we like Christmas!

trains are cool!Uncle Nick's partial sweater!

Zoolights

We went to the zoolights again this year, and again they were big fun. You'll note I have videos! But first, here's me and the Widge with a panda:

and now, a video of little ants running away from an anteater:



run, little ants! run!

lots of photos

look, a cool caterpillar train! See, the botanical gardens actually rock!

in keeping with the theme, here we actually pet a caterpillar.
we also built mooses at build-a-bear here we see mooses getting bathed. (different day, as you'll note by the wardrobe change)
this is the line to see Santa at our local mall. in this section, we were inside a snowglobe and it was actually snowing. here's the face we make when mom asks us to stop playing in fake snow for 35 seconds so she can take a train photo. mom is a square.
Santa, on the other hand, is cool.

later (on a whole other day) we went downtown, because Santa arrives on a friday evening evey year. We took part in the living nativity, where clearly the wise men are wondering why they don't get to wear cool Batman hats

and, just for retro appeal, here we are in front of the Scoti's window, all decked for Christmas, and complete with two trains.

Enough photos?

Williamsburg!!

we went to Williamsburg!!!

Actually, first we went to Yorktown, see:
Yorktown is totally haunted!!! Seriously!!! I got a photo!!!
look at that ghost hovering near the poor Widge! See, this just goes to show you that most ghostly apparitions are the work of poor photography. But I did manage to take reasonable shots too. Here is my artistic composition, called: Small boy in field with cannon:


We did also actually go to Williamsburg, where we spent quite some time doing this:

This one is: Small boy ankle-deep in puddle, With leaves, and History in Background. We also spent a few hours in Norfolk, mostly running around a really big boat.

We like big boats.
All in all, the Williamsburg area gets a big thumbs up. It has many mudpuddles, several cannons, and a few boats. Hooray, history!

In the Aftermath

okay, now the campaign was over, and McGinty: you're back on the card list.

During the campaign I shilled for my guy, because I believed he would have been the best choice. I still believe that. Its possible that I always will.

But I also believe there's a difference between partisanship and patriotism. Senator McCain himself mentioned that his former rival will now be his president, and thats the reality. We owe it to our country, and to our party, to unite in respect for the office of the president, and to give our new leader the benefit of the doubt.

We Republicans actually have an enormous amount of power. President-Elect Obama can reach out to heal party divisions, and I hope and expect that he will. But unless we, the loosing party, is willing to meet him halfway, nothing will happen. We can be bitter and let our wounded pride fester for four years, or we can take an active role in helping to move the country forward, and participate in what will be, unquestionably, a historic era.

Additionally, we have an enormous advantage over our liberal brethren, who expect this newest of leaders to end the war, fix the financial crisis, reform the tax code, and provide affordable health care to all. The faithful left-wingers have set themselves up for a degree of disappointment, whereas we don't expect much of anything constructive. So we, if we are open enough to allow it, have the capacity to be pleasantly surprised and delighted.

Back to McGinty: you, Stella, are my personal pick for Patriot of the month. Many of the rest of us have it easy, because our party espouses most of our values, and the ones it doesn't aren't a big deal anyway. You, on the other hand, seem to have spent a good deal of time carefully considering your options, so as to give your vote, one of the most precious gifts (along with life and love) that you can grant, to the individual who truly best represented your personal hopes, dreams, and needs. That, folks, is the root of democracy, and the truest expression of what it means to be an American. In this election, plenty of people voted specifically so they could tell their grandkids they voted for the first black president. Plenty voted because they hate the way the country was going and figured someone new had to be better. Others voted for a candidate primarily to keep the opposing party out of the White House. I personally think voting, for whatever reason, is morally superior to not voting. But in the hierarchy of reasoning, a vote for someone you truly believe to espouse your ideals is the greatest vote. Its an enormous statement of trust and faith: "go, take my personal endorsement, wear my colors into battle, champion my cause for me, across the globe." The greatest moment in all of politics is when a voter takes time to carefully look at choices and weigh options, and Stella is my sterling example of this one.

Although to be fair, I am filled with pride, as a political scientist, for all of you blog-readers, for your degree of awareness and activism. You run the gamut, from the one who rabidly espouses conservative causes with a fiery passion,to the one who voted one way but was always very clear-headed about the benefits and positives of the other side, to the one who carefully ran the numbers to choose which candidate, out of two who fell out almost equally in terms of values, he should, stastically, vote for. A shout out to the young, but highly informed, voters of my acquaintance, proving that the right wing is not a party of old, rich, men. And congrats to my varied associates who did vote for the now President-Elect. All around me I see a group of thinking voters, of political activity and awareness, and that, far more than financial bailouts or strong foreign policy, is what ensures the bright future of America.

update

sorry, McGinty, you may be my favorite in-law, but you will not be on the Christmas card list this year

Hero-Citizens

Dzia!

Ma!
Matt (lousy photo, but you can still see the voting sticker)

Widgie! (okay, he didn't actually vote, but he did stand patiently in line with me, and he dropped my ballot in the box, so I'm counting him)
and me! (the vote sticker is next to the McCain sticker)

also: McGinty, who doesn't get a photo posted, but gets a shout-out anyway.

send me any other vote photos, folks, and I will continue to post Hero-Citizens!

VOTE!!!!!

the Widge's Halloween costume. The hat is the best part, for which I take no credit. We bought it on our recent trip to the Renaissance.

but the real message of the day is: go vote!

many of you have already voted. Good for you. The rest of you need to vote: if you do not vote, you're permanently off my Christmas card list. If you do vote for Obama, you're off my list this year (except for you, McGinty: if you vote Obama and New Mexico goes for Obama, you're off my list this year. If New Mexico goes McCain, then you're on the list regardless of your vote).

Also: I've heard (and made a few) complaints about the political ads, the robo-calls, the friendly partisans that phone occasionally to chat you up...the thing is, this is a party, a festival of democracy. Every so often we hold these bloodless mini-revolutions, and we do t with parades and streamers and chats with strangers cross-country. Election day is the greatest party ever thrown, a nation-wide celebration of self-determination. Election day is our actual Independence Day, the re-affirmation that we are the greatest country of all. Enjoy those calls, enjoy the ads, enjoy the festivities of Election Day!

(if you're interested in my personal and professional opinion, I think Obama is probably going to win. I also think it might turn out, in the long run, to be helpful to the GOP: we need to revamp the party, bring in some fresh blood and young ideas. We need some green Republicans, we need social justice, we need compassion for our fellow men. All you greenies and libertarians, stop fooling around with your splinter parties and come to the Party: we need you!)

Anyone who sends me a photo of their "I voted" sticker: I'll post it to my blog with a big shout-out to you hero-citizens. To that end:

Existing Hero-Citizens:
Stan
Nick
Jenn

Woo-hoo to all of you!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Pumpkin Day to you mad scientists in Blacksburg, and all the bats in the New Mexican belfry, and all my other ghoulish readers, from our happy haunt!

I'm behind in my posting!!!

Last weekend we went to Roanoke, where there are many trains. This, apparently, is what Roanoke is famous for, to the extent that Roanoke is famous at all. lots and lots of trains. And a very big star.
I'm not entirely sure I understand this. Its a really big star, on top of a hill. At night it lights up. Its multi-colored. Apparently it started out as a Christmas decoration, and is now the symbol of the town (if you ignore trains). In that regard, its a remarkable monument to some serious spin. Ordinarily when you forget to take down Christmas decorations, you get heckled by your neighbors, and yet here, in Roanoke, you can leave your Christmas decor up for 60 years or so! Its not that we're lazy! Its the symbol of Roanoke! Seriously! We're not making that up just because we can't be bothered to take down Christmas decor from 1949!

Anyway, there is also Science in Roanoke.
Uncle Nick likes Science.Miss Jenn likes Science too. Really, she does. Thats not an I-don't-like-Science face. Seriously.

See, she looks a little bit happier with Science in this one. Sorta. Maybe if Uncle Nick hadn't zapped her on the nose, she'd be happier with Science.
The Widge didn't get zapped, and he loves Science. He loves Science so much, that we spent four hours in the Science Museum. We learned important science stuff, like really big tongues are funny.
And also: gee I'd feel much better if this plane had wings.
And: hey, these giant nail tables are cool!

So, in conclusion, if you like trains and science, go to Roanoke, The City That Also Has A Really Big Star.

a scant few photos for now

I have a million photos (give or take) from our weekend in Roanoke. here are three for now:

Pumpkins off the vine

How do you judge the sincerity of a pumpkin patch? This one looks fairly sincere to me.


Went to the Temple Hall Farm for their maze (which they cleverly spell MAiZE), and Festival of Fun yesterday, and it was, in fact, fun. We did the maze (if you see the photo on their website, we did the birthday cake section. The part with the words is apparently the night-time maze, although the thought of wandering through a cornfield in the dead of the night, in the middle of nowhere is too much to consider). I don't have any in-maze photos, although we were certainly in long enough to take several. The Widge was a trooper and walked most of it, and even lead the way for a while, although his success rate at picking paths was fairly low.

Instead of maze photos, please enjoy this photo of the Widge with some pigs:They also, as the Widge explained to Uncle Stan today, had goats, cows, turkeys, chickens, horses, and ponies. We especially like the ponies because they're small and fuzzy. We don't quite like them enough to take a free pony ride, though. We did ride the cow train, and there would have been photos, but apparently Dzia was unsuccessful in that attempt, because there are no cow train photos on my memory card. I have a hay ride photo:
yes, the Widge looks bewildered in basically all the photos. It was an exciting day, what with the pigs (who also ran in pig races, which is our favorite type of race. Its clearly far superior to NASCAR in every way), the hay fort:

which you could also go through:
the pumpkin picking (which lead to pumpkin washing today:)
the corn cannon (note to da Boy: can we rig up a pine cone cannon in the yard?), the maze and cow train (maybe its better I don't have photos. A non-professional-photographer-and-therefore-technically-not-qualified-to-comment friend pointed out the horrific blurriness of my photos recently.) and, best of all, the corn box!

yup, its a box filled with corn.
it totally merits three photos.


Also, for general info purposes, check out the Backyardigans. Even if you don't have kids, you'll enjoy the music and quirky plot lines (I'm thinking of you specifically, Stan, and also Matt). Beware, they are Canadian, like Max and Ruby, and are clearly part of a conspiracy for our entire entertainment culture to be fully controlled by Canada (stay tunes, this may eventually develop into a full-fledged conspiracy theory.) Anyway, you can even see them on you tube, if, for some reason, you don't want to be bothered actually watching Nickelodeon. I much prefer them to Yo Gabba Gabba, which I unfortunately saw about 5 minutes of today.