Washington, D.C.

Over Memorial Day weekend, we drove to Washington, D.C., partly to visit Todd's brother and his family, partly to attend a wedding in Baltimore, and partly to have a mini-vacation with Bean and Toot.  We left town before 7 a.m. and made it to the Potomac in less than eight hours, which is a testament to how well these two little girls travel.  (I mean, we stopped twice on the way down and on the way back home, we only stopped once.  Prize-worthy.)  Once we got there, we lounged by the river and stretched our legs while Todd opened his birthday gifts.  We got him some kites for Truro, and he flew one with two bouncy girls immediately.  Then we made our way to the memorials.

 The Lincoln Memorial is my favorite, and I love to read the Gettysburg Address like a little prayer while I'm there.  Todd and I were taking lots of pictures and I think Marley was joining us in our reverence for Mr. Lincoln, because Rudy was suddenly quiet and overwhelmed when she whispered to me, "Who is that guy?"  I told her he was Abraham Lincoln, one of our most respected presidents who lived a long time ago.  And she said, "Who did that to him?" probably thinking of the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  I think I reassured her that he was a statue made by an artist, and not a man under a mean lady's spell, but some of her subsequent observations make me wonder whether she actually got it.

 Marley was a little awed to stand in the spot where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, and when we passed a flag pole on our way to the Vietnam Memorial, she paused for a silent and earnest Pledge of Allegiance.  It was very pure and precious, and it reminded me that I am a cynical adult.

 We went to the zoo to see pandas and museums to see dinosaur bones and the Wright Brothers' planes.  I had cocktails and a fancy dinner with a college friend, and we all had delicious tacos and burritos at Todd's brother's Alexandria restaurant.  Todd got to spend nights catching up with his brother, and the girls soaked up mornings, afternoons, and nights with their Virginia cousins.  These two boys were just as excited to see the girls, to teach them how funny burps are, to play seemingly endless hours of Animal Jam and Minecraft together, and to pal around at the breakfast or dinner table before racing off for imaginary adventures that were refreshingly off-screen.  

Before we left, the girls filled out postcards for friends and their classes, and Rudy sent one to her preschool with a portrait of her and all three of her Lambies.  Of course Hat, Boom and Craze all made the trip south, along with Twist Hounce, and all four cherished friends made it back home with only one or two moments of parental panic at their absence. 

One late afternoon, at the Hirshhorn Museum, in an installation combining discordant jazz and paintings, among other things I was too tired and too literal to understand, Rudy was inspired to add movement to the display.  This is the same sweetie who is, as I type, repeatedly filling and then sitting on a whoopie cushion, overjoyed by its crass, repulsive blurp.  So much for culture.