d.c. trip

 
 
 
 
Hopefully, all 57 of these fine photos show up here, but if they do not, and you prefer a visual tour of our trip to our linguistic tale, please visit my facebook page. The photos should be available shortly. Oh what a trip it was.
Thursday:
We arrived in d.c. before lunch on Thursday, met with Jake and Chelsea, got ourselves Metro passes and we were on our way. To the zoo! Luckily, we had Chelsea with us. Chelsea, the boys and myself (Jenny) headed to the zoo, while Bryce and Jake were off to Capitol Hill. Too bad for them. We saw the pandas, the octopus feeding, the red pandas, the cool big cats, and then back to the metro. The boys were quite enamered with the whole idea of the Metro, the fact that it can travel through the city, go underground, over water and even UNDER the Potomac River!?! What a train!
After the zoo-age, it was time to get back on the train and meet up with the boys for a feast our first night in D.C. We tested out Ethiopian cuisine with the boys and they were in! What a hit. No utensils. All food is eaten with hands, by scooping up delicious lamb, spicy chicken, collard greens, lentils, and tomatoey stuff with a soft, yummy steamed gigantic (thing the size of a large pizza pan) pancake thingy. I think Henry ate all the collard greens before we could even get a bite, leaving me with a pancake the size of, well, a pancake. As if this was not exotic enough, Wynne decided that taking off his shirt in the middle of the meal and swinging it over his head saying, "Hey guys!" was a great idea! While Bryce tried to explain the concept of "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" to no avail. It was back to the Metro, to the hotel and a bit of shut eye, before a Big friday, full of adventure.

Friday:
We were on the metro by 7:30 and ready for action. The big boys were busy with a meeting with Claire (McCaskill) while Chelsea, the boys and I headed to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural HIstory in the pouring, windy, rainy day that it was. We saw dinosaurs, the Hope diamond, lava rocks, asteroids, meteorites, grizzly bears, evolution exhibits (where I am sure Henry would have stayed for good, if we'd have let him. ( Henry and Darwin met, and it was love, love, love at first sight. "What?! You mean our ancestors were apes! That's awesome!!") After this exhausting morning, it was on to the Native American Museum for lunch. We met Jake and Bryce, walked and walked in the rain to the the museum and got to choose native american food from around the continent at the cafeteria, where it was prepared by real chefs. YUM! This was not enough for Wynne. He fell asleep due to culture overload and missed out on lunch. When he awoke, he found Bryce at the gift shop register buying a book for the boys. Thinking that the book was for Henry, and he was gyped of a gift shop trinket, he decided to RUN AWAY. And clever he was. He had us searching all over and with the museum in lock down, when he was discovered riding the elevator to the 4th floor, "to show us."
We finished here, walked to the Arboretum, saw amazing orchids, other flowers, cacao trees, banana trees and other cool stuff. To the Enid Garden (in front of the Smithsonian Castle) to play among the gorgeous Cherry blossoms, run around, and be goofy before walking to "Barrack's House" as Wynne calls it, to take some photos and enjoy the atmosphere. We put our names on the list at the Historic Old Ebbitt Grille (steps away from the White House), then walked to the Renwick Portrait Gallery, where Henry filled out an ISpy card and won a button. They, meaning H & W, somehow had the energy to run around some historic statues being crazy and getting other kids in trouble doing the same thing, when our number was called and it was dinner! Fresh oysters, some drinks and good company made it all worth it. What a day! Back on the Metro, to the hotel to rest up for one more day...which I will have to tell you about tomorrow, because bedtime is upon us here, and chaos is all around. Good night folks, more stories tomorrow.