Allergies suck

I've been having a doozy of an allergy attack for the past few days. It always makes it difficult to think when I'm all stuffed up. I'm planning on kicking out the last of my Washington DC posts tomorrow. Sorry to keep you waiting. Until then, it's back to scouring the net for the best acne treatment to get rid of the zits that blowing my nose all the time has caused. *sigh*

Favorite Friday

I don't really understand ATV riding. In my area, there are a lot of fatal accidents involving ATVs. I can sort of understand motorcycles and the love of high speed driving. But where is the joy of ATVing? They seem like they are built to flip over easily. Maybe I only hear about the idiots like these. Maybe there is some fun to be had just riding around slowly.

National Zoo

We're almost to the end of the places I visited in Washington, D.C. One of the last places we saw was the National Zoo. Since it is a part of the Smithsonian group of museums, admission to the zoo is free. Of course, I think that makes it the best zoo ever.

Unfortunately, we happened to go while the elephant enclosures were being upgraded so they was closed. No elephants for us. (Phase One of the exhibit opened September 3.) It was also rather hot out. As a result, most of the animals were just hanging out in the shade. We must be the kings of bad timing. On the other hand, the red pandas were extraordinarily active. I've never seen red pandas wandering around their enclosure. This time, one of them actually walked right next to the glass. It was awesome. We also had a ball in both the bird house and the small mammal house.

Overall, the zoo was well-kept and fairly easy to navigate. The parking can get a bit expensive but I'm willing to forgive that since there is no admission fee. Also, if you become a member, you get free parking. We are definitely planning on going back the next time we are in the area.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

I'm not usually a science person. However, the National Museum of Natural History is an amazing museum. I really think this is a museum that has something for everyone. Not only are there fossils and insects, this is also where the Hope Diamond is on display. (By the way, the Hope Diamond is the centerpiece of the gemstone collection so there are rubies, emeralds, and other gems as well.)

My favorite display was the deep sea creatures. There's a giant squid, which I found pretty interesting. I also highly enjoyed the film about a group of scientists that get to explore the sea floor. As a matter of fact, my daughter even sat still to watch this one! That is a feat in itself.

Usually, I have a difficult time recommending museums to people who aren't the nerdy type. However, I truly feel this is a museum that everyone can enjoy. Between the butterfly enclosure, the gemstone collection, the live insects, and the history of the creatures of the earth...I'm sure everyone can find at least one thing they'll love. I know it was true in our group!

National Air and Space Museum

Another Smithsonian museum we hit while we were in DC was the National Air and Space Museum. There are actually two of these now. We went to the 'original' one and not the one outside the city.

This place is pretty much designed for geeks. Almost every exhibit has some sort of 'behind the scenes' aspect to it. In the airplane section, there's a cockpit (glassed off so you can't touch it) that shows how the controls work while the plane is landing or taking off. A video plays where the front window should be so you can fully understand what is happening. Of course, tons of people gather here but it was neat to see nonetheless.

There's also a lot of space exhibitions right now. One entire area consists of various pictures of the planets. Since the planets were covered in my daughter's science class in school, she thought this display was awesome. There's also an area where you can play ground control and launch a shuttle. In the same area, there is a trivia game that the three of us played. It was fun.

But the most popular area is the How Things Fly exhibit. Here kids of all ages can play games to see how things like lift work. There's even a scale so you can see your weight difference between a couple of the planets. Needless to say, when we returned to the museum for a second look around, this was where we spent most of our time.

Obviously, if you aren't into airplanes or space travel, this isn't the museum for you. However, if you have even a little bit of interest, you will have a great time. There's even a planetarium and an IMAX theater and a couple of simulator rides, just in case you find yourself getting bored. Air and Space isn't my favorite museum but it is in the top 10.

Play: Mary Poppins

I took a trip to New York City over the weekend. The goal was to take my daughter to see some Broadway plays. First up, Mary Poppins.

Most people are familiar with the movie version of the magical nanny. In the original book, the character was a bit more strict with the children and vain. Somewhere in between the two lies the stage version. Mary is definitely vain and fairly strict but she is also rather cheerful and more mysterious. Thankfully, she's not the only character that has been altered slightly. The children are slightly naughtier and the affection between Bert and Mary is more apparent. Story-wise, I found that these changes brought a breath of fresh air to the story so everyone, even those that have watched the movie a hundred times, could enjoy the musical.

It wasn't until today, while I was doing a bit of research for this review, that I realized how extraordinarily lucky we were to see this particular cast. Mary is played by Laura Michelle Kelly, who starred in the original London cast in 2004. Bert is played by Gavin Lee, also the original actor for Bert in the London cast. The two of them were absolutely amazing in their roles. (I was a bit partial to Bert though. He's hysterical.) If you get a chance to see these two perform, don't hesitate a single minute!

For the most part, Mary Poppins gets passed by for The Lion King. (I'll be talking about that one later!) In my opinion, this is a huge mistake. The show not only mixes both the book and movie very well but it also adds its own little flairs as well. One of these is the song "Practically Perfect" performed by Mary and the children. It showcases all of their talent while staying catchy at the same time. I really think that any fan of Mary would enjoy this show. I know I did!

Software stuff

I have a scanner at home. (I believe it's classified as a 'flatbed scanner' but I don't know all that much about it.) For those of you with scanners, what sort of scanner software do you use? I usually use the wizard that pops up when I plug the thing in and I was wondering if there was something a bit more....efficient. But I don't want to spend a ton of money on it either. The wizard is free and it works. If there isn't anything free (or at least really cheap) that works better, then I'll just deal with this.

National Museum of American History

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is, most likely, one of the most popular museums in Washington, DC. Not only does the museum address the political history of the United States, it also shows the cultural history. What other building would house both Abraham Lincoln's top hat and Kermit the Frog?

I was really looking forward to this part of our trip. This was my favorite museum as a child and I couldn't wait to share it with my daughter. Unfortunately, the museum has changed a great deal since my childhood. The pop culture exhibit has been reduced to an extraordinarily small room, which makes it difficult to see most of the pieces thanks to the tons of people that need to have their pictures taken with them. I appreciate the fact that people want something to help them remember Brian Boitano's skates but, seriously, there are thousands of people trying to get through this small room. MOVE.

Another problem area is the First Ladies' dresses. The room is large enough to handle a decent sized crowd, yet too many people insist on taking pictures. (NOTE: Flash + Glass = A picture of a bright light.) Thankfully, the inauguration dresses are kept in a separate exhibit, which is much larger and easier to navigate. This was my daughter's favorite exhibit.

While we were there, a large exhibit dedicated to Abraham Lincoln took up a lot of the space. This segued into a rather morbid display on presidential assasinations. Eventually, you end up in a collection of memorabilia from the presidents' children. My daughter liked that area as well.

Overall, I found the museum lacking. We all still had a decent time there but I think it would have been better with the larger pop culture exhibit and less about the deaths of past presidents. (I don't know that we really needed a funeral carriage in the center of the room by itself. Many more displays could have fit in there.) I suppose my biggest complaint is the bad use of the space. Exhibits that could be in a small area are put in huge rooms while popular pieces are stuck in small corners for people to try to wedge their way in to see. Still, this museum is a must see if you are in DC.