We ended up going to DC for the day...although that wasn't my original plan. X3
My first thought was that we could go see the new Tron movie. Except...we did that last week. One idea down. (It was a really cool movie, though. XD)
Then I thought...well, maybe we could go to Ice at the Gaylord Resort. We ended up doing that last week too. (Also really cool. And COLD. 2 million pounds of ice carved into sculptures of the Grinch and such made for a very cold place. :D)
So...yesterday rolls around and I'm trying to figure out what to do. "Um...let's go to...the...Bureau of Engraving and Printing?" I say uncertainly...and so that's where we go!
It was a good day for it too...there was hardly anyone there. We hit the building just in time to catch a tour and went through with plenty of elbow room to spare. (I did have a group of cranky people behind me who made nasty comments every time I paused to look at something. 'Ohmigosh, how horrible to get stuck behind someone who just stops in these skinny hallways and escalators and gets in our way.' I felt like smacking them before I was through. XD) I really never pictured the people who work at the Bureau as big burly guys with hugely muscled tattooed arms and beards and ladies with long (I think they were painted purple) fingernails and such. Then at the gift shop I got a keychain...full of shredded money. (How could you go to the giftshop and not get something full of shredded money I ask?)
Then we went to-...wait, hold on and back up a minute. I skipped a part of the trip!
We stopped at Union Station on the way to the Bureau to snag a treat - pound cake for mom, muffins for my sibs, and a giant almost palm-sized coconut macaroon for me. (Which, though good, I do not think I will get again because it was so big that the center, instead of being chewy, was almost gooey. A bit much. I was chewing for like a half hour afterwards. X3)
Then we went to the Holocaust museum, since it is right next to the Bureau. It was a very interesting, if deep, museum. Lots to read and look at and watch.
By the time we got through it, it was WAY past lunchtime, but we decided to have a granola bar (and the other halves of our treats from earlier) and keep going.
Where? I really didn't have a clue at that point. We'd exhausted all of my ideas. XD
But, one of the presents I was getting was a Buddha Board (pictures to come later in this post), and we needed to track it down first. So we went to the Hirshorn museum and then to the American Art/Portraiture museum to find the one I wanted. Since we still had some time to kill we wandered around the AA/P museum (saw a couple of...very...very...strange exhibits and I sat and marveled at the MVSEVM (a miniature museum, it's VERY cool. Look it up on google or something. :3)
Then our stomachs said we needed to go find food, so we went back to Union Station for chicken salad sandwiches of awesomeness. (We've become sort of regulars there, the workers know us on sight. X3 ) The lady was so sweet - when she heard it was my birthday she tried first to give me a free drink, but I had already gotten our drinks from someplace else. So she gave me my sandwich for free. :D
Then we wandered around Union Station for a while, looking in the shops. (My sister got a nifty scarf, my brother magazine about the new Tron movie, and he almost got a cool-looking Hot Wheels car...except that it rang up at FOUR DOLLARS. They only sell for a dollar at Toys'R'Us, so we were all like 'I dunn think so.')
When we got home, my 'cake' awaited! My dad asks me the other day what I want for a cake, if he should make one or go buy one at Sam's or what. My answer? 'Let's have Cinnabon cinnamon rolls!' So that's what we had. Was kinda funny watching him put the candles in. XD
Then I got my presents, most of which I had chosen myself. X3
And while my sibs worked on catching up on journals (because they hadn't written in them for a couple days and were behiiiiiiiind), I ran upstairs with my awesome stuff:
A cuuuuute pair of new boots (that will take...a little bit of getting used to because I hardly ever wear anything with ANY sort of heel. XD)
My Buddha Board. (Which, as you see below, works perfectly well. Cool effect as the picture fades, like in the second photo.)
A treasure chest box to keep my geocaching swag in - I've been looking for something suitable for months now and found this the other week in an art museum. Now my swag doesn't have to be kept in a plastic sandwich baggie on my shelf. Yay!
I have another pop-up book by this guy (Narnia), and love it. I came across this one in the same museum I found the treasure chest in and REALLY loved it.
Recently I've been on this HUGE Wonderland kick, where I've bought a whole bunch of Alice-related stuff...this was perfect to add to my little collection. X3
I took pictures of two of the pages. Aren't they incredible?
There's lift the flap pages on the sides (you can see one in the left side of the tea-table page photograph) that ALSO have popups. It's impressive.
Finally, I got this great how-to-draw book - the only gift I didn't know about before my birthday. XD
I love Chris Hart's stuff, he does such beautiful pictures. The girls in this book are super cute.
But wait, there's more!
While my sibs were journaling, I came up to my room and got on my computer to visit with some of my friends before going to bed. I have a group of really good friends on a website called gaiaonline, and not only did they all wish me happy birthday, they all sent me virtual gifts! X3
So I got a whole bunch of awesome items for my avatar on Gaia, including a few I'd been wanting for a while.
All in all I think it was a pretty great birthday.
Even if we did end up walking, according to 'Chuck', my Pokewalker (named for Chuck Norris, 'Walker', Texas Ranger? XDDDD I know, it's a HORRIBLE joke, but I love it), fourteen THOUSAND steps yesterday. WOW!
So that's my 'birthday report' :3
And the second blogpost in like a week! Isn't it amazing?
We'll have to see if I can keep this up. Maybe I'll do a picture post next time, since I've actually been using my drawing tablet for more than just a glorified mousepad and have stuff I can show you. :D
