"Captain America: The First Avenger" Review

From Google

It was around the time I got my Pinterest account that Marvel was exploding all over the place. Of course, since I had no idea what "Marvel" was, I completely disregarded everything. I may have seen a few trailers, but all I thought was, "Super heroes. Yeah. Ok. Cool. Moving on."

It was when many of my friends were deeply into Marvel, and would not stop mentioning it, that it finally got my attention. So when Lydia, who normally watches stuff like Batman and Mission Impossible with her hands over her eyes, saw Captain America before I did... I had to see it, pronto.

The next day, Lydia stopped by at the teeny-tiny library, found it, and checked it out. Christian and I watched it that night.

The good:

WOW! Those stunts were amazing!

The casting was very well done.

The story was very well written, it kept me on edge, and made me want to see the next one.

I was glad that they gave Cap a team instead of letting him do everything by himself.

The bad:

There is language, there is a reason why it's rated pg-13. That was the only issue in my book.

The ugly:

When Schmidt pulls off his mask, I know that Lydia covered her eyes, I didn't, but some people might not want that image in their memory.

Notes:

Wow, Elrond, I like you way better with longer hair, and when you have your mask on.

Thanks a bunch for leaving the movie at a cliff-hanger. -_-

I must see every Marvel movie. Except, maybe the rest of the Spidermans, but that's a different review for later.

On a scale of 1-10 I'd give Captain America: The First Avenger a 9.

~Chloe

"Into The Woods" Review

Lydia and I had been wanting to see this movie ever since it came out, a very long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away a long while ago. The family finally watched it a few nights ago, but was a bit disappointed.

Please keep in mind, we bear no hard feelings to any of the cast or crew for making it.

The good:

The sets were amazing! The lighting was stupendous! The cast was perfect! The stories were all woven together excellently!

It was all relatively easy to follow, there were a few parts that took some pondering, but I think that everyone understood what happened in the movie.

Whoever edited the scenes was truly gifted in that department.

I did like that they referenced David and Goliath, by having Jack kill the giantess with a stone to the forehead.

The bad:

"Choose what's right for you."

Wait, what? Are you kidding me? No! That's like, a huge fallacy of some sort. I learned about it in Philosophy, but I can't remember exactly what it is called.

"I'm supposed to be charming, not sincere."

Charm is sincerity! Anyone who says any different it selling something.

Why did Cinderella keep going to the festival to dance with the prince if she would only run away from him in the end?

Why did the witch need the magic beans to live?

The ugly:

Ahem, SHOOT HIM!

Prince 'Charming' you are already married to Cinderella, why are you trying to have an affair with the baker's wife? And why isn't the baker's wife fighting?

When watching this part, I practically yelled at the tv screen, telling her to hit him. But she went along with him anyways. Grrr.

The scenes with the witch were almost funny, but she really wasn't very nice. And that scene where she dissipates into a puddle of goo was a bit anti climactic. She had just finished singing a very dramatic song, and then *boom* she's a puddle.

On a scale of one to ten, I'd give Into The Woods a six.

~Chloe

Stack and Shack

Gabe's birthday weekend with Aunt Lauren and Uncle Phil two weeks ago, as typed by me, word for word what he told me. (Everything in () is what I added.) 

When we got there we talked with Uncle Phil a little bit. Then we went to "Stack and Shack," also know as "Steak and Shake." And I had a uh...I had a...er...I had two small hamburgers and a milkshake. 

Then we watched "Prince Caspian." (Apparently he was a little chatter-box, telling his patient aunt and very extremely patient uncle everything the characters should have done.) Then we went to bed. 

The next morning we had um...we had um...we had- are you writing down everything I say? (Yup!) Even that?- um, the next morning we had apple stuffed pancakes with sausage- no not sausage- with bacon and hash browns. 

And then we went to the zoo and had a really fun time there. (And he looked at everything very carefully for a very long time.)

And then we went to Target and I didn't buy anything. (But he spent 30 minutes in the lego isle and when told to choose an ice cream said 'This might take awhile...') 

Then we came home and Aunt Lauren and I went swimming. We had three races and I lost every time. Then we came home, took showers, built a little bit with legos, played, and then had dinner. (His lego creations built from his own mind were very impressive and Uncle Phil was instructed by the little engineer to 'never ever ever take them apart ever.') 

And then we watched some Loony Tunes. Then we went to bed. 

When we got up the next morning we had breakfast, which I don't remember what we had. And then we went to church. 

I went to Sunday School. We came back and had communion. (He felt like he needed to share why their church should have communion every week.) And there was some singing and we waited for Uncle Phil. 

And we had lunch. I rode in the front on the way home from church with Uncle Phil. (He wasn't suppose to do that...) And after lunch I played a little and then we went to Gramma's house and that's all. 

Movie time!

At "Stack and Shack." 

Eight of Us (Minus Two) Go To Six Flags

While I went to work and Dad stayed home also to work, Mom took all the other kids (who don't have to work at all) to Six Flags. She'd been watching the weather all week and it finally stopped flooding raining and was cooler (ish) enough for them to go. Apparently they had a great time with short lines and awesome adventures.


Mia- Well Gabe didn't get to go on the ride that we really wanted to go on, but I went on Runaway Mountain with Chloe and Christian. We were practically in the back of the ride. I went on..um..the slide thing. Oh, the Bob Sled! And I went on Gun Slinger with Christian too. And we went on The Mine Train. My head started hurting because it was banging me again the seat. And Christian's back started hurting a lot because it was starting to get wanged into the seat. (No idea what "wanged" means, but that's what she said.) mkay, let me see… That's all.

Ava- Um, lets see. Mom didn't ride any of the rides. Oh yeah, she went on the roller coster. Someone passed out in one of the lines. She had to go home. She hadn't eaten anything that entire day so that's why she fainted. They finally dragged me on the Mine Train. (She did want to do it.) That's about it. Oh and I had a whole milkshake and we had a challenge for no one to scream on the Log Ride and we did it. I didn't scream on the Bobsleds. Mia was the only one who did and really loudly and she almost hit her head on the side.

Christian- Oh goodness. Headache. We got there and went straight to the Bobsleds and there was a short wait. Highlights huh? We rode the Viper, Gabe wanted to do something that was too busy. Mom, Mia, and Chloe went and rode something designed by a skate boarder and I thought it was nuts. So I took the others to lunch at the All American Cafe. And they had about a 45 minute wait. Then the others ate. Then we did, I think it was, lets just say, the Mini Mine Train and the others did the Runaway Mine Train. Then Gun Slinger, which I had never done before and I found it unenjoyable. From there we did the Log Ride, then Runaway Mountain. And it was way more scary then I remembered.

Chloe- So first stop was the bathroom. A girl fainted and I almost did later. I rode two roller coasters that I will probably never ride again. Gabe stayed with Mom a lot of the time, which means he didn't really ride very many things. The Mine Train was open so we finally convinced Ava to try it out. It wasn't very crowded. We had milkshakes for a snack. Then we left the park and went to drive through the Hurricane Harbor parking lot. To see what it looked like, but we were running out of time, because apparently some people were having a bit of trouble getting in. And then we drove home.

Mom- We had a great day at Six Flags! It was fun to see the kids ride some things for the first time. Mia is especially brave and wanted to ride all the rides. It wasn't overly crowded which meant we were able to split up some and do different things. I am so glad to have kids old enough and responsible enough to be able to do that! I was so blessed talking to a sweet older lady while sitting on a bench waiting outside one of the rides. She was sharing her love for God with me. Precious. May I learn to be that bold and yet humble.

What Mom does while her kids are screaming on rides:

I think they are a bit worn out. 

Christian and Crawfish

The adventures of crawfish-fishing..! As told by Christian and typed by me. Because otherwise this would take all day.

Wednesday when I was doing my trashcan job (post to come about that) I was headed up a hill that had a big puddle at the bottom of it and found a crawfish. I grabbed an empty bottle and put it in and then I took it to my friend's house so I could get a bucket with water. Then I finished my job. After I had finished, I took it home and made a sort of homemade thingy habitat with water, dirt, rocks, and sticks. A couple hours later I went out to get more. I used a string with chicken on it and three of them got away. Then we found a huge one on the road again. We tried to get more but they kept stealing the bait, so I went home. I put fresh water in and left them for the night with chicken. The next morning they were fine.

#theybothdiedaftertheseconddaybecauseiforgottochangetheirwaterandtheysuffocated

The Largest Library in the WORLD!

Hello! Uncle J.C. here. The Linns have just enjoyed a week in Washington, D.C., and now they’re on the way home. While they’re traveling, Lydia asked me to write a blog post about one of the best-kept secrets in Washington, D.C. 

I should note off the top that D.C. is full of things to see and do, and many of them remain little known to visitors. We’ve lived here for almost three years, and we’re still coming across things we didn’t know existed! 

But while there are many interesting things off the beaten path, I think the best-kept secret is actually right under nose ON the beaten path: the Library of Congress. The library sits across the street from the Capitol, but I’ve learned many people don’t make it a part of their Washington, D.C., experience. They’re missing out! 

Former President John Adams founded the Library of Congress in 1800, but it was Thomas Jefferson who made it famous. He sold the library almost 6,500 books—his entire personal collection—in 1815 to help restore the library collection after the British destroyed much of it in the War of 1812. Although many of his books were destroyed in an 1851 fire, some of them are still on display today. 

The Library of Congress has four buildings: The Thomas Jefferson Building, the John Adams Building, and the Madison Building are all on Capitol Hill, and the Packard Campus is in Culpepper, Va. The Jefferson Building is the main structure across from the Capitol. 

When you arrive at the Jefferson Building, the first thing you’ll notice is the stunningly beautiful architecture. This starts outside with the green dome and fountains in front. Inside, I would argue the library has some of the most beautiful architecture you’ll find anywhere in the United States. The building is filled with incredible mosaics, murals, ornate hallways, and vaulted ceilings. 

There are many great displays at the library—such as one of the original Gutenberg Bibles—but I think people often forget that it’s still a working library. In fact, it is the world’s largest library. It has more than 160 million items! 

The library’s main purpose is to serve members of Congress, and they’re the only ones who can check out books. However, any member of the public may use the library if you obtain a researchers card and use books on site. All you have to do is go across Independence Avenue to the Madison Building, where it takes less than 10 minutes to fill out the information, get your picture taken, and walk out with a brand new researchers card.

Time permitting, I always recommend friends plan to research something while they’re at the library. This way you can take advantage of the opportunity go onto the floor of the main reading room (that’s the famous round room featured in National Treasure), which is the only way you can see the architecture at the top of the dome. 

Once you’re done in the main reading room, follow the underground tunnel over to the John Adams Building, where they have the rare book reading room. Here you can check out very old books from the largest rare book collection in North America. When I was doing a college project on Abraham Lincoln, I went here and checked out a publication from 1864. It’s an amazing resource. 

Before you go, be sure to check out the short-term displays back at the Jefferson Building. They’re always interesting and available to the public whether you have a researchers card or not. Even if you don’t have time to do everything I’ve written about here, I’m confident you won’t regret taking time to stop by the library. If nothing else, you’ll see architecture you won’t forget and some memorable photos!

Traveling Must-Haves

Aunt Lauren, here! Have you been loving my niece/God-daughter’s blogging as much as I have? I love keeping up with the adventures of the Linn clan!

I recently took a trip of my own to D.C. and got to visit some of the same wonderful folks Lydia has been telling you about. One of the things I don’t leave home without is my collection of natural first aid remedies, because you just can’t anticipate the unexpected. And, it seems like our bodies tend to need a little extra somethin’ somethin’ when we’re on the road. 

Lydia asked me to share, so here’s a list of my “must haves” for travelling:

Now, here’s the proverbial “rest” of the story. I actually *did* get hit with something on my trip. I started feeling the first tinges of it about 24 hours after I arrived, so I’m guessing some germs jumped me on the plane. Between my sister (aka. Aunt Amy) and me, we had a full-on oily arsenal and I fought back with a variety of things. I used everything in my “ first aid kit,” but I was especially glad I had thrown in a couple extra Ningxia Red packets and Nitro boosts! Those gave me the extra support I needed to enjoy my visits with everyone and the energy to make it home.

My husband (Uncle Phil) picked me up at the airport and brought me home where I promptly changed into my pajamas and settled onto the couch for an afternoon BBC binge. Sometimes there’s just no substitute for rest, tender loving care, and good ole’ comfort food.

One’s things for certain, this trip reminded me of the importance of having back-up support with me at all times! If natural options interest you, I’d love to help set you up with your own oily support system.  For more information, check out my website: www.laurenvandermeer.com or find me on Facebook at Oily Simplicity.

Back to you, Lydia!