On Saturday, we did something we don't normally do. We split up. Meg's service group was going skiing. I would have loved to have joined them, but I couldn't take Clare and Anne. So a dear friend offered to look after Meg on the ski trip and to send frequent pictures. Here's our action shot of Meg on the slopes. 

With Meg off on her skiing adventure, I decided to take the younger girls to Glen Echo Park. Glen Echo Park was formerly an amusement park dating back to the early part of the 20th Century. It is now used as an arts center. Among its many offerings is a puppet theater. We have seen some of The Puppet Co.'s longer shows (Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker) intended for older children, but on Saturday we thought we would try their Tiny Tots program. The Tiny Tots program is intended for kids birth to four years old. Anne is on the younger end of that range and Clare is on the older end. My hope was that they would both enjoy the show. 

Saturday's show was about classic children's songs. The puppeteer used various types of puppets to present songs such as Old McDonald Had a Farm; The Chicken Dance; and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. To my delight, both Clare and Anne loved the performance. Clare was standing up and joining in. She was singing the words and doing the actions. Anne was mesmerized by the puppets. 

Following the puppet show, we headed to the Candy Corner building at Glen Echo Park for Art Explorers. Art Explorers is a drop-in art activity offered at the park on Saturdays. On this day they were making collages and experimenting with hard bristled paint brushes. Clare enjoyed the activities and was very precise with the placement of each piece of paper on her collage. 

While in the Candy Corner we watched the snow falling. Soon I told Clare that we would probably need to head home because the snow was collecting on the roads. As we walked back to our car, we realized that conditions truly were bad. The drive home from Glen Echo Park was not easy. The road were slick. I nixed the idea of going out to lunch because I feared we would get stuck in a parking lot. We headed straight home and struggled to get up the hill to our house.  

While we were struggling to get home, Meg was skiing in Pennsylvania and they were getting even more snow. Their drive home was not easy. Luckily they were travelling in a rough and tumble SUV that could handle the conditions. Still, it was very unsettling to know my daughter was in that snow storm and I had absolutely no control over the situation at all. I was so happy when they pulled up to our house and Meg was back home with us. 

As I woke up on Monday morning, I realized the predictions for snow at the end of the day had become more significant. I knew I needed to get to the grocery store--not because I needed milk or bread--but because I needed bacon for our Shrove Tuesday meal. 

Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday--the beginning of Lent. In the UK, it is pancake day. This harkens back to when milk, eggs and sugar were not allowed during Lent. Pancakes were made as a way to use these items up before the start of Lent. Pancake Day is still popular in England and in our household as well. Each Shrove Tuesday we make a stack of pancakes along with scrambled eggs and bacon. 

This year making the pancakes took a bit of planning. Baby Anne required the gluten-free variety, so we made hers first. Then we mixed the batter for the more traditional pancakes. From that batter, we made about four pancakes for Clare. We then added blueberries to the remaining batter (Clare is not a fan of blueberries) and made pancakes for the rest of us. 

I am glad I made it to the store on Monday before the storm hit. We in fact were snowed in today. It would have been a shame to miss out on our Shrove Tuesday bacon. While I was at the store, I also picked up a King Cake so we could enjoy the Mardi Gras tradition as well. Meg and Clare decorated Mardi Gras masks and we all snacked on King Cake for about 24 hours (I kept telling the girls, "We must finish it before Ash Wednesday!"). Clare wrapped up our celebrations by throwing in a few "Alleluias." The word "Alleluia" will be absent from the Liturgy during Lent and will not return until Easter. Clare remembered learning this at school and so quickly got in a few more "Alleluias" before Lent began. 

Our snowy Shrove Tuesday has come to an end and I think we are ready for Ash Wednesday. At dinner tonight we all discussed what we would be giving up for Lent and we will attend Ash Wednesday Mass in the morning together. It is time for Lent to begin.

This past Friday was another early dismissal day for Meg. As I have mentioned before, we have designated early dismissal days as adventure days. Our last adventure on an early dismissal day was going to Tysons Corner Mall. This was not my idea of an adventure. I love the fact that we are close to so many museums and historical sites that we never need to go to the mall for fun. Well, apparently if you avoid the mall for years, your kids begin to believe it is the coolest place on earth. So a few weeks ago when I said, "Where should we go on our adventure?", my kids responded, "The mall!" (and they didn't mean that cool stretch of grass in DC where there are lots of monuments). We made the best of it. They played at the Lego Store. I let them ride the goofy little train that drives around the top floor of the mall. And they played in the play area, which had far too many kids for my comfort. Still, they had a great time--even if it wasn't my idea of fun.

I'm happy to say that this past early dismissal day was a little closer to our normal adventures.  We went to the Smithsonian Postal Museum--a place we have never been before. This Smithsonian Museum is located by Union Station. We are not often in that area, so, while I heard awhile ago that the Postal Museum was great for kids, it just somehow never made it onto our schedule...until Friday.

After picking up the girls at school, we drove straight to Union Station and parked in the parking garage there (not the cheapest option, but definitely the easiest). It had been a long time since Meg and Clare had been to Union Station (and, I believe it was a first trip for Baby Anne), so we walked around the old train station so the girls could see the beautiful architecture. We ran into the Washington Nationals' mascot Teddy. He's huge! While Teddy Roosevelt is not usually an intimidating character, my children were terrified of the giant Teddy and flat out refused to have their picture taken with him. We waved from a distance and then went to Johnny Rockets for some lunch. After lunch, we walked across the street to the Postal Museum. 

The Postal Museum is very interactive. Even the stamp collection rooms have these amazing touchscreens on which you can search for favorite stamps and create your own collection. Throughout the lower part of the museum, there are places where kids can stamp postmarks on postcards bearing stamps from various points in history. 

There is also a spot where kids can sort packages by throwing them into the big mail bags. It was a picture of this display that inspired Meg and Clare to choose the Postal Museum as our adventure. As you can see from the pictures below, even Baby Anne decided to join the fun. Seriously, how many museums encourage you to throw boxes!

The Postal Museum includes displays about transporting mail around the country. There is a mail sorting train car to explore. Kids can climb into a stagecoach and a semi. The museum includes mail planes overhead and a very standard mail truck on the floor. 

Talking about transportation, Baby Anne decided to repurpose her stroller at the museum. She's not walking yet, but she's an expert cruiser. She did not want to ride in the stroller, so instead she held on to the basket in the back of the stroller and used it to walk around the museum on her own. She's quite the resourceful girl! 

As compared to other museums, the Postal Museum is pretty small. It won't take kids long to work their way through the exhibits. That can be a plus or minus depending on what is needed at the time. What is clearly positive is that each display offered is well done and designed to be enjoyed by kids as well as adults. It really is a great little museum.