What do all of these things have in common? Well, nothing really other than that they occupied our long weekend. Wanna hear about them?

Friday we went to play mini-golf. We're not sure who loved it more - Dasha (Natasha's niece) or Jon, who ... well, if you know him you pretty much get the picture.

Saturday morning we made a quick stop by the Udvar- Hazy Air & Space Center in Chantilly. For you non-locals, the Smithsonian actually has two Air & Space museums in the DC area - the one on the Mall that everyone goes to and the bigger one (Udvar-Hazy) next to Dulles Airport. They've got some pretty cool stuff there, including the Enola Gay (dropped the first atomic bomb), an SR-71, and the retired Space Shuttle Enterprise. Long story short, looks like we have another generation of aerospace fanatics in the family (as in - "a plane, wow, a plane" - repeat every 10 seconds). Here's a shot of Jon and me in front of their P-38, which my grandfather flew during WWII.

Finally, on Sunday evening we took a quick trip down to the National Archives for a quick look at the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Again, it was even more inspiring than usual because we got the chance to explain to Dasha what the documents represent and why they are so special to us. I didn't get a very good shot of the Constitution, but here's a good one of the Bill of Rights.

I also had a birthday recently, which was really nice. We ate at Applebee's, tried to justify spending $30 on a tiny Cold Stone ice cream cake, and then chickened out and just bought some Drumsticks. Not too bad if you ask me. I don't know why but it seems like last year everyone forgot my birthday, but remembered this year and shot an email or call over. Anyway, thanks.

Finally, I've been playing around a little more lately with black and white photography with some interesting results. Here's a little sample, with a little more to see over here at the PhotoDen.