Side Note

Amelia saw the Chevy Chase youth diving practice (5-9 year olds) and is now contemplating suicide.

The End

Submarine sculpture that almost got us in some trouble.

Naval Academy. We saw a fallout shelter, too.

Naval Academy

He's a little camera shy.

Yes, Amelia is holding two ice creams. And yes, we are extremely photogenic.

He gave Amelia a dirty look after she took this picture. Some people just need to lighten up, especially people in ye olde clothes.

Cute bonnet.

We make friends wherever we go.

The lifeguard who we heard muttering, "I wish someone would drown or something. Or maybe there could be a boat fire."

The beach and Bay Bridge (Cat refused to go in the water-- lame)

Our bucket list ended perfectly. We woke up early and drove out to Sandy Point State Park by the Bay Bridge. Amelia drove, and only had one iffy moment (blind spots are tricky). We lay on the beach and relaxed for the morning, the calming sounds of creepy school children and strange lifeguards around us.

In the afternoon, we drove to Annapolis (our capital) and met Amelia's dad for lunch. His office is in Annapolis. He took us to a sandwich place and Amelia almost died from chicken salad that tasted like acid. Then we got his favorite gelato.

Then we walked around the Naval Academy. Except we almost didn't get in because Cat forgot how old she was.

The best moment of the day was as we were in an interesting part of Washington D.C. driving home, our favorite song came on (we're not telling what it is) and it was kind of the perfect way to end our senior project.

We also didn't accomplish a lot of the things on our bucket list: paintballing, protesting, learning karate, skydiving, flying a plane, going to the moon, actually learning how to dive, taking over the world... but we still plan on doing all of them :)

Love,

Cat and Amelia

Trynna Sew

We tried to make dresses. Our friendly guide Giannyl was there to help us every step of the way. Here's a video of her if you want to make your own one shoulder bow strap dress:

The actual dresses we made were too obscene to post. Amelia's did not fit over her right leg, and Cat's just looked like a box. We still have the purple remnants somewhere.

Also, never lose a needle in Cat's family room. She freaks out.

We are going to attempt to make these dresses again, though, with different fabric and a sewing machine. And someone else sewing.

The dreaded swim

She dives like a pro.

She's so passionate about swimming

Triathletes...

Cat biking. It's too bad you can't see the look of intense determination on her face.

The bikes

Part of the run

Don't forget to hydrate!

Pre-Triathlon jitters

Today, we competed in a Triathlon. This was a big day for us: we had to run, bike, and swim.

The typical distances of a Triathlon are:

1.5 km swim

40 km bike ride

10 km run

That didn't work for us. We went with:

2 lap swim

10minute bike ride

1.5 mile run

Stick Shift

Since we are such good drivers on automatic cars, we figured we would be equally talented at driving stick shift cars.

Lucy agreed to teach us. She's obviously never heard the mailbox stories.

Here are some videos of our driving:

At first we had trouble... Lucy even had to yell at Amelia that driving a stick shift isn't ballet. Who knew.

"How do I stop??"

Amelia stalled out a lot.

But then we got better:

Amelia getting up a slight incline, like a champion.

Cat got better too.

After destroying Lucy's car, Lucy took us to a cave. We crawled through a tiny opening in the rocks, and ducked underwater, and came out under a waterfall. Something smelled really bad when we were climbing to the cave, and Lucy found a decaying turtle. Cat also gave us a life lesson to remember: copperheads come out at dusk.

Thank you Lucy!!

Fair Trade?

This was the (unfair) deal:

The stall

The bellyflop

Don't judge us.

Friday

We did the same thing as the day before.

Becoming Children Again

Couldn't quite figure out the self-timer.

We invented a new word: wankle. It means the biggest cankle you could imagine (like a whale cankle). Apparently Cat has them.

So excited about being traced.

A tragic fatality.

Scene of the crime.

For the past two days we played with Mrs. Jaeger's daughter. We didn't exactly know that was on our bucket list, but we had fun. We did chalk, swimming, playgrounding, play-doh, puzzles, hide and go seek, tea parties, crazy eights. And we hung out with Argus, the big dog.

Kayaking Fail

The most annoying sign ever.

Today we finally went kayaking. Getting there was tricky. We couldn't make any of the turns we wanted to, and Canal Road is awful in the morning. So when we finally got to the boathouse we were cranky.

But we kayaked right next to a herring, and it didn't even fly away.

We are as synchronized as an orchestra.

Later in the day, Amelia dove once.

We love D.C.

Eastern Market-- yummy lunch!

Vietnam War Memorial.

Look at those happy grins.

Abe himself

Lincoln Memorial.

The duck family.

Reflecting pool, where we reflected and watched the duckies.

The freaky squirrel. We named it Frankie.

World War II Memorial

Awkward tourists.

An Amish family casually strolling. We stalked them a little.

Today we were tourists in Washington D.C. Once again, we had a rough start. We got off at the wrong metro station, and were a lil lost. Then we found the mall, sat on a bench, and watched people go by. Like our Amish friends.

We walked to the Washington Monument, and discovered that we were not allowed to go up it because you had to book tickets in advance. Stupid rule. But we did stand beneath it, which is almost as good.

Next we went to the reflecting pool and the Lincoln Memorial. We heard a recording of Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech, too. On the way to the Lincoln memorial we saw a woman letting a squirrel (Frankie) climb up her leg. It was weird. We visited the Vietnam War Memorial, and finally, couldn't find a metro station to take us to Eastern Market. A kind, motherly helped us find a station. We ended up at George Washington University.

At Eastern Market we had yummy sandwiches and were super hungry so we didn't talk.

On the metro ride home, a little baby girl crushed cookies in her hair.

Avada Kedavra!

Ron hates his frilly dress robes :(

Cute spectacles.

Cat in a Harry Potter daze.

(After this picture was taken, she turned to Amelia and said, "The hole in my bone has come out to play!" Weird.)

Today, we watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. We also started Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but then our heads almost exploded, so we had to stop.

Cat had never experienced the wonderful world of witchcraft and wizardry. Now she has.

We saw a lot of ourselves in these young wizards and witches. They're just typical teenagers living in a different world.

Nature time!

Just some friends we made on the trail.

Pictures of the beautiful scenery, and the cut on Amelia's leg.

A nice quote from brainyquote.com to sum up our hiking experience:

"An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day" --Thoreau

We were passing hikers left and right.

Monday (May 24) is Harry Potter day.

Diving Champs

Today we spent hours perfecting our dives. Cat improved. Amelia didn't.

She may seek professional help, although she seems like a lost cause.

Here are some videos from our diving day:

Cat's dive

Perfect 10?

Amelia's a fast learner.

Added bonus: Sarah's back dive

Keep checking for more videos of diving... some people clearly need a little more practice.

Tomorrow (May 21) we will become connected to nature. We are going to hike in solitude on the Billy Goat Trail. Anyone's welcome to join us!

Rock Band Prodigies

The final score.

Mission accomplished. After hours of practice, we beat a song on hard. Say It Ain't So, by Weezer, a classic. Yay!

Tomorrow (May 20) we are learning how to dive. It could get ugly.

Change of Plans

It was too cold for kayaking... and also Cat fell asleep for like 16 hours in the middle of the day. So we have decided to attempt a difficult feat (for us): beating a Rock Band song on hard. Check later for the results. This might take a while.

Cupcake Recipes

Professional bakers... it's no big deal

Devil's Food Cupcakes (Recipes from Home cookbook):

ingredients:

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup hot brewed coffee

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preparation: preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin cups with liners. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over hot, not simmering, water. Remove the pan from the heat. Sift the sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together the hot coffee, sour cream, and vegetable oil. Gradually whisk in the eggs, then stir in the chocolate. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all the ingredients are smoothly blended. Fill the cupcake liners about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes (but we did 15). Cool completely before frosting.

Aunt Gay's Frosting Recipe:

(from Amelia's aunt)

ingredients:

1 box of confectioners sugar (16 ounces)

1 stick of butter, softened at room temp

3-4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation: blend in a large bowl with mixer at low speed, until creamy. For chocolate icing add one square (one ounce) of melted unsweetened chocolate.

Happy baking!

Videos!!

Our Taste Testers