Fun times at the State Fair

Jason and I had a fantastic time at the State Fair on Wednesday night. We played games, gorged ourselves on Wisconsin fried cheese and funnel cakes, and had the chance to see a BMX bike show and some races (pigs, goats and ducks). Yes, I'm serious about the ducks.

It was neat being at the Fair at night. The lights on the rides really added to the exciting environment. We'll definitely be back next year!

Here is the pig race I alluded to above. They were surprisingly fast and the announcer was really into the race. They even played a recording of the bugle call from the Kentucky Derby before they released the pigs out of their shoots. Each pig had on racing colors and numbers that coordinated with real NASCAR drivers (i.e., #24 was "Piggy Gordon").

Here's a goat striding out towards the finish line. The pigs and goats raced for cheese and I think the ducks raced just for the pure fun of it.

Turns out that two-legged animals can't run very quickly. I thought this was the funniest race of all!

Here I am with the "medal" I won for my pitiful performance at a remote control car racing game. I think they just gave out medals to the absolute worst drivers--they only other one in our race to receive one was a kid who couldn't have been more than 7 years old. That's okay, I'm always happy to win medals, even for ridiculous and embarrassing reasons!
Look ma, no hands! It was pretty crazy to see these guys doing their tricks and jumps on the bikes. It was definitely all real--actually, several of the guys busted pretty badly landing their jumps. The crew rushed out and thankfully, every rider was fine and (eventually) finished the show. But it sure was exciting to see in person!

Here's another move. This guy is swinging the bike around under his body and getting it back in place to be able to land the jump. Craziness!

Welcome, Owen Timothy!

Thanks to my super-flexible schedule, I was able to play hooky from law school and drive to Winston-Salem to be with Ali and Kyle right after Owen was born.
Here's little pumpkin Owen, snoozing away.

Owen has the roundest face and the chubbiest cheeks. He is such a sweetie and at least for a few days, had the nickname "Cheeri-O."

Here I am cuddling with Owen on his 2nd day in the "real world."

Recent trip to Washington, D.C.

Jason and I headed up to DC a few weekends ago to catch up with my sister, Martha. She had us on a tight schedule and we headed to the zoo immediately when we got there. I was worried we were going to spend our weekend getting lost (I have a bad track record in big cities) but Martha was an excellent tour guide and host!
Jason studies the map of the zoo to figure out how he can sneak over to the aquarium while the girls harass the Red Panda some more.

This is the famous panda baby (born in fall of 2005 at the DC Zoo). It was a really hot day and all the animals seemed pretty lethargic--us included!

We got pretty close to some elephants playing with their toys. Oddly enough, it reminded us of being on the set of Evan Almighty and seeing the elephants and giraffes crossing the street in front of us.

Here is Martha holding a gorilla in the palm of her hand. Did you know the official scientific name is "gorilla gorilla gorilla?" It's true!

Martha and I pretend we are "gorillas gorillas gorillas."

We are still unclear on what the T-Rex head was doing at the DC Zoo, but Jason's never one to pass up a picture of gratuitous prehistoric carnage.

The king of the jungle just wanted to nap.

I'd have to say the highlight of the trip was a Segway tour of DC ("Segs in the City"). We met up with Evan and learned how not to kill ourselves or others while navigating around popular tourist spots. It was so much fun and saved our walking legs so we could see more of the city later.

Martha has fallen in love with the Library of Congress. She was insistent that we go see it but something made her crack up when I tried to take her picture. Look how much fun Segways are!

Here's a picture of the Capitol. We drove our Segways all of the way around it and I snapped this shot before we took off again.

This is a view of the Mall from the Capitol building. You can see the Washington Monument in the distance.

After a lovely dinner in Georgetown, we hopped in Martha's car and drove around to see the monuments all lit up at night. This is the side of the National Cathedral . We went to a Sunday morning service there the next day. It is an amazing cathedral both by night and in the day. It is the 6th largest Gothic cathedral in the world and it seems unreal to have a cathedral like this in such a young country. This is the front of the National Cathedral, on a beautiful October morning.

The inside of the cathedral is so elegant and lofty and focuses your mind on the majesty and grandeur of God. I really appreciated the contrast of worshipping in the National Cathedral as compared to the church we've been visiting in Raleigh that meets in an old run-down gym at a community center in a poorer part of town. Each reveal different aspects to me of the same God: awesome yet personally-knowable and concerned about the "least of these." We weren't able to see the stained glass at night but the sun shone through on Sunday and revealed the richness of color and the detail of the artisanship.

This is a shot of Martha and me outside of her apartment. It was a fantastic weekend and great to see where she lives and how much she's loving DC!