FDR and Jefferson

The FDR Memorial is one of my favorite National Memorials. It so well represents not only the man, but the era in which President Franklin D Roosevelt served in history. It takes the passage of time to best view the impact of a man or generation and this memorial gives us that experience, not just in a single statue or picture, but a space that you utilize all of your senses from his first term to his last.

In contrast, is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, which (fun fact) the initiation of the construction of it in 1933 (the cornerstorne was not laid until 1939) was by FRD. The monument is nicknamed "Jefferson's Muffin".

It is a tribute to Jefferson's insipration and many accomplishments.

WWII Memorial and the Little House

It was a beautiful Sunday and we made the most of it; walking all (most all) of the major Memorials around the National Mall.

The World War II Memorial, one of the newer memorials, pays tribute to the legacy of "The Greatest Generation" by honoring veterans, victory on the air, land and sea along with honoring the sacrifice on the homefront.

From a ways away the Lincoln Memoral appeared quite small, which lead Luke to ask if we were going to see the "little house". The nearer we got to the structure, the more he realized that it was not small.

Dinosaurs and Giant Crystals at NMNH

After arriving in DC we ventured out for an evening visit to the Smithonian National Museum of Natural History.

Santa sends the Akins to DC for Christmas 2009

The Christmas Eve snow storm of 2009 not only brought us 14 inches of blowing snow, but also sent Santa with a trip to Washington DC! Although when Santa left the North Pole on his annual journey to bring joy across the world, he was unaware of the havoc that the storm would behold on OKC airport. SW Airlines called us on Christmas Eve and broke Santa's surprise by canceling our outgoing flight Christmas day due to snow & ice. We were able to reschedule for the day following, which worked out to be the best. Here is our wonderful Christmas adventure in DC.

14 incher Christmas Eve

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Raven & Luke played out after the wind finally died down a bit on Christmas Eve. Church services were canceled, so we were in for the night.
Our little angels love to make snow angels!

Little Zombies

Raven & Luke both decided to be a variety of Zombie for Halloween. Raven was a Zombie Bride and Luke was a Zombie Ninja.



Raven designed her own costume this year. You can't tell from these pics but she had a train of toul in the back.
This is her scary face (Luke's too)


It was a Happy Halloween!

Thankful

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Extreme Animals at FUMC Fall Fest

Extreme Animals visited our Fall Festival at FUMC this week. All of the kids really enjoyed the whole event.


Surprisingly Raven really liked holding the python.

She also let a tarantula crawl around her face, but she decided that closing her mouth was wise.


But Adam, not so much!

Monster Mash Akin Style

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Zombie Fun

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dirt road HWY in NM & back in OK

So we are driving along the New Mexico Highway and it just turns to a nice gravel road then just a straight up dirt road. The road follows down an old canyon bottom and has a somewhat strong stream running along it. But, there aint no one there or using it. So, we saw some nice sandstone formations and just decided to stop in the middle of the highway and take a little snack and play break. Just turned the cruiser off and left the doors open right in the middle of the throughfare

Finally got to Oklahoma. This is just West of Black Mesa. But would not recommend Black Mesa as a destination.

Made the drive up to the Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado intersection. This was a nice time. Some had stole the benchmark from the monument. When they catch that person they are subject to a 500 dollar fine or imprisonment. I think they should just throw them in the pokey for messing with such an important point.

CO to NM to OK

We left Colorado about an hour east of Trinidad. We are trying to make a new route to Black Mesa and just look around a little.


Here the kids are laying down in the highway at the intersection of the two states. Yes, they are professionals and no one should try this at home. Especially since you can see for 5 miles in both directions and that after being at this location for 10 minutes we realized that we may be there a few days before we see another person.

This is one of the better family portraits we have taken in a while. No one blinked!

Great Sand Dunes Jr Ranger

The visitor center has great multi-sensory and interactive exhibits. The short video gives a good summary of the history and science of the park.

Raven and Luke completed their Jr Ranger. The workbook for this park is a very good one, it is challenging and quite in depth with 3 different age/grade levels.


This is the Great view of the Great Dunes and mountains from the outside of the Visitor Center.

Great Sand Dunes, NP CO

The initial views of the sand dunes coming into the Great Sand Dunes National Park on Medano Pass from Westcliff, CO were intriguing. The pass took us over Medano Pass through forested mountain canyon with views of high cliffs in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains then dropping us into soft sand with multiple creek crosses. It was a fun 4WD drive.

This is the area that we stopped to play in the sand. It is about 1000' up to the top of these dunes. We all scrambled to the top. The kids loved running around and playing in the sand. It was amazing to examine the sand up close and see all of the different colors of the sand. It is different than the sand in White Sands NP, here you can see different shades of brown, tan, black, and cream.

Luke's 1st 13er summit

Luke did it!