A Gorgeous Smile!!!

Gryphon got her braces off today! Its wild to think that at 9, she's had them on and off already- its a big change from when I was a kid! We celebrated with some Butterfingers she has been saving in the freezer since Halloween. Next week she gets her retainer, she got to pick the colors so it is tiger striped.

A Trip to the Basement of Mt Vernon

Because of the new National Treasure movie, Mt. Vernon had the basement open, for just 10 days. Having seen the 3rd floor (a rare treat) we certainly wanted to see this! I'm sure its no surprise that there is no secret passage, though the cornerstone of the house is there.(The cornerstone is the thing he turns to get in to the tunnel when he kidnaps the President, for those who have seen the movie!) It isn't even the original, though- its a copy. The original is in the museum next door.

Because photos aren't allowed inside Mt. Vernon (even in the basement) all I have are these- a shot looking down the stairs from outside.

And the cutest kids and Dad ever outside it.

We've been reading a ton on George Washington (Gryphon really likes him) so we hit the museum and saw the exhibits on his time in the French and Indian war, the Revolution, and as our first President.

Here are the girls swearing themselves in as President of the United States- a glimpse of the future, maybe?

Sorry about the blog neglect lately, we've been super busy. I'm trying to make this a priority!

More Rhythmic gymnastics

Rowan had a meet this weekend in Maryland- our only local meet. RG is such a small sport here that that the meets are almost all quite far away, making it an expensive sport! Why our child couldn't pick soccer like every other kid in America, I do not know. ;)

For the awards, they all march in as teams holding a sign for the gym they represent. Of course they march "pretty", kind of a goose-step with pointy toes. This sport is so odd!

They did only all-around awards, not individual routines, so Rowan missed the podium. (Sheonly did one routine, disqualifying her for all around, as they do 3 normally). She still got a cute little rhythmic gymnastics medal and a goodie bag- apparently rhythmic gymnasts like all children LOVE candy! She did gain 2/10ths of a point over her last marks- way to go Rowan! (And the competition at this meet was much fiercer!)

Most exciting of all, we stayed to watch the Level 9/10 Juniors (ages 12-15) and seniors (16 and up- international level competitors) that evening. WOW...it was amazing. And we got to see gymnasts from Russia, the Ukraine and Hungary. And the girl who has been the top ranked rhythmic gymnast in the USA (though right now she's #2), Julie Zetlin! That was amazing- this meet was put on by her gym, so she had a lot of fans in the crowd. She was AMAZING. I have no photos or video, so here she is doing the rope routine we watched in Maryland, at a meet a few weeks ago on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UBNztCzju8 Seriously, go watch it. She is incredible.