Day 4: President's Day, so Mt. Vernon



Day 4 meant Mt. Vernon...I love going there. We lucked out when a nice man with 2 small children handed us tickets to go through the main house ... if he had not given us the 3:45 time stamped tickets, we would've gotten tickets for 6:00!! All because we struck up a friendship with his 2 sweet boys.

And make no mistake: A Marine volunteer was the one calling the line in order : "Any time before 3:40! Tickets before 3:40!" He'd have none of me, when I handed him our tickets stamped for 3:45. Geesh. No one can tell time like a marine...well, maybe Ben Franklin could.

 

The house is lovely...but it's really the grounds that are the reason we go. The view is gorgeous, and then there are the bulls, sheep, horses, and goats. Not to mention President Washington's sarcophagus, which we visited. The best part, for this mom, is that my children are so wiped out by the end of the visit, they sleep well at night.

Oh, and the questions, the long list of questions.

Did they have airplanes back then?

Where did they go to the bathroom?

What did they do with their garbage? (Graham)

and so on...I look forward to more visits to Mt. Vernon...it's such a lovely place

 

 

Day 3: The Kennedy Center Marionetas de la Esquina

I bought these tickets so long ago...it involved Marrionettes rendering Sleeping Beauty, with a lot of magical realism infused in the marrionnettes. It was a special performance from Mexico, and the puppets were enchanting...here are a couple of pics from the event.

As ever, the best part was Sarah, ("Cousin Sarah") who joined us for the fun...we don't see her enough!

 

Day 2: Disney on Ice



Baltimore Aquarium: Day 1 of a 4-day weekend

As much as I love the children's school, it seems that there are few 5 day weeks, and many 4 day weeks. Over President's weekend, we had two 4 day weeks, which meant a 4 day weekend to fill up.

 

Day 1, we went to the Baltimore Aquarium, one family membership which has paid off nicely.

We were fortunate enough to catch the 2:30 tropical fish feeding...a group of professionals, called the "b" team, comprising of 2 lawyers, a dentist, an IT man, and one other--arrive at the aquarium at 8:00 am and chop up the 'fish' that they will feed to the Tropical fish.

 

It was fun to watch the divers jump into the tank...they were very friendly with Graham and Julia, and Graham followed one particular diver. This meant that Graham ran down the spiral, 3 or so story tank to watch the diver work...(the bottom 'floor' is filled with the sharks--Julia's not a fan of the sharks, so that part of the trip is always fast)..

 

Here are a few pics







 

 Graham waves to his friend, the scuba diver, who is feeding the fish

 Look closely, you'll see a man in the tank in a scuba suit

 

 Searching for Mermaids

 Baltimore Harbor

Potbelly's...after sushi, Mexican, and one other fast food-type restaurants were rejected. Potbelly's has a grilled cheese, which always wins out with Graham and Julia.

Graham and Builder Man...and his sister, Julia

Graham probably likes to build better than anything...well, jumping on the couch or the bed is high up there as well.

He seems to be able to take just about anything--blocks, clay, legos...paper...clips, you name it, and make a creation from the items.

Poor guy was home sick for 3 days last week, but we spent a lot of fun time together.

I pulled out a Legos Firetruck listed for 5-12 year olds...and we went at it...Graham could find the most obscure TEENY TINY piece, and could follow the instructions and put the pieces in the proper locations.

 

I on the other hand became frustrated. Arghhh! I don't have much interest in building 'stuff' ... but it was fun to spend the one on one time with Graham, something as a twin mom I don't get a lot of opportunities to do.

I'll post more photos soon...

 

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