Magic Shoes, More Planes and A Very Special Kitchen

So! Where were we?

Oh yes, I was telling you about our Labor Day Weekend in Washington DC. Then vacation ended, (pre)school started, computer died....but we're back in business! Old Mac is sitting in a box...new Mac is purring happily next to me, like a warm fuzzy kitten. A kitten named Benicio. Who cost us $3,000. Who has not betrayed me...yet.

ANYWAY! Labor Day weekend we had big plans for Sunday - up early, into the car and headed towards the mall (the National Mall, not a shopping mall), off to revisit the various monuments we had seen before, and perhaps add in a couple new ones. But there was one problem. No place to park.

We drove around and around and around, and every parking spot was taken. It really didn't look like there were a whole lot of people out and about, but there sure were a lot of cars. Did I mention my husband is not a patient man? The tension rose with every turn.

"THIS IS *#&@$^%# RIDICULOUS!!!!"

Trying to lighten up the situation, I tried making jokes - like how every since Ted Kennedy died, we Bay Staters get no respect. That got a little smile. Then, since we love our movie quotes, I took one from one of our favorite movies, Drop Dead Gorgeous...

"You'd think they'd have the parking lot of America to go along with the Mall of America!"

Slightly out of context, but it got me a laugh. And finally, he decided to drop mother and daughter off outside the Museum of Natural History, drive back to the hotel to drop off the car and walk back (the four blocks - did I mention that? An hour of looking for a parking spot and we could have just walked....) and catch up with us later. It would give him time to cool off, time to cheer up my now grumpy daughter and my give my ears a break for the muttering of swears under someone's breathe.

So, we walked around and to cheer up my daughter, I gave her my camera. We have twenty-seven pictures of this pigeon...

...a few of this shadow, in various poses...

...clouds in the sky, several pairs of feet that have no idea they were being photographed, a rock, a car (one that had FOUND a parking spot), and an occasional diamond in the rough like this one, which I think is actually kind of neat!

We walked next door to a sculpture garden, and I let her take of her shoes and dip her feet into the water near the fountain.

Within twenty minutes, Steve had returned, in a much better mood, and we headed into the Museum of Natural History.

There's a lot of neat stuff here. A statue from Easter Island (which every kid wanted their picture taken with, as they asked "Dum-dum" to give them some "Gum-gum" (thank you, Night at the Museum), a whole lot of dinosaur bones, a whole lot of stuffed animals. Stuffed like in a taxidermy kind of way, I mean.

A big rock called the Hope Diamond.

We had a good time, but my four year old was getting a bit cranky. Then we lost Daddy, whose cell phone died. Oh, it was fun. And apparently, all my fault.

So we stopped for a snack and a drink, then, refreshed and relaxed, headed over to the Museum of American History, which I had never been to before. The very first thing we headed towards was something to cheer up our daughter....

"Daddy? Can we buy them?"

Nice try. I asked that about the Hope Diamond and next thing I knew he was no where to be found.

This place had something for everyone - Ruby Slippers for our munchkin, Star Wars prop for Steve...

And while Steve took our little one into the gift shop, I got to spend some quality time with an exhibit that made me do this...

Ta da!

Yes, Julia Child's kitchen!

I remember thinking, "Oh WOW! This will make for a GREAT blog when I get back!" A few days later, I wasn't so enthusiastic about blogging, because A.) My photos didn't come out all that well, thanks to the plexiglass and the fact that I only know the basics about using my husband's camera, and B.) Someone beat me to it, with a wonderful post about her visit to Julia's Kitchen! Make sure you take a moment to pop on over to Always Order Dessert to read about Alejandra's visit to Washington, and while you're at it, fall in love with her blog like I did a while back. Thank you, Google gods! Who knew that a search for healthy homemade bagels wold lead me to such a great blog.

Anyway, after shoving several people out of my way (if Ted Kennedy were still here, I probably would have been in there tinkering with all those gadgets...no respect, I tell ya...)

Here's the view from the other side....

I had not yet seen Julie & Julia - although we did have a girls' night out last weekend and I finally got to see it (loved it, too!) but Julia has always been a favorite of mine, even before I started cooking. My mom was into the cooking shows, long before the invention of Food Network, and I happily watched along with her. It was nice to see an old friend receive the honor of being acknowledged as such an important part of our history. This stop was definitely all mine!

Last stop of the day was at the National Air & Space Museum.

You-know-who has a thing for planes! This was my third time here, and mother and daughter were both getting a bit cranky, tired, hungry while husband skipped around the museum....To alleviate the stress, I once again gave Grace my camera.

I have no idea who this lady is...

But thank you for playing along! I just love friendly people...

Later, Grace modeled her new shoes for us.

"Click. Click. Click. There's no place like home..."

The next morning, we loaded up the car, said goodbye to the (not so) Cowardly Lions in front of the hotel and bid adieu to Washington DC

She wore those slippers all the way back to Massachusetts!

Farewell for now, Washington! We'll be back, I'm sure!