

Since that took several hours, we were already hungry again, and we needed to find something less expensive than $10 Subway sandwiches (I told you we got raped on the price). We stopped on the mall at a bike tour place to ask about renting bikes tomorrow and got the lowdown on a nearby Mickey D's. Cleverly disguised as an office, building, we were nearly at the front door before the kids even realized where we were headed.

We hung out on the Mall after dinner and saw the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. The kids all agreed that the Lincoln Memorial was the best of the day, and they were all greatly surprised at the size of Lincoln's statue. I got some good pics of the monuments, and we hung around until after dark to get some night shots, too. I hope that they turned out okay. I didn't have a tripod, so I had to improvise a little with fence posts and park benches.

Finally, we are all back at the hotel and all of the kids are asleep. Two of them were asleep before we even got here. Leah and I are going to let them sleep in a little tomorrow and then we are going to rent some bikes and we'll tour the Mall again on bicycle. The kids are really looking forward to that. Afterward, we're going to visit some of the Smithsonian museums and then maybe let the kids watch a movie in the hotel tomorrow evening. After these past two days, we need to slow it down a little for them.

Oh, and I almost forgot. While we were walking to and from the Lincoln Memorial, Leah commented that she's never seen so many joggers in any one city before. Reagan very quickly quipped, "They have to jog so they can fit on the subway."

UPDATE - 6/24 - Pictures are now online:

Saturday, June 23, 2007