History, Herstory - it's Our Story!



The same weekend we went to the Train Show, we stopped by the Smithsonian American History Museum on the Mall.  We got there late at around 4pm but it stays open till 5:30.  There used to be a very cool kids hands on area called the Sparks Lab but it is closed.  I used to take Jonah there all the time.  I heard there was another area that had some hands on stuff for kids, so it was a wet weekend late afternoon and we figured we would give it a try.

 

There is a big room that is all about toys and kid stuff over the past 50 years or so.  It was pretty emty, so we kinda took over the place.  Jonah and Vera played with the Slinky, Etch a Sketch, the View Master, and Legos - they LOVED IT!

 

There was also a place to color on white boards and make your own comic strips... we sort of did that too.  It was right next to a big Superman costume - Jonah liked that.

 

In the middle of the room, there were two glass cases with memorabilia in them,  One had the original Jim Henson Muppets - my kids immediately went over to see them and started screaming KERMIT KERMIT and jumping around like frogs.

 

The case next to that one had other kids stuff from the past - like Howdy Doody and yes, a Mickey Mouse ears hat.  The hat mesmerized my kids and then they started screaming Mickey, Mickey, Mickey and started dancing the "hot dog" dance from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song.  And then, there we all were, me, Jonah & Vera - singing that silly Hot Dog song and dancing in front of a glass exhibit case at the Smithsonian.  Good times!

 

We stopped for snacks on the way out and the potty.

 

When we got out it was wet with lots of puddles.  Jonah had a ton of fun breaking in his rain boots and splashing his way to the car.

 

I have a feeling we may be visiting again this fall/winter when we need a free indoor place to hang for a bit.

 

Mother Earth was thirsty...

...and she got a great big drink of water on her celebration day!

Yes, it rained all day today, Sunday, April 22, 2012 - Earth Day.  We had big plans!  We were supposed to be off "Mobilizing Mother Earth" with throngs of other activists on the National Mall... but that just did not happen. 

This morning I woke up and I was tired.  Vera woke up at 6:30am and she seemed tired.  Jonah woke up at 8:00am and he could barely keep his eyes open.  And it was raining, hard.  Much like Mother Earth, we all needed a rest.  

I was totally unprepared to be inside with the kids all day by myself.  I had some fleeting thoughts about going to museum, but I just could not get myself to rally.  We were staying inside at home-it was just that sort of day.  I looked through the little kaleidoscope in my back pocket... and thought "Earth Day Cupcakes" - we could do that!  I always have some food coloring on hand and I had seen them all over Pinterest (one example here).  That would be our afternoon plan.  We'd try to "chill" until then and I'd make sure we had all the ingredients.

For lunch we had "earth" bagels and "sun" eggs... and I realized I didn't have anything to actually make the cupcakes except for the food coloring.  INITIAL FAIL.

But then the "mommy goddess" helped us out.  Some good friends texted they wanted to stop by to see the new house-I texted back "sure if you bring me one box of white cake mix..."  SCORE!

After a day of absolutely no "chilling" - more like running around the house, screaming, make believing, feeding, eating, lack of naps for both children and mommy, drop by guests, and a host of other extremely labor intensive inside activities, we were all ready to make the "Earth" cupcakes. 

We did them ALL wrong.  I mean we did not even follow the box directions right.  We used the entire egg and not just the egg whites... we used two different cupcake pans and not the correct size pan... and it turns out I baked them on the wrong temperature for the incorrect amount of time.  One tray of regular sized cupcakes failed.  The tray of mini cupcakes came out pretty "earthy" and Jonah & Vera loved them.  Well I think they did, they did gobble them up after dinner (which was delivery pizza...)

Mama got back in the middle of cupcake baking and complete chaos ensued... and remained for the rest of the evening.  The kids were giddy to see her (or just giddy not have to see me-not sure which one...)  My kaleidoscope was too tired to do anything but stare at the mayhem and sort of watch.

I remember when I used to get up and go to an office during the day.  Sunday nights were the worst.  The dreaded Sunday Night Blues, anxiously awaiting the new work week... now I get the Sunday Night Snooze - as in the desperate voice in your head screaming, "when are you kids going to go to bed, so that I can go to bed...."

In the spirit of Earth Day, I re-learned a few good lessons today (unfortunately none of them have anything to do with saving the earth):

(1) always have box cake mix in your pantry
(2) food coloring is super awesome
(3) rainy days will never be the same after you have kids (kinda like those lazy Sunday mornings...)
(4) absence DEFINITELY makes the heart grow fonder
(5) sometimes it is really OK to watch TV and order pizza with your kids-especially if it is the original version of the Lorax and your son tells you, "Mom I speak for the trees!  Be nice to the trees!" - at least that is what I am telling myself...
(6) I get why they call the Earth, Mother Earth, even when she is tired (or thirsty, or hungry,...) she has to take care of business...

HAPPY EARTH DAY MOTHER EARTH! 
Hope you aren't thirsty anymore and you get good night's sleep!

PS:  We did manage to finish our "Recycled Earths" on Friday.  We hung them up with our Earth lanterns (see here) and Coffee Filter Earths.  It looked really nice. 

rainy Sunday

earth day bagels- cream cheese and sprinkles..

making some Earth cupcakes...

Vera's baking in the kitchen too!

happy earth day!

recycled earth:  brown paper bag, blue and green paint, glue, cut out blue pieces from magazines and old paint swatches, make green hand and foot prints on packing paper, paint and glue...

earth garland!  coffee filter earths, recycled earths, earth poster, and earth lanterns!