Washington, DC

We had to move our trip to Washington, DC back a day because of the huge snowstorm that came through on March 5th. We had planned on driving down on Friday morning, but the roads were a mess and it was very cold.

J shoveling us out on Friday morning

We drove down on Saturday instead. There was still snow, but the roads were clear. Apparently there is a DC regulation banning snow sledding. Seriously?! Otherwise we might have figured something out at the base of the Washington monument.

It may look cold, but it wasn't. Highs in the upper 40s meant the warmest it had been in months. It was fabulous.

On Saturday, we checked out the Museum of American History, the White House, and the Natural History Museum. We were a little surprised at how wonderful that last was.

Then it was time to head to the hotel, complete with pool and hot tub. Yesssss.

Day Two was Monuments Day, and we got off to a pleasantly warm start at the FDR Memorial. This was one of the memorials I had never seen before. It was powerful, expansive, and the only one where one of our children had  a complete and utter meltdown.  Glad we got that over with first thing. People staring. Parents smiling. Child sitting on the ground yelling. Yes, that's my child.  But we recovered!

We waved to the Jefferson Memorial from across the frozen tidal basin before visiting the remaining eight memorials on our agenda that day. We hit them all. Tourist Ninjas. (They are continuing their training).

I just wanted to skate right over to it. Sort of.

Next up was the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. This was a new memorial that I had not seen before. Bud had memorized part of the "I Have a Dream Speech," and he did recite it here. The noises of the crowd were too loud, though, so we re-recorded it later in front of the Lincoln Memorial (where the King originally delivered the speech).

We had a little trouble with wind, instead of with crowds. I was so proud of Bud and Pixie gamely trying to let me record them…they memorized back in January and hadn't been practicing. Pixie chose the Gettysburg Address:



I have been hoping to make it to Gettysburg, and maybe we will this spring. Perhaps she can recite it again there without SO MUCH wind interference. But we went ahead and made a recording, just in case!

We lived in DC one summer when Pixie was three months old. I remember carting her stroller UP ALL OF THOSE STEPS at the Lincoln Memorial, and walking around on the Mall on a hot fourth of July with a tiny baby girl who was wearing pink seersucker. I kept looking at Pixie and wondering, where is that baby? I was a teeny bit staggered by the contrast this time around.

Sunday evening we reunited with friends who live in the area. J and I met at their wedding. Our first-borns are less than two months apart. This photo was taken as we were moving to DC back in 2003:

And here they are, fresh out of the hotel pool:

WHAAAAAAAT??!?

It was so fantastic to see these people, by the way. That should be its own blog post. I grew up with the mom--at church, with our families doing holidays together, and occasionally I tagged along on their family vacations. We were roommates in college. Our children had never met. It was awesome fun time.

 Monday was an amazing good time and I did not tote my camera around. Not even a purse or a wallet, actually. I was just footloose and fancy-free all day as we met up with a friend from Notre Dame days who works at the Supreme Court this year (we got a very cool backstairs tour. Among other things, Bud sat in the President's chair and we learned that there is a kind woman who serves as elevator operator.)

We toured the Capitol with a staffer from our California Congresswoman's office. Apparently snowy days in March are not prime time. Our family had a private tour.

Each day of our trip had a different flavor, with different sorts of things to see. All of Bud's dreams came true at the Air & Space museum on Sunday. He has loved airplanes since he was two, and has read about them for as long as he's been able to read (memorizing specs). Getting to see the Wright Brother's plane--as well as the Spirit of St. Louis, flown by his hero Charles Lindbergh--were highlights for him. One of my highlights was watching him dance with glee.

Bud at Air & Space

Another highlight was getting to see everyone's reaction after trying out the flight simulators. Lots of adrenaline.

We are getting to do some pretty amazing things this year, and I am grateful both for the opportunities to "go and see" as well as all of the time together as a family. We came home from DC having bonded as a unit and feeling very much on the same team...Which is a wonderful souvenir! And one I'm asking for as souvenir from our whole year out East.

Spring, come she will…and summer will follow. As the weather turns, that is increasingly on our minds.

#TBT: Boston in the Fall

We went to Boston the first weekend in October. It started with an early morning departure accompanied by The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything:

It's a very fun song to sing, and we certainly did. All weekend.

We started the day downtown at Faneuil Hall, signing up for a free tour of the North end of the Freedom Trail with a park ranger named Travis.

It was an amazing tour, in large part because of our guide. It gave me real appreciation for what someone with a history degree can do. He spun stories and our children's imaginations were on fire.

In the weeks to come, as I read Johnny Tremain aloud, we would all say things like, "Remember when we went to the cemetery on Copp's Hill?"   

Wombles: "Yeah! With the stones with skulls and wings!"

Imaginations. On Fire.

Or Paul Revere's House. Upstairs, downstairs…he had sixteen children in all.

Hangin' with Paul Revere

Or Old North Church, where the lanterns were hung to warn "two if by sea."

St. Francis of Assisi
Courtyard, Old North Church
Boston

Most striking to me in the church was this bust of George Washington--mainly because of this plaque that hung near:

After finishing the Freedom Trail (Part 1), it was time for ice cream. And street dancing…

After a good night's sleep at the hotel, we headed back into the city for day two. First we visited the Old Granary Burial Boston Common. After hearing about Paul Revere's use of propaganda following the Boston Massacre (you've all seen this picture, right?) we were primed and ready. I wasn't expecting a carousel, though.

Wombles got his dragon!

 From there, we walked to the public gardens:

We were too late in the season for the swan boats. Next time.

Boston. Fall.

Make Way for Ducklings!

After the Granary Burying Ground, Boston Common, The Public Gardens, and the southern end of the Freedom Trail, we were still not done. We visited the Old South Meeting House, where Sam Adams declared in the midst of a meeting, "This meeting can do nothing more to save our country!" This was the signal for the Boston tea party to go forward that very night. Each year on December 16th, local citizens reenact the meeting with all of the speeches. Sounds like fun!!

Old South Meeting House: Our church in New Jersey reminds me of this. Pews with doors.

So onward we went. We stopped to pick up pizza and then caught a ferry to another part of the harbor. 

Ostensibly, this was a trip to visit the U.S.S. Constitution (which we did). 

Old Ironsides

 But while out on the wharf, we also had a little tea party of our own. It seemed the proper thing to do.

And that capped off our two days in Boston! 40 Hours of Fabulous…from our door and back home.

Sister Winter

This past weekend, I had a visit from a friend! She is lovely! It was wonderful!

Here she is:

Just kidding.

I spent the weeks leading up to her visit kinda praying that winter would stick around a little bit longer. That we would keep the snow we'd had on the ground for a straight month. That the temperature highs would not get above freezing and melt all of the lovely whiteness.

Because this buddy of mine, she does things like refer to "Sister Winter" and says things like, "I LOVE the feeling of breathing in really cold air while I am exercising!" And I so wanted New Jersey to be up to scratch for my Minnesota-loving friend.

(You are getting this, right? That I was longing for winter to stick around?)

Saturday morning, we all climbed into the Swagger Wagon and drove to the Delaware River, where on Christmas night in 1776 Washington crossed the river and proceeded to win a series of battles against the British that helped turn the tide of the Revolutionary war. You all know about it:

Look! Chunks of ice in the water!

The reason I wanted to go was that the river was FROZEN! This has been a record-setting-cold winter;  the river freezing is pretty rare. It was a sight and we gently tested the ice. At the edge, of course.

"Do you think we could walk across it?…"

We walked across this bridge instead.

Saturday afternoon MKR and I took off on our own to downtown Princeton: the library, the campus, Small World Coffee. It was crowded and I got anxious about finding a table and wanted to run away to Starbucks. But not my brave friend. So we stayed and she won us a table. We had a great time sitting and trying to catch up on more than six months' worth of news and enjoying Lego art on the walls.

Later there was reading in front of the fire and the roasting of marshmallows. Many, many marshmallows (for my part, anyway).

This is a representative picture: no children were included in the actual roasting of the marshmallows (this time). It was a moment to relish being the grown-ups. And ignoring the child-limit of three marshmallows. I mean, I roasted for three rounds.

There she is!

Sunday we worshipped in our little white church and the snow began to fall on our way home. It fell for hours. By the time we got out to go tromping after lunch, it was turning to sleet.

Over the river and through the woods we went. No grandmother's house; but there was a tiny cemetery tucked away that we found, Anne-Shirley-like (she is always having amazing discoveries in mundane places).

My friend has already gone back to sunny Santa Barbara; and today when we got a surprise snow shower I felt so grateful: for her visit and friendship; that we got to play in the snow together; that she has shared something beautiful to her (winter) and made it beautiful to me, also.

And I'm grateful that we're expecting another snow storm on Thursday. Because against all expectation, Sister Winter has turned out to be a friend.