Monuments and Museums

Or, "All I Needed to Know I Learned in the First Three Days, part 1."

So here is my re-cap of the first day of our Epic Journey to the East, a Ten Piece Listing of what I learned:



Day 1 (Washington D.C.)

1. Apparently, the sight of port-a-potties triggers some people's bladders (not mine).



2. It really stinks when you leave your camera at the hotel.



3. Walking in flip-flops around the Nation's Capital is not such a bad idea -- if you're guaranteed to be traveling at the pace of a two-year-old.



4. If Mommy walks in flip-flops, the children will not understand why Daddy makes them wear tennis shoes.



5. A lot of women are wearing breezy summer dresses this season, but not with tennis shoes.



6. Sometimes fashion ideals must be sacrificed for family unity. (Please note that I do not consider flip-flops the epitome of "fashion" but I was sure my days of tennis shoes with dresses were over.)



7. Not every person in my family wants to read every exhibit in the Smithsonian museums. Actually, none of them do, except me.



8. The pace of a two-year-old dramatically increases in air conditioning (such as they have in the Smithsonian museums).



9. While heat and hunger sap the strength of all ages, cool air and food may revitalize children much faster than their adults.



10. Even if kids are whiny and hot, war memorials are still solemn, fulfilling their purpose: to remind the living of those dead in the name of freedom. Faced with the names of so many young and promising sent prematurely to eternity, and considering the empty homes and aching hearts of families left behind, I do not stop to weigh the right or wrong of wars. I simply mourn and am thankful.
    
    
    

Yeah, this is not a picture from the scenic first day's adventures. This is a picture of the kids in our hotel, watching a TELEVISION with CHANNELS! I think that was vacation enough for them, the poor media-deprived dears.

I wish I could link up to more pictures from our first day of vacation, but... well, refer to #2 of my lessons learned.

Another great moment (even better than the museums and monuments) was meeting up with my dear cousin. But I already knew it would be wonderful to see her, so I didn't actually learn a lesson there... except, that it was another missed photo. (insert tongue-sticking-out-icon-of-frustration-with-self here.)