Summer Hair

I've consigned myself to being unstylish in the summer. I wear a t-shirt and shorts everyday. It's way too hot and humid to wear any extra clothing, and I'm just not into skirts except for Sundays. But, one thing I can have fun with in the summer is my hair. I prefer summer hair to be off my neck, so even a ponytail just isn't going to cut it. Here's a couple of the hairdos I've come up with for summer.

Two dutch braids into a braided bun:

I do the right side on a diagonal so the bun is off center. Then I twist the two braids up into a bun. Secure with booby pins and done.

Here's the style from the front (and a peak at my new glasses):

I've been doing this three mini-bun style for several years now, and I always struggled with it a little. Then I saw that Christina at hairromance.com puts the hair into three little ponytails, and for some reason this was a revelation to me. It's so much easier. I also added a dutch braid on the right side to make the whole thing a little more interesting.

Three mini-buns from the front in my summer uniform of t-shirt and shorts:

 This post is brought to you by Kayla. It's my first ever link-up and style challenge.

Funk Family Tours: Monuments and Goodbye

For their last night I took Paige and Peter to see the monuments. Nate stayed home with all four boys and put them all to bed himself. Those boys did not go easy on him, so he deserves a huge prize for his contribution to our evening.

We planned the excursion perfectly, arriving as the day was ending. 

We saw the FDR and Martin Luther King, JR monuments and then arrived at the Lincoln as the sun was setting.

That evening was the night of the Supermoon, and, when planning a trip to the monuments, Paige and I thought it would be pretty awesome to see the monuments under the supermoon. It seemed like a pretty popular idea. We saw a lot of people setting up their cameras and waiting for the perfect shot. The supermoon was pretty super.

 via

via

 By the time we made it to the World War II Memorial it was dark.

We made our way back to the Jefferson (very awesome in the dark, but not so awesome in my photos).

The next morning the Funks packed up, and I drove them to the airport. Beckett misses them so much. When they were saying goodbye Beckett said of A: "But I not want him to go home. I want him to be here." And every couple of days, even still, Beckett says he misses A and C and wants them to come back. "Maybe they can come on Monday," he says. So sweet and so sad. I'm so glad they could come.

Funk Family Tours: Harper's Ferry

Perhaps you are all tired of my constant praise of Harper's Ferry? If so, too bad. Here is another Harper's Ferry post. Paige, of course, has heard of my love for Harper's Ferry. She wanted to experience it for herself, and I do not think she was disappointed. It was my third trip, and I'm already planning the next one.

Shall we just get the obligatory train chatter out of the way at the beginning? Beckett had a fabulous time in Harper's Ferry. I think we saw 5 trains.

Every time we heard a train Beckett and Nate ran up these stairs. Doesn't Beckett look smashing in these sunglasses? No? Well, they are no more. B broke them on the way home and mourned profusely.

I try not to think about how many times Nate has let my son stand on train tracks.

We also got ice cream/ custard/ slushies (for the Funk boys) from our favorite ice cream shop. They liked it. We ate it in my favorite courtyard.

Now I want to do a little comparison for everyone. Below you can see what the Funk boys did during the ice cream-eating portion of our trip. 

 And this is what my kids did:

I think they each had about 3 spoonfuls of ice cream, and they NEVER stopped moving. The Funks? They each ate an entire slushy.

So, we arrived in Harper's Ferry late in the afternoon due in part to a late start on our end and in part to horrendous traffic in Frederick. On the plus side, we came late enough that we did not have to pay to enter the park. On the down side, all the museums were closed. I think we were all okay with that. We spent our time doing the outdoorsy stuff. We looked out at the Shenandoah and Potamac rivers. We admired the church and the cliffs. We walked across the bridge.We sat on this bench.

And then we threw rocks in the river. I want everyone to keep in mind that we had four boys with us. Four. This portion of the time was a huge success because all boys love throwing rocks in the water.

Because it was so fun the first time, let's do another comparison, shall we? Here are Paige's kids throwing rocks into the water. Notice how far away they are from the river. Notice how placid and peaceful they look.

 Now here are my kids:

Beckett is doing his crazy, excited arm flap and fake giggling. Felix insisted on practically sitting int he river, and throwing rocks into the water apparently turns him into a complete maniac.

Paige and I felt extra good about our trip to Harper's Ferry because just the night before we had gone to my book club where we discussed Richard Louv's The Last Child in the Woods and here we were, the very next day, with our children in nature.

All that rock throwing had worked up an appetite so we went and ate dinner on one of the restaurant patios. Felix was crazy during dinner (he is consistent), so he got to go on two walks with Nate during our dinner time: while we were waiting for our food and while we were paying. Apparently the walks included knocking on people's doors and sitting in the road.

We thought it was a pretty fabulous day with fun-filled, boy-friendly activities, but as we were loading up the car to go home A told us his favorite part of the day was getting gas at the gas station.
It must have been a really exciting stop at the gas station because we are pretty sure he loved everything else we did too.

Funk Family Tours: Smithsonian Highlights

I dubbed our trip to the District "The Smithsonian Highlights Tour." With four boys under five our strategy for conquering Washington was to keep moving (and split up when necessary).

Step 1: Ride the Metro

Everywhere we went we had to take two cars. Nate and I vastly prefer taking the metro into Washington anyway (whenever we drive we seem to get caught in horrific traffic on the way home no matter what day it is), and as all the boys were under five the train ride for them was free. The metro is fun for the kids too, and while Paige's boys weren't quite as enamored with the train as Beckett (and really who is?), they still really liked it.

Step 2: Fuel Up

We got to the city around 11:30 and went straight to the atrium at the Smithsonian American Art Museum where we all ate our packed lunch.

Step 3: Dissertation Highlights

The Smithsonian American Art Museum houses many of the works of art I wrote about in my dissertation, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to show the real deal to Paige. We visited Martha Graham and Paige made me pose like the illustrious dancer. Martha is housed in the lovely mezzanine pictured below.

We made a quick jaunt through the visible storage because it is so incredible and then paid tribute to H. Lyman Sayen's The Thundershower, where I made Paige pose like the dancers. Pay back.

This speedy race through the Smithsonian American Art Museum was made possible by our awesome husbands who wrangled the children through the museum on their own.

Step 4: Walk to the Sculpture Gardens

Along the way we paused for a photo-op with the Capitol Building. When we arrived at the sculpture gardens we learned that Felix had lost one of his shoes. Apparently he threw it out of the stroller at some point, so I walked all the way back to the Smithsonian American Art Museum because we were sure it was in the atrium. It wasn't. Felix remained shoeless for the rest of the visit, and I had to buy him a new pair after the Funks went home.

Step 5: Dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is huge and has lots of fabulous exhibits. We saw the dinosaurs, and actually, I missed most of them because as aforementioned I was walking all the way back to the art museum hoping to find Felix's shoe. Oh well, I heard that the dinosaurs were well loved by everyone, especially Peter and the Funk boys.

Step 6: The Transportation Exhibition at the National History Museum.

We have a train lover in the family (reiterated in case you could have possibly missed that fact), so this exhibit was a big hit.

A Conestoga wagon and our wagon.

Step 6.5: The Star Spangled Banner

To round out the Funk's Fort McHenry experience we took turns seeing the Star Spangled Banner. The kids stayed in the ice cream shop with alternating parents while the guys and the girls ran upstairs to see the flag. Paige and I also zipped through the First Ladies' Dresses.

Step 7: The Peacock Room

I love, love, love James McNeill Whistler's Peacock Room, and I wanted Paige to see it. So Paige and I booked it across the Mall to the Freer Gallery while the boys headed to the Washington Monument.

Step 8: The Washington Monument

The idea behind stopping at the Washington Monument was that it would give everyone a nice view of the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, and the White House. Our plans were thwarted by the fences and scaffolding that is earthquake-proofing the monument once again.

Regardless, we managed to get a shot with the Funks and the White House while Beckett danced like Michael Jackson.

Step 9: Dinner at the Old Post Office Building and then a trip up the elevator

Everyone got to do something they really wanted to do in Washington. Paige and I got to see the art. Peter got to see the dinosaurs. And Nate got to ride this elevator. Back when Nate lived in D.C. he wanted to ride this elevator, but it was closed after 9/11, so he never had the chance until now. On the ride up we met some lovely fellow Cougars who have three kids at BYU. Then we enjoyed the magnificent views while the kids were absolutely crazy.

I'd definitely recommend taking a ride up this elevator if you are down in the District. Great views and it's cool and breezy up there.

Step 10: Metro our tired bodies home