Washington D.C. - Land of the Lost

Whether you take the title politically or literally, it pretty well sums up our day in the nation's capitol. Since, we figured it could be a while before we had the family out in that neck of the woods again so we better see the capitol. It was the perfect plan that didn't go so perfectly as you might have guessed if you've been reading this blog for longer than say, a day.

So, we thought that since I had a day or two before my conference started we would go touring as a family. We planned out our route through the capitol the night before, packed all the bags, got everybody in the car and got on our way. The first challenge: parking. After about 25 minutes of driving down one way streets with Katie looking over her shoulder across 3 lanes of traffic and yelling, "there's a free one!" we finally payed to park in a garage. After using the bathroom at a specialty wasabi salad cafe (really? specializing in wasabi salad?) we started our hike to the interesting stuff.

First stop, the White House, where they have the friendliest squirrels!


This part of the trip would have been perfect if it hadn't been for a handful of people waving VERY bloody "R" rated posters in front of our children yelling "President O#$%! you're our only hope!" Since we didn't have earplugs for the kids we explained to them that these people were yelling at the president to change his ways and start doing something positive. Luckily the kids didn't ask what that had to do with a bunch of bloody posters.

As we started to hit the ellipse and walk around the Mall the first seriously tragic realization of the day hit us: We had only brought snacks, absolutely no lunch, and there was NO place we could eat. Katie and I silently vowed that we would make it through all the monuments anyways.



Looking out from the Lincoln Memorial.

This picture is actually not only a great shot but really funny because Ben had gotten in some serious trouble not being as respectful of the memorial as we felt he should have been. So instead of the quietly contemplative teaching moment the picture seems to capture its actually me escorting a very furious Ben out of the memorial before he disturbed anybody else.

It just so happens that the two states we currently are tied to happen to be neighbors at the WWII memorial!

Katie didn't believe me that some people have complained that the Washington Monument is nothing more than a phallic symbol... that is until I explained to her what a phallic symbol is.
Believe it or not, we actually made it through the entire Mall without an existential hunger breakdown. We were close though. With not a second to spare we got to the car and found a Chili's in the GPS only a couple of miles away in Arlington. Unfortunately the GPS unit is smarter than we were. Instead of giving us the actual address of the restaurant it directed us to the parking garage you would have to park at for the restaurant. This unfortunately was 2 blocks away from the restaurant without ANY indication that the restaurant even existed in the local vicinity. Some frustration and a couple of hastled pedestrians later we finally found it. It was obviously meant to be since in the whole restaurant we got a booth with a picture of Christ visiting the Americas above us (no kidding). Who knew Chili's was so religious?

Since our bellies were now full, we decided we might risk one more stop before heading back to Virginia. Next stop: Arlington National Cemetery. Now, what was the only thing that could mar this sacred burial ground? The fact that Benjamin had about 5 soda refills at Chili's. That's right, about a 1/2 mile walk into the cemetery our 5 year old child clutches his crotch and announces to all the decorated dead that he had better find a bathroom fast or someones memory was about to be desecrated. Now of all the places we could possibly be this was really the ONE place where I could not tell him to just step behind a tree. So instead of that, several visitors acted disgusted as Ben and I made a mad sprint back to the visitors center with him periodically yelling the current position of acid and ammonia in his urinary track and whether or not pressure was increasing or stabilizing in his bladder. Luckily we made it back to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier just in time to not only see the changing of the guard but a wreath laying ceremony as well. Unfortunately, Andrew did not understand what manner of show this was, and decided that he had better provide the noise. It wasn't very sunny, but Katie sure looked sunburned as we retreated from the tomb....

Off to Virginny

I was scheduled to attend a conference in Virginia during our time here in New Mexico. So Chris and Ligaya graciously invited Katie and the kids to come visit them while I was at the conference. We planned to go out the weekend before the conference to spend some time with them as a family and got an extra special surprise to find that Nini would also be there that weekend!

Needless to say that getting out the door to go to Virginia went smoother than getting to New Mexico. I dropped Katie and the kids off at the airport and went to park the car in long term parking. Apparently the airport decided that not enough people were using long term parking because it was completely shut down and short term was $20/day. I found a commercial airport parking lot and made it through security without finding Katie and the kids. They didn't get far however... even though Katie is an accomplished multi-tasker the limit to her abilities is somewhere around getting three kids, a double stroller, an infant car seat, and 5 carry-ons through a revolving door on her own. To be honest I was surprised she got through security!

We landed about 10 pm in Baltimore with a little over an hour drive ahead of us, so we figured it was a smart idea to have Katie and the kids scan the baggage claim for our suitcases while I ran to get the rental car. Unfortunately, we're never as smart as we think we are. As soon as the rental car shuttle takes off a recording informs me that the rental car facility is 10 minutes down the freeway. That wasn't too bad. What really made me regret that decision was the fact that the only company there that had a line was the one we rented from.... and once again everybody ahead of me in line either was a complete idiot or had some kind of special need. By the time I got my car and made it back to the airport a kind couple had become convinced that I had abandoned the family and they were waiting to help Katie out with whatever action she wanted to take next (I'm not exaggerating, they actually brought the subject up with her).

After a stop at McDonald's and a gas station we finally made it to Purcellville where we promptly blew a few breakers in Chris's basement so that he would get up and say hi to us.

The next day we got to go see Ethan's baseball game. It was awesome, Ethan had a big hit and not only did his team win, but he got the game ball! We even got some rain on the back end of the game.

That night Katie and I let Nini and Chris beat us at hand and foot as part of an elaborate scheme to get Nini to push her flight back the next day. Fortunately, it worked and we even let them beat us a second time the next day just so Nini could go home with a warm fuzzy feeling. We also celebrated Chris's birthday before Nini left.

The Balloon Museum

In case you didn't know, Albuquerque has a very rich history of hot air ballooning. Apparently there really was nothing to do in Albuquerque for a LONG time. Well it turns out to be a good place to hot air balloon because the air currents circulate across the valley meaning that one can land almost exactly where he took off simply by controlling altitude. And that place would be the Balloon Park, which also houses a museum.

Not surprisingly, you don't need a very large space in order to detail the history of hot air balloons and still have a couple of exhibits that are only remotely related. However, they did have some really cool and fun things set up for the kids. The first hot air balloon carried a sheep, a chicken, and something else that isn't a natural enemy of the other two.

Making paper helicopters...

One of the coolest things was a hot air balloon simulator. On an unrelated note, NEVER let Katie borrow your hot air balloon.

One of the more scientific exhibits was set up to let you experiment with different temperatures inside a miniature hot air balloon that ran along a wire. They had a good 40 feet of head room to play with, which really gave you a feel for how sensitive bouyancy is to temperature even in an enclosed room.

Among the pictures of burning and mangled zepplins they had a cut open solid metal NASA weather pod that was pretty cool.

The Faker

Andrew is turning out to be quite the little actor... or maybe we should say manipulator. Exhibit A: a sequence of photos taken while Katie was out. Andrew noticed that the door to the master bedroom was closed and decided that Mommy must have been hiding out. So what does he do? He goes up and starts pounding on it, crying for momma.

Come out, come out!
You're making me cry!

Ooh, CAMERA! I could be happy if you give me a camera...!

Dad won't give me the camera and now I'm REALLY upset!

Self pity is the last resort. Self pity ALWAYS works.