"Mom, just look at your belly! You're all dressed up like a miracle!"
"Dang it! Every time I look at the sun, the sun gets in my eyes!"
While driving downtown: "Did you see that police officer! You've got to be kidding me! What does he think he's doing? It's like, duh! I mean, he's totally freaking me out!"
You don't have to know us very well, or have followed Ye Stewart Clan very long, to know that we REALLY like the outdoors. It's in our DNA. It's one of the things that originally brought us together (that and Suzanne's extreme beauty).
But for young bucks like us who grew up in the splendor of the Western United States, transfering that love for outdoor activities to the East Coast can be a challenge. I tried to explain this to a friend, an East Coast native, about six years ago, and he tried to test our resolve: "Have you tried Shenandoah?" (Yes. Boring.) "What about the Blue Ridge Mountains?" (Yes. I don't really like hiking through peoples' ranches.) "What about . . . ?" The list went on and on, and with each suggestion I couldn't believe my friend actually thought he was listing wilderness adventures. He did name one place we hadn't tried, which he assured me was the coolest hike to the best campground. So, after a pretty decent snowstorm, we strapped on our backpacks and our snowshoes and found our way to the campsite -- where we got to observe people all night through their living room windows. That's true.
Well, we are slowly coming to grips with our local outdoor options, and we're trying to make the most of it (in between our vacations to true outdoor adventurelands) so that Tennyson can become familiar with the finer things in life. Nature is where we go to have our senses put in tune, and we think that's important for T-bone to experience.
So, last weekend we took Tennyson camping at Pohick Bay Campround, on the Potomac River (VA side). Pohick campground is a classic Virginia campground, complete with swimming pools, playgrounds, showers, rental cabins, electric hook-ups, convenience stores, etc. Tennyson absolutely loved it. Pregnant Suzy -- not so much. The plan was for Suzanne to take us to the campground, drive home and sleep in our bed, and then pick us up the next day. But, after eating all of our perfectly roasted S'mores, Suzanne was too tired to drive home, so we ended up squeezing all four of us into the two-man tent. Until 6am, when Suzanne had suffered enough and went home to the bed.
Tennyson's favorite activities included playing on the dock and beach . . .
. . . running around and smashing the wildflowers . . . . . . paddling the canoe up and down the Potomac River (we saw a Bald Eagle, and Ospreys fishing) . . .
Tennyson loves being outdoors as much as his parents. We love this little video clip because it shows the wonderment with which Tennyson observed his natural surroundings during the entire trip.
Maybe it really is DNA, or maybe we're just rubbing off on the little guy. In any case, if you're in DC and looking to go outdoors, you might want to give Pohick a try. Who knows, you may have a good time too.
After a grueling winter session, Tennyson is really enjoying his spring recess. Finally, a chance to spend time with his constituents and forego all the influence peddling. He did allow one exception: Grandma Julie and Grandpa Ross decided to spend the Easter weekend lobbying Tennyson in hopes that he would vote them in as "Grandparents of the Year." Tennyson's a good guy, but who wouldn't cave when offered to be wined and dined by their grandparents for a weekend?
And Grandma Julie and Grandpa Ross were really pushing hard for his vote:
They took him to Mount Vernon and made sure he got to see the sheep.
They took him to the Cherry Blossom Festival, and then let him get out of timeout a bit early after he ran away from mommy and got lost in the throngs of festival-goers for 20 minutes.
They even took him to an Easter egg hunt at the Arboretum.
And just look at the abuse Grandma Julie took after working so hard to build a Lego tower just right for Tennyson:
Tennyson certainly knows that Grandma Julie and Grandpa Ross love him and that he's their favorite grandchild. But in the end, he's not so easily persuaded. Indeed, he has decided to withhold his final decision for "Grandparents of the Year" until after he has had a chance to open all his birthday and Christmas presents.
(Thanks for coming mom and dad! We loved having you here with us!)
We were recently stuck in the car for an extended period of time, and Tennyson decided to grace us with 30 minutes of non-stop, deafness-inducing singing. Eventually he went hoarse and called it quits -- a little Easter miracle. You may want to record this and put it in your car in case you ever get stuck in traffic:
We were nearly accosted by a flock of India Peafowl (peacocks/peahens) recently during a visit to the Old Maryland Farm in Watkins Park, MD. These are some fascinating creatures. We were like three little kids (well, Tennyson really is a little kid) rediscovering one of the world's natural wonders.
Wikipedia describes that crazy plumage thusly: "Many of the brilliant colours of the peacock plumage are due to an optical interference phenomenon, Bragg reflection, based on (nearly) periodic nanostructures found in the barbules (fiber-like components) of the feathers." Or, as Tennyson put it upon first seeing the beasts: "What the devil?"
We're still not exactly sure what to think about the Indian Peafowl, though we've ruled out one option: Thanksgiving.
