Thanksgiving Traditions

picture from sweetieskidz.com

Thanksgiving usually means spending time with family and participating in family traditions.  These are some of the Thanksgiving traditions that our office members have enjoyed over the years.

Tom used to go small game hunting with his family when he was younger.  Some of the animals they'd hunt were squirrels, rabbits, and doves.  Watching the Thanksgiving parade on tv was another thing he'd look forward to every year.  These days, Tom's family gets a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, and his extended family is so large that they usually get together to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas at the same time.

Steven also used to participate in small game hunting and watching the parade on tv.  When he was little, his family would get together at his grandma's house every year where he would goof off with his cousins.  After he started his own family, he took his own kids to his grandma's house where they spent time with his extended family.  These days, Steven cooks the turkey every year with his perfected recipe (cook the turkey in an oven bag to keep it moist and juicy).

Stacey had a large family growing up and did not live near extended family, so they had to come up with their own traditions.  All the kids were given Thanksgiving names for the day.  The girls were named Patience, Prudence, Charity, Faith, and Hope.  Her brother was usually known as John, except the year he proclaimed that he wanted to be known as Squanto!  (This may or may not have been due to one of the hats he'd made at school and brought home.)  Everyone was given part of the meal to prepare, also, including the one year they had "fuit" salad made by her then 2 year old sister.  These days, Stacey's family has been known to play soccer in the park on Thanksgiving morning, and at dinner everyone takes turns telling their favorite part of the meal,

This Thanksgiving take some time to reflect on your family traditions and the memories they bring.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Battleship North Carolina

For Memorial Day yesterday, my family and I took a trip to the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington.  This is such a great place to visit!  If you ever visit Wilmington, plan a few hours to tour this great ship.  It is chock-full of history.

In the visitors center there is a video that shows the history of how the battleship came to Wilmington and how it was maneuvered into its current position.

Main deck guns, anchor chains and flags.

We spent a lot of time going into the various rooms and checking out all the different guns on the main deck before heading down under it to the second deck.  To help visitors understand how the sailors used the spaces, there are pictures and descriptions of what happened in a lot of the areas.

 

The battleship contains a lot of places to explore and see, which makes this such a great place to visit.  You can tour the kitchens, sleeping areas, food storage areas, sick bay, laundry, post office, etc.  However, on this trip my family just toured the second deck and one or two above the main deck.

After touring the battleship, travel across the bridge to have lunch or dinner at one of the many restaurants along the river in downtown Wilmington.

Visiting the Battleship North Carolina is one of our favorite things to do on Memorial Day.  It's a wonderful way to remember those who have served our country. 

Thanks for reading!
Stacey

What is VOC-Free Paint?

VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds.  They are organic chemical gases that are emitted into our environment from a number of sources, such as carpet and cleaning products, as well as paint.  VOC's are released into the air as paint dries, creating the distinctive smell of a newly painted room. 

VOC's also contribute to your indoor air quality.  A study by the Environmental Protection Agency "found levels of about a dozen common organic pollutants to be 2 to 5 times higher inside homes than outside, regardless of whether the homes were located in rural or highly industrial areas."

They can have an effect on your health, too.  They contribute to headaches, dizziness, respitory problems,  immune system problems and more.

If you are worried about the health effects of VOC's or perhaps just do not want your house to have that lingering new paint smell, here are a few of the options available that are worth looking at:

• Sherwin-Williams has two lines of paint in their GreenSure program:  Duration Home Interior paint (low odor and low VOC formula) and Harmony Interior paint (low odor and no VOC formula).
• Benjamin Moore has a paint called Natura Interior paint, which is virtually odorless and has no VOC.  It has been named as one of the Top 10 Green Building Products by BuildingGreen, Inc.
• Home Depot carries Freshaire Choice paint, which has low odor and no VOC in the paint nor colorant.
• Lowe's carries Olympic Premium Interior paint, which has a zero VOC formula.

Stacey in our office used the Freshaire Choice paint when painting her baby's room.  She said there is a huge difference between using it and regular paint; the whole house did not smell like a room just got painted.  There is an odor while painting, but once she left the room she could not smell the paint at all.  A gallon of the low- or no-VOC paint does cost more than the other paints on the market, but it might be worth it to have breathable air after painting a room.

Have you ever heard of a Lego Architect?

Lego's are the construction toy that a lot of us grew up with.  We built houses, gas stations, airports and towers of as many Lego's we could stack on top of each other.  They came in many shapes and sizes to help you build whatever you wanted.

One architect, Adam Reed Tucker, has taken those pieces and used them to make replica's of famous buildings around the world.  Stacey from our office went to Washington, D.C. to visit the exhibit at the National Building Museum.

This is 11 of the 15 Lego models.  (l to r) Jin Mao Tower, St. Louis Arch, John Hancock Building, Empire State Building, TransAmerica Tower, Willis (Sears) Tower, Trump Tower, one of the World Trade Center towers, Marina City, 7 South Dearborn, and Chicago Spire.

The tallest Lego building at the exhibit is also the reigning tallest building in the world, Burj Kahlifa, in Dubai.  This Lego model is 18 feet high and made out of 450,300 Lego pieces!  That's a lot of Lego's!

These models are of the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, China, on the left, and Trump Tower in Chicago, on the right.  Most of the Lego models have windows made from clear Lego bricks, as you can clearly see on the Trump Tower model.

Stacey said one of the most interesting facts about the exhibit is that there is a section on most of the buildings where the wall has not been filled in.  This exposes a structural system on the interior of the models, similar to how an actual building has a structural system.  This model is the Jin Mao Tower.

This model is of the Chicago Spire, a highrise that was planned but has not yet been built.  This model is one of Stacey's favorites because of its height, design and the way that Tucker was able to construct the twisting of the spire.  Also, because of the design of the building, when the sunlight hits the clear Lego windows it shines in an intriguing way.

This picture is a close up of the John Hancock Building model showing the Lego pieces (actual building located in Chicago, IL).  It is interesting to us to see how Tucker constructed these models.

Not all of the models are of skyscrapers.  This is Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.  This Lego model is quite large, with most of it being the topography (white Lego's) which sets the foundation for the house (tan Lego's).  This view of the model shows the detail that was put in to represent the exterior stone walls of the house.

Another of the low-rise models is this one of the White House.  It is not finished because Tucker is progressively building this model at the National Building Museum.

This is a close up of a pilaster on the White House model showing the detail that is included on the Lego models.

This exhibit is a two-part exhibit.  After the 15 Lego models, there is a big section of tables with a bunch of Lego pieces for the patrons to play with.  It attracts children and adults alike!

The Lego Architecture exhibit runs until September 5, 2011 and only costs $5 per person.  It is worth a visit if you are in the D.C. area.

2010 Azalea Festival Fun

A few of us from the office headed down to the Azalea Festival this weekend and participated in some of the shows and and activities offered downtown. Here are a few pictures from what happened this past weekend.

Stacey and her daughter Lana ventured out to the annual Garden Tour which featured 12 different gardens and the famous Azalea Belles.

The Bellamy Mansion

Lana won over the hearts of all the Azalea Belles she met on the Garden Tour.

Mike and Laura took their grand kids out to see the elephants, tigers, clowns and others perform at the Cole Bros. Circus.

Cole Bros. Circus

A circus would not be complete unless there were some face painting. Pictured above is Mike and Laura's daughter Jenny, and her husband Scott, and their three children: Landon the Pirate, Braden the Zebra and Laura Kayte the Tiger.

Jody braved the Saturday afternoon crowds with a few friends to watch the parade and wander around the many booths and exhibits.

We all had a great time in Wilmington this past weekend and look forwards to nexts years Azalea Festival.