Paleontologists for an Hour

I found the perfect activity for Jackson to do after our Natural History Museum visit.  We 'dug' for our own dinosaur bones.

For a boy who loves tools and dinosaurs it was heaven! He was good and thorough brushing off the dirt. Truthfully, Grandma loved it too!

Here are our 'finds'.

 

A Visit to Washington DC

I love visiting Mary and her family.  I know that I would love visiting them wherever they lived but being close to Washington DC makes every trip feel a bit like a vacation.

The very first day after I arrived, we took 'dinosaur loving' Jackson down to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. He knew the name of every single one of the dinosaurs.  Smart boy!  He knows way more than I do about them!

While he enjoyed the museum, he does NOT enjoy having his picture made.  He definitely doesn't get this from his mom.

Occasionally he cooperates and even asks me to take a picture.  We were fascinated by the skeletons of various animals.  

Jackson liked the tall, tall giraffe!

After the museum we walked up the Mall towards the capitol.  Our nation's capitol is beautiful, as are the grounds.

And Jackson wanted a photo by the flowers!  Win win!!

Mary indulged my curiosity and we walked up by the Supreme Court to see the new fence and protestors.  I think it was too early in the day for a big Pro-Choice rally but there were a few people around. George said that he didn't want to see me on CNN or FOX having a fight with anyone! Don't worry, I was good and quiet!

On our walk back to the car, we passed the I-395, 3rd Street Tunnel where Mary and I spent 6 hours with our inauguration tickets in hand in 2009 waiting to be a part of history for the Barak Obama inauguration.  This tunnel is known as the 'Purple Tunnel of Doom' since thousands of people holding tickets for the 'purple' section were misdirected and totally missed the inauguration. I wrote about the experience in one of my first blog posts.  2009 Inauguration. 

It is so fun to explore a big city with a little person and find fun things like picnic tables with swings instead of benches.

 

Fairy Gardens

 When I saw a Facebook post describing a 'Fairy Garden' class, I knew that I had to participate with my fairy-loving granddaughter.  I am happy to report that it was a great afternoon at a small 'community garden' in Nampa called 'Undercover Community Garden'.

Always satisfying to get your hands dirty!

Isabella's favorite part was painting.

I think our fairy garden turned out pretty cute!

I love spending time with this cutie!

Unfortunately, the garden turned over in my car on the way home.  The rest of the way, at every turn Isabella reminded me 'slow and steady Grandma'.  Luckily we were able to rebuild it all quite easily. 

On Sunday, Isabella gave me what way be my favorite compliment ever.

We had invited other friends over for dinner so she and I had not had our usual one-on-one Grandma - Isabella time.  When the others left, she wondered what we were going to do now.  I asked her, "If you could do anything in the world right now, what would you do?' Her answer warmed my heart, "I'd play with you Grandma."

I can't even tell you how happy that made me!