HoodedHawk

Preston and I spent a nice afternoon riding some real, miniature Steam Trains run by the Chesapeake & Allegheny Steam Preservation Society at Leakin Park in Baltimore.

Miniature Steam Train

Preston has been a train fan ever since his introduction to Thomas the Steam Engine, and he just loved riding these trains. They are scale miniatures, but are definitely real steam engines (and some electric locomotives). Once around the park takes about 8 minutes. It was a beautiful day, and the only hard part was getting Preston *off* the trains. The Live Steam Club does this (free rides to the public) once a month. We’ll definitely be back, and with a picnic lunch. It is well-organized and just a lot of fun for the kids (both of us!).

Miniature Steam Train

Miniature Steam Train

Miniature Steam Train

 

We had some portraits of the kids done today. Preston wasn’t very cooperative until we included his little sister Olivia, and then he was all smiles (and kisses). I’ll post more later [update: the whole set is on the photography page] but here’s a favorite (click image for slideshow):

Preston and Olivia

Preston

Olivia

 

BAB, the Ikea Baby. From a pdf file the artist created for an expecting friend.

My men’s group at my Church gave Olivia a beautiful, personalized blanket. She obviously loves it. Click for more pictures. Mouse feet!

 

Preston, Dylan and I went to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History yesterday. Preston just loved the Insect Zoo. No way was Dylan going to hold a bug, but it was hard to keep Preston away. He also held a big beetle, but I couldn’t get a picture as I had to help keep Preston from squishing it.

Click any picture below for larger slideshow…

The new Ocean Hall is quite good. Even Dylan was impressed by the giant jellyfish (seen in foreground). Full-size right whale hangs from the ceiling, and videos of ocean scenes line the walls. Lots of informative exhibits about the ocean.

A lot more pictures are viewable via the Photography page (Natural History link)