Winchester

We went to Winchester accompanying Renee to an appointment she had at Shenandoah University. While she was in her meeting, we explored the historic district. ("Ooh, Old Town, that would be nice!" remarked Joshua, thinking of Gaithersburg's railroad bliss. And his hopes were fulfilled, we did in fact see a train - back to back diesel switch engines painted "Winchester & Western," as he would inform you in detail.) It is a quaint little slow-paced place where I'd like to spend more time some day. I think Winchester changed hands a hundred or more times in the course of the Civil War, so there are almost countless landmarks and interesting, out of the way museums of historical interest. On this brief trip we saw one museum - not a historical one - and a coffee shop! It's just as well I didn't see the bookstore until we were on our way to the car to go pick up Renee.

Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum

It happened that Monday was National Museum Day, and a little children's museum in Winchester happened to have free admission on that day, when we happened to be in town. It also happened to be crammed with school groups, so we didn't stay too long. But the boys had fun nevertheless.


Watching marbles roll down the ramp. I wasn't fast enough to snap them.

Couldn't get enough of the plastic apples. Neither could the big kids, who were loading them into crates and using pulleys and ramps and such to lift them up and down and transport them various places.

Climbing in a honeycomb-like structure.

There was also a medical area with a real ambulance door you could enter and a few gurneys, firefighting clothes to try on, a live king snake, a model sailing ship, and some fun brainteaser building materials. Maybe there was more, but that's all we managed to see this time! Maybe someday we'll go back.

Checkers

After fleeing the mob in the museum, we were ready for a quiet snack. It was too blustery to eat outside, so we sought refuge in The Daily Grind. After filling our tummies - I splurged and got the boys a snickerdoodle - we found these. Such simple things but they go a long way toward making warm, sweet memories!


Isn't this a cookie?

Jumping checkers - intensely! I love that classic Kinsinger expression on Joshua's face.

The Pedestrian Mall

To where are they running? (Stopping to look for water in every drain.)

Behold, another fountain!

Ah, running water... or "larter!" as David says...pure bliss! (Actually, I'm grateful for running water, too.)

The Sandbox

Chris has long since wanted to give his boys a sandbox, and last Saturday he set out to fulfill his goal.


Here is the work in progress.

Joshua and David had a little picnic at their table while Daddy was working hard.

Fastening the lining.

After several more laborious hours, the final product.

It has been a huge hit so far!

Thank you, Daddy!

A Walk

Out for a stroll...I did bring the stroller but didn't end up using it that much!

For some reason 1-year old boys named Kinsinger feel a compulsion to push woodchips down through those holes in the play equipment.

Mr. Monkey finally mastered going UP the slide! Joshua is so into climbing these days.

A Typical Day at Home

Well, replacing the headlight isn't typical, but it was all in the day's work.

National Train Day

This year was the first National Train Day, celebrated at several major railroad stations around the country, on May 10, the anniversary of the driving of the famous Golden Spike. Here we are sporting our railroad attire. And oddly enough, we met a man from Minnesota who recognized Bandana Square on my shirt. I wonder what he would have said if I had told him that's where we had our wedding reception! (Okay, we have been around train buffs our whole lives, so it was bound to rub off a little!)


"I got my choo-choo on"

Union Station - so many train stations are extremely beautiful buildings

Two junior conductors waiting mostly patiently for an hour to take a tour of the real trains. The hats helped make the wait go faster.

Joshua trying out the cafe car on the Amtrak Acela Express.

David enjoying the lounge area of a 1930's Pullman car. His overalls were wet from the waist down the whole time because he dumped out a water bottle on himself on the drive down. (By the way, next time I think we'll take the Metro...although I enjoyed driving and walking around Capitol Hill for the first time.)

A volunteer demonstrating a standard place-setting in this car. The pattern matches the carpet.

Inside the NYC 20th Century Limited observation car.

We also got to go inside a double-decker MARC coach car, which was a thrill for Joshua, but I don't have photos of that.

Finally, we made it to the Garden-Scale train layout. Joshua made sure he got a good view.

All in all, we had quite a day! Gotta love those trains, we have such bonding experiences with the boys doing railroad-related activities!

Mr. Monkey

Joshua has found another fun use for the treadmill - monkey bars!

Big Rock

Once again here we are enjoying the beautiful May sunshine at the Rio. We ran into several other people we knew that day - apparently everyone else had the same idea!

When I was a girl, we camped with another family at the same campground every summer. We kids always begged to try to get #11 campsite every year because it had a huge rock at the entrance plus great stream access in the back. Joshua discovered this huge rock to climb on at the Rio, and it made me smile to see him enjoying big rocks the way that I used to do. Climbing up something so much bigger than oneself gives one such a feeling of accomplishment! I just pray he learns to stand "upon the rock" of Jesus above all.