Hide and Seek

The boys are old enough to play games with each other. Sometimes it takes a little counting from me, but they can do most everything on their own. Here's fine example.



If you ever play hide and seek with Finn, always look under his bedroll in the playroom. He's there almost every time. Even Liam has figured it out.

They play games like "Metro", "Museum", and "Cooking" too. I guess they copy what they know. Finn's favorite part of museum is running the credit card and giving you a receipt. He can even sign his name to the receipt now.

These kids are getting so big so fast. Or time is just flying by...

Miami

I had a AF Reserve trip down to Miami for a Sciene and Technology Conference last week. Since I would be working normal hours there, we brought the whole family down so I could see them.

Our hotel was nice, overlooking Biscayne Bay, and centrally positioned to everything we needed. Finn and Liam liked the marina and the contruction site next door which they could watch fromthe balconies.


To get established in the ways of Miami, we studied the signs posted everywhere. There were a couple funny, signs and a few informative. Here the boys study about manatee safety when boating. It was not that important since we saw no manatees nor drove any boats.


While I was at the conference, everyone else stayed at the hotel. They got to go swimming and enjoing the hot sun. They also went to Jungle Island where they saw sloths, toucans, and flamingoes.


I took a day off at the tail end of the trip too enjoy the city with the whole gang. Liam was very excited to get to the beach for digging and swimming. He's begun understanding us and nodding in affirmation of a question. I think he hates it though since all I do is ask him yes-or-no questions now, like a human Magic 8-ball.







We left on July 3rd in order to get back home for the 4th in DC. But before we left, we saw the flag flapping over the bay ready for Miami's own 4th of July.

Birthday Boy!

Little Liam turned one year old a couple weeks ago. He had a great birthday and finished the day with a cupcake. I'll run the order of the day backwards in this post. It's always nice to start with the big, happy, cake-filled smile.

He ate the whole thing, not just the frosting like some kids we have.


Although he ate a separate cupcake, the main cake was beautiful. Sarah had done a lot of research into fun cake ideas and settled on a good one that looks super and, as a bonus, gave Finn a project to help with. She made a turtle shaped cake. Finn had a train cake for his first, but Liam's was more amphibian.

We also continued a tradition that lapsed a little on Finn's third birthday. We try to take a picture of the birthday boy with a picture of them on the day they were born. I'm always struck by how they don't look like themselves in the birth picture, but that's probably because they were mostly cartilage and got squeezed out a toothpaste tube.

I used to think that the two look very different, but I can't really tell which is which in the newborn pictures. Now the more I look at the pictures of Finn at one year old, the more I think they look more similar.

While Liam was napping, Finn helped make the cake. He separated the M&Ms into pile of the same color. He then helped put the candies on the shell. Most important to him, he also helped eat the leftover M&Ms once the cake was covered.

It's been a great year with two boys. Liam's grown so much and will be walking around in a month or two. The kids wrestle and play together. Finn's an awesome big brother and Liam idolizes him. I can't wait for them to be get older because they get more amazing each day, but I know I'll miss all these milestones once they're behind us. I'll just keep enjoying them as they come.

Soft play room

Alexandria is a great town and has a lot of community activities and services. At the city athletic center near the high school there is a soft play room in a racquetball court. The kids love it. Here are some pictures and video of them having fun.

Finn is quite a daredevil and jumps off the slide instead of sliding off it. It's a great rainy day place to go. April showers gave plenty of need to have rainy day places to go too.

Day out at the park

A favorite thing to do is to pack up a picnic and head down to the riverfront park. It's got it all: airplanes on final, boats, running, playing ball, &c. Finn got his own umbrella and rain boots to protect him from the spring showers. The umbrella also doubles as a nice shade maker for summer days.


The best activity of all is walking on the rocks and throwing sticks into the Potomac. The leaves weren't full out at the time, but the sun was as strong as summer.

The kids also got new sunglasses for the summer. You can see how tired they got from the running and eating.

However, no matter how tired or how much you ate at lunch, there is always room for ice cream on a hot day. Ice cream is a higher priority than keeping a clean face.


It sure was a fun day and a good kickoff for summer. I'm sure that there will be many more days spent just like this one. Or maybe with a family bike ride kicked in.

Craft Time

Come on everyone! Put on your flight suit, grab some egg cartons, and make a lobster with one eye and a couple colorful poofs.

Sarah's been crafty. She finds all kinds of great things for Finn to make when it's too rainy or hot to play outside. I like coming home to see what is the next thing they've done.

Parental Safety Magazine: Parent of the Year Honorable Mention

He's too quick to stop him from getting to the electric cord, but not to quick to grab a camera. In reality we know that he's safe and stopped this behavior. Training a kid away from playing in the fireplace or grabbing cord/jabbing outlets it tough. The forbidden toy is the most intriguing.

Knute Visited

Knute flew into town a few months ago to say "hi". Finn likes catching up and chatting about FCK1. They've made it up to the first league so there's a lot to discuss. At some point Knute gave Finn a missive, so Finn retaliated with his knee. I documented the experience. Finn wants him to stop back in soon, but Knute is a little hesitant.

Happy Birthday Lee-Ham!

A year ago we were at the hospital having little Liam. Now he's not so little, babbling up a storm, and able (but unwilling) to stand on his own. He's gone from a punching bag for Finn to smashing Finn with a truck. He's been to Germany and to glaciers. He's a happy boy subject to moments of vocal complaining. He's an early riser and a two-nap-a-day kind of guy.

He's a super little guy and I've a great year with him around.

My Exciting Commute Home

Thursday I was about to miss my bus and was dashing through the halls of the Pentagon trying not to be late. I swiped my card to leave and as soon as I came through the doors I heard a pop and knew it was a gunshot.

I looked toward the direction of the sound and saw no one else reacting as if they heard a gunshot so I figured I was wrong. I'm sure that only was a fraction of a second, but after thinking things were okay I continued on to my bus. Then I heard a second shot followed by the shout "Oh no, you didn't!". This time when I turned I saw both Pentagon Force Protection (PFPA) agents (PFPA) moving quickly and people running.

I was right behind an Army guy who about a foot taller than I am. When I saw him running, and guessing he has been deployed to a combat zone, I knew that things were pretty serious.

I ran forward too, staying low, and came to a sliding stop behind a concrete barricade placed in the entryway to the Pentagon to prevent cars from driving up to the doors. The layout of the entryway was published in Washington Post, which I modified to show my individual path.


I've been asked why I didn't turn around and go back into the building. First, I thought I saw the PFPA guys turn around towards the doors and I feared that the shooter got past them and towards the entrance to the building. If that was the case, I would be running back at the gunman and not away if I turned back inside. Second, the guards aren't big fans of people going in through the exit in a normal situation. After some gunfire I thought that they'd think even less of it. I didn't want to be confused by the guards as the shooter and running in the out door would suggest that I was. So I went forward.

As I moved up to the concrete block, I heard about 12 more shots. There was a lot going through my head in that few seconds.

First I thought that if a guy walked up to the guards and fired two shots, he must have hit both guards and was now moving on to do whatever he wanted to do. I then ran through scenarios of what could he possibly want to do: charge into the building, suicide by cop, or rampage on all who were outside.

As the Chief of the PFPA has said, there is a layered defense and getting through it is obviously impossible. I also figured that suicide by cop was an unlikely scenario because having shot the two guards, he was making that impossible in the short term. I took the 12 additional shots as the gunman choosing the rampage option. I now know that those shots were the return fire from the PFPA, but at the time I figured he was on the loose chasing down anyone he saw moving.

I also thought about the days I spent on a shooting team. I remembered being behind the berm at the target end of the range and hearing the bullets pass overhead. I didn't hear that same sound of bullets passing nearby, but I also wondered if a bullet from a handgun, which has a slower muzzle velocity, would make the same sound as the rifles I'm accustomed to hearing.

I also knew that the shots were still being fired from the entrance side of the doors which would mean to me that the gunman wasn't chasing people around but firing from one point. I later found out he wasn't moving anywhere and that the guards were the ones firing now, but at the time I knew that meant which side of the barricade I needed to be on.

After a couple seconds the firing stopped. To me that meant either that it was done or the shooter had paused to reload. Either way I thought that getting out of there quickly was important. I jumped up and ran down the stairs (not shown in the pictures) and turned the corner towards my bus.

I know the Army guys in deployed locations like to make fun of the Air Force guys by saying that they aren't physically fit. I can now say that I am faster than at least one Army guy.

At my bus there was a young woman crouched down low. When she saw my get on the bus, she followed me aboard. She was shaking and crying. I yelled that there was a guy shooting people and the bus should leave. She could only get "they're shooting people" out through her cries. The bus driver didn't react. It was clear that Metro's training was so ingrained in him that no amount of crying, swearing, or hysteria was going to get him to leave one minute earlier than 6:37. Eventually, when everyone on the bus was ducking below the windows and encouraging him to leave, he did.

While I now know that by this point, the gunman was under PFPA control and dying of his wounds, at that moment it was as likely to me that both guards were dead and after emptying his guns he was now searching out others to continue the spree.

As the bus pulled into the HOV lanes of 395 I called home and told Sarah, who took it incredibly well. She has said she's known something like this would at the Pentagon since it is the focal point for so much delusional ranting and, to many, a symbol of conspiratorial forces, but she hadn't assumed that I'd be so close to such an event. With a calm but trembling voice, she said "Let's talk about this when you get home," clearly not wanting to know more than I was okay until she could see me. Then I called Mom. Of course since they don't have cable, she my not have known until the paper showed up in the morning, but you have to call Mom.

Once I got on the bus, I noticed that my pant leg was torn to shreds. During the power slide I had ripped the pants and my skin. The cut isn't too bad, but I will need to get replacement suit pants sometime soon.

The rest of the commute and night was very much like any other day. I wondered if it was a problem that I didn't swipe my bus pass as I got on. I determined it wasn't a big deal. When I got home, I ate, helped get the boys ready for bed, cleaned up, and went to bed myself. All very mundane. I'm glad for that.

I have a couple of take-aways to share. First, the PFPA guys are awesome. Since their uniforms are very similar to those of mall cops, I used to think as I walked by them "if something were to happen, would these guys really be ready to act?" I got my answer. When confronted they acted quickly and decisively even after being shot. I even give style points for yelling "Oh no, you didn't!" It's not quite the line used in Pulp Fiction, but it has flavor.

Another thing I considered is "Was fleeing cowardice?" I don't think so. The determination is situation dependent, but in general we all have our roles in a given situation. Heroism is performing your function at personal risk or, when no one else is available to perform a function, stepping into that role at your own risk. Doing someone else's job when they are capable, present, and trained is just getting in the way.

Most important is the family. Sarah is doing enough with me gone endless hours at work to need to also fear that I'm going to walk into the middle of a shooting. But when that happened, she once again took care of things at home no matter how chaotic things got at work. When I got home we hugged, kissed and said how nice it was I was home and then went on with the evening.

In the end nothing happened, and in retrospect, I wasn't in line of fire since those who were did their job. All it ended up being was a pair of ripped pants, a skinned knee, and a story with a nice Washington Post graphic.

Splish, Splash

The boys have been sharing the tub and there have only been a handful of emergencies. Sometimes Finn even lets Liam play with a bath toy or two. Not always.

Liam gets so excited now that he'll start waving his arms at the sound of the water coming out of the spout. It's hard to get them out afterward too. The water can be cold but they'd rather stay in there than get back to dry land.

It reminds me a little of Bert and Ernie. There's even a yellow rubber duck in the tub.

Air and Space Museum

Finn's been asking to go to the Air Space museum for about a week now and Sarah was able to take the kids there today. There is a new room full of experiments for kids to try. Finn was so excited that when I got home he started telling me about all of them.

After playing with the sliding air sled collider, Finn got to pilot a Cessna 150. Here you can see him in a steep left hand turn.

The kids were both well behaved all day and made taking them out for a trip more often quite doable. It sounds like they all had fun and I wish I had been there too.

No food's off the list yet

I remember fondly th days when Finn would eat anyting we put in front of him. Those days have been replaced by chicken nuggets and hot dogs. Liam is still an adventurous and eagerly shovels it all down. I know it won't last forever, but I like it for now.

New owner of the kitchen cabinets

After dominating the lower cabinets for over three years, Finn has passed the torch. Liam now is commander of the Tupperware and master of the plastic plates. We will now have to develop the picking-up skills. The item dispersal skill is innate.

Finn, who is prone to fits of jealousy, isn't exhibiting those traits . His toys are now way more interesting than a bunch of lids and cups. It's nice that he is OK with letting some things go to Liam. Though I'm sure that it will be a while until he gives away his toy excavator he got for his birthday.

Also, ignore that egg beater in the picture if you think it is a hazard.

Engineering Day

The National Building Museum had the engineering festival for kids yesterday. We stopped in to see what it would be like. Their were so many cool exhibits by AIAA, NASA, ASCE, and many more. There was a place for kids to make paper rockets and launch them. Finn made a paper helicopter and let it fly. The agricultural and bio-science folks had a popcorn display that drew tons of attention. Here a guy explains lift through the use of a broken wind tunnel.


Finn asked a brilliant follow-up question about Reynold's number and transition from laminar to turbulent flow that left the guys speechless. That's when we moved on to the chemical engineers. They were mixing up slime for the kids. Finn got a bag of blue slime and brought it home.



It's just water, borax, and Elmer's glue, but it was Finn's favorite thing he got there. I suppose there's nothing wrong with being a chemical engineer, but everyone knows that the cool engineers are all probabilistic mechanicians.

New Hair

This morning Finn mentioned how the teachers at school put shampoo in his hair. I thought that was interesting and feared lice, but Sarah was able to explain it a little better. When all the other kids go down for a nap, as the half-day kid, the teachers get Finn all to themselves. On Thursday they used that time to put mousse or gel in his hair and play dress-up.

He said he wanted to do it again today. So we went upstairs and broke out my gel and gave him big hair. He loved it and wanted to pose for a fashion shoot. Here is the result.

He has an expressive face. There's no way this would possibly become a daily exercise, but it was fun for a day. It did mean that he couldn't wear a hat outside because it would ruin his hair. The sacrifices we make for fashion.

Happy Valentine's Day

Last night we went to a Valentine's Ball. We got to get all gussied-up and eat steak. We had a good time, but got home way too late and Liam was not sympathetic, still waking up at 5:45.

For breakfast Sarah made some great Valentine's pancakes. They tasted like love. And maple syrup. Which may be what love tastes like.

Happy 13th Valentine's Day! If an early wake-up after a night out is all the bad luck we get for the 13th, I'll take it.

Liam and Finn Playing together

In an effort to restart my postng here and linking to Facebook, I am adding this video.

I will start blogging again and hopefully the blog should stay relatively current. Since work is getting back into the period of long hours, we won't be doing much other than mundane home activities like this: