Turntable Demonstration Day

We girls headed up to Baltimore for the day to see the turntable demonstrations at the B&O Railroad Museum. We got to the museum just in time to see the first demonstration at 11:30. The first locomotive to take a spin on the turntable was the "Atlantic," which is a replica of an 1832 grasshopper locomotive. While the museum staff moved this train on and off the turntable, we could see the vertical pistons pumping, just like the legs of a grasshopper. Evelyn has read about grasshoppers, and seen them (stationary) in the museum, but she had never seen one move - so that was pretty cool!Next up on the turntable was the Lafayette, which the girls have nicknamed the ornery little engine - this trickster is temperamental whenever asked to run during Steam Days. This locomotive is a replica of an 1837 steam engine by the same name.
While the turntable was taking a break, we girls ate lunch and then headed to the North Car Shop, where the BIG locomotives are on display. Evelyn and Julia played inside the cab of their favorite engine, the Allegheny 1604. It's nearly impossible to get the entire locomotive in a picture since it's so long.
Then we went back inside the roundhouse for the 1:30 demonstrations. Here's Evelyn, sitting in front of the open trap door that leads underneath the turntable. The museum has an "armstrong turntable," which means it takes a strong arm to move it (i.e., a human's strength).
The first locomotive to ride on the turntable this afternoon was a replica of the Tom Thumb. This engine has one vertical piston, and, as the Tom Thumb was pushed onto the turntable, the girls enjoyed seeing its piston move up and down (kind of like a single-legged grasshopper). A caboose was the last piece that got to ride on the turntable. We rounded out our day at the museum by walking through the Civil War exhibits and hanging out in the kids' play area.

Wood Floors

We all have different reasons for loving the wood floors in our new house. Here's the list:

Rosie - She can bat her toys around, and they zip and scoot all over the place. That means independent play time for the feline.

Julia and Evelyn - The girls love putting on their ballet shoes and dancing around the main level of the house.

Valerie - I can do yoga in the living room without my yoga mat bunching up and moving all over the place (like it does on carpet).

Troy - He just likes the way they look.

Evening Story Time

Julia loves having books read to her, and this evening she cuddled up with Troy for about 30 minutes of story time. The only reason we had to stop reading was because it was bed time. Otherwise, who knows how long Troy and Julia would have sat there reading!

Super Bowl Spread

Last night we hosted a small Super Bowl party, and we had quite the smorgasbord of food. I made turkey chili, hot Parmesan/artichoke dip with beer bread and cake pops. Since the New England Patriots were playing the New York Giants, I used red velvet cake inside the cake pops, and I decorated them with red, white and blue candy and sprinkles.

Kat and Ross added to the appetizers by bringing a cool dip and hot queso, lots of different chips and Pimm's cup ingredients. Evelyn did a decent job of eating a somewhat balanced meal of chips and dip, chili and a cake pop. Julia, on the other hand, only ate beer bread, tortilla chips and one cake pop. (She wanted more cake pops, but I held her to one.)

Our former next-door-neighbors, Linda and Quentin, came over for the first half of the game and helped us eat some of the food. I don't know about everyone else, but food is the number one reason why I like football get-togethers!

Julia's Second Hair Cut

Once upon a time, way back in July of 2010, Julia had her first hair cut. She was only two years old, and she was very nervous about the whole experience. Fast-forward to today, Julia's second hair cut. It goes without saying that she needed her hair trimmed and evened out. I wasn't sure how she would react to getting a trim, since she doesn't remember much from her first experience. But the pictures say it all - she had a blast! She let the stylist wash her hair......Julia sat very still while the stylist trimmed her hair...
...and she even posed for a picture!
Then came the blow-drying and curling of the hair...
...and voila! Julia is all trimmed and dolled up!

Cutting Queen

Julia's scissors skills are through the roof. It seems like not long ago Julia was just playing with scissors, mostly making fringe on the edges of paper. And now look at what she can do - she cut all six of the squares in the project below all by herself. Nice work, Julia!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Julia went to a Groundhog Day program at Black Hill this afternoon. She learned about the tradition of the groundhog looking for its shadow, predicting an early or late spring. She also learned that one of the groundhog's nicknames is a "whistle pig." (Julia thought that was pretty funny.)After learning about groundhogs, Julia made a paper-sack puppet. She did all of the work herself - coloring the picture, cutting it out and then gluing it onto the paper sack.
After making puppets, the group went on a short walk outside, looking for groundhog holes. Groundhogs hibernate, so we didn't see any of the rodents today, but we know where to look for them once the weather gets warmer. The program finished up with a picture book. As usual, Julia thoroughly enjoyed the activity at Black Hill!