Sunday, May 25, 2008

Michaelangelo

This is our pet turtle Michaelangelo. We usually call him Mr. Turtle though. He is a red-eared slider and we have had him for a little over a year. He has grown quite a bit during that time and we recently had to upgrade to a bigger tank for him. He is really entertaining to watch because he will swim around furiously then he will stop and stand on one foot perfectly still. Then he will swim again for a few minutes then stop with his head resting against the tank and the rest of his body floating. He is quite the character.




Sometimes we take him out and let him roam around our apartment. He usually tries to find the darkest corner he can at first. After awhile he will get a little bit braver and will start exploring. One of the funniest things he does is that he insists on going between the legs of the chairs and the wall behind rather than just around. This feat involves him turning his shell completely on its side while he pushes his way through. It is very cute.

While we were in Virginia, Max and Ann turtle-sat for us. Max loved feeding Michaelangelo and even made up a song about him. Mr. Turtle also got to go to sharing time at Max's school and the kids all loved him.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Vacation Photos

Virginia

Well our vacations was so much fun. We flew into Baltimore then drove to Annapolis, Maryland. Josh's grandfather served on the USS Maryland during WWII and there was supposed to be a monument on the grounds of the capital building. They were doing some remodeling so we weren't sure if we could get to it, but I made Josh jump over the fence and we got to see it. It was the bell from the battleship and had some of the battles that they served in listed around the base. It was really neat. We spent the rest of the day walking around the city and seeing all of the fun architecture. Then we drove to Josh's brother and sister-in-laws place to spend the night. The next day we went to Washington D.C. and walked all over the place. We went to the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, and spent the rest of the day in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. We spent over two hours just looking at all of the gems and minerals which was a little long for my but Josh could have spent two more hours there. We only spent an hour and a half seeing the rest of the museum. On Friday we went to Jamestown with Josh's sister-in-law Steph and we made it there just in time for a downpour! It wasn't too bad though because the rain was so warm. It did stop raining after awhile and we were able to see the museum. On Saturday we drove all over the countryside and saw the beautiful landscape of Virginia. We first went to Luray Caverns which are beautiful then we drove to Lexington Natural Bridge which is amazing. It was a very full day. On Sunday we went to Monticello which is Thomas Jefferson's estate. I think that it was my favorite spot. Despite fighting another downpour, the grounds are so beautiful and the house is amazing. They wouldn't let us take pictures inside but it was such a well planned house. I could have spent a lot more time exploring there. On Monday we had a difficult time deciding what to do but in the end we drove down to Appomattox Court House which is where General Lee surrendered to essentially bring the end of the Civil War. It was really interesting and we really enjoyed it. It was a great vacation!