Smithsonian Folklife Festival

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This is a majority of the kids either controlling a remote car, or watching.

Cora on her own side with her own remote and car...

Holly and Rachael in a NASA training Cockpit

Today we went up to the Folk life festival. I honestly think the kid's favorite part is riding the Metro to and from the event. This year they had exhibits from Texas, Bhutan, and NASA. (It is NASA's 50th Anniversary) They had a ton of musical performers from Texas, and they had a section on food and Texas Wine making, and not too many other things - That was a bit disappointing. But we moved on! We discovered that Bhutan is a very small country located near Nepal, Bangladesh and China. They had great exhibits on Slate carving, Wood working, Weaving - Textile and Bamboo. We saw some amazing fabrics. They said the weavers don't like to weave to order. They prefer to create their own patterns and express their artistry that way. It was cool to see the bright vibrant colors. They weave them in sections about 18 inches wide. It is usually 3 sections to a piece of fabric. The females dress robes are called a "Kira".
NASA had some great displays as well. We saw Rocket guts, and the Space Center's Toilet, a training Cockpit, and a wind tunnel. (The Kids really loved the end of the wind tunnel) Lilly even got to turn the dial controlling the wind power. It was a cool lesson in Fluid dynamics, and the Drag Equation. The Drag Equation has been around since the 1500's they had some very smart people back then! I also saw some unmanned Ariel cameras. They looked like Remote control planes, and helicopters and Stingrays. We saw the mock up of the Aries1 and Aries V that are suppose to replace the Space Shuttles. Then later we found the telescope science center, and the Robotics. Hence the photos of the kids playing with the Remote cars. It was a good day. We had Bruce drive up to the Metro Station, and this Evening he made his first SOLO Drive. Alright he drove 4 siblings to church with him but I was not in the car. He was on his own. Spencer called from the cell phone to report they had made it safely. (Major relief) Oh this growing up stuff is hard on Parents!