Tuesday. We started our day being turned around and unable to find the elevator to the metro, so we walked up to the Washington Monument from our hotel and started our parade around Reflecting Pool and The Mall. We pulled out a penny to show Cate the image of the Lincoln Memorial and Lincoln's profile. She was very impressed. As we approached the Lincoln Memorial, Cate wondered why there weren't any ducks in the pool. Lo, and behold, on our way back around, not only were there ducks, but a lovely family of ducklings.
For me personally, of all the war memorials, I am most moved by the Korean War Veterans Memorial. The tall figures walking across the country, remaining aware of the enemy at all times. One can see so much in the eyes of the figures. Each of those soldiers took on a responsibility to themselves, their fellow soldiers and for a country whose people we did not know. I don't know the political reasoning why we were in Korea, and perhaps I will now be motivated to research one of the more quiet wars, but there's just something about that memorial which makes me most thankful for the sacrifice men and women in the armed forces have made for the pursuit of freedom.
Kyle really enjoys Monet paintings. Last time we were here, the National Gallery of Art was under renovation, so we missed the exhibit. This time we weren't going to miss it. While there are generally only eight to ten pieces in each gallery room, there is a lot of territory to cover in this museum. If you have never been, the museum actually is comprised of two buildings. The West Building houses the earlier paintings and sculptures, 16th, 17th century, through the Impressionist period and beyond. The East building, focuses on 20th Century art from artists such as Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollack, Henri Matisse. We didn't make it through the exhibits in the East building. Each gallery we walked through, Max would whine. More and more dramatically which each room we passed through as if to say, "no...not more!" And of course, when we got over to the East Building to view the exhibits, there are free standing sculptures that look like jungle gyms, or a box, that looked like, well...a box. Cate started climbing on a mound of stone and one of the security guards started hollering: "Don't touch! Don't touch! DON'T TOUCH!!" So we decided to get the heck out of there before we had to figure out how we were going to own up to ruining a piece of jungle gym equipment someone deemed as being art.
Since the kids were pushed the entire trip without naps, it became clear that this day wasn't going to go nap-free. So back to the hotel, by way of a Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop, we went for naps. I believe that we all slept for some period of time because we had been pretty busy up to this point.
After naps, we headed out for dinner. We had passed by a Chinese Restaurant on Saturday evening and decided we would try it at some point on our vacation. Very much a family run business, it sees its success mostly in take-out / delivery with mainly an empty restaurant. But the hosts were kind and accommodating. Cate sat down as immediately asked for colors and paper as you can imagine the types of restaurants we typically frequent always have a kids menu with crayons. Once we were settled in, the hostess asked Cate what her favorite color was. Cate replied purple. Then a little head popped up to the side and offered Cate a purple crayon and a picture torn out of his personal coloring book. Cate also asked for yellow and the little boy quickly came back with a yellow crayon for her. He was our little companion for the rest of the evening. We learned his name was Jeffrey and that we was six years old.
Max and Cate really like cream cheese wontons, so seeing wontons on the menu, we ordered some as a starter. There was no cream cheese in the middle. I actually felt like Jeanine for a moment and wondered what kind of mystery meat was in the wonton. I did eat a couple of them and Max seemed to do alright as well. But the kids mostly enjoyed the rice. They ate almost the entire bowl. Max fed himself hand over fist, he couldn't get it in fast enough.
After Cate was finished eating, she hopped out of the booth and went behind the counter for a visit with Jeffrey and Jeffrey's mom. Always the social girl. She will find a friend anywhere she goes.
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and let the kids just bum. They colored the evening away and Max hammed it up.
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