Just In Time
Feb 21
Everyone,
When crankiness seemed to encompass the household and was seeping into my dreams, we had an adventure. A Presidential Adventure. Just in time!
My best-est buddy Lolli took our kids (8 between us!) to Mt. Vernon, the first President’s plantation. On the day of the celebration of George Washington’s birthday, the plantation is free to all! And it seemed like ‘all’ came. We parked a mile away and walked in. But even with all the walking, we still had a lot of smiles to go around!
For the most part any way. There were some tantrums, there were some tears, there was pushing 3 kids in our pack mule of a stroller and carrying one on my back for the mile hike back to the car. There were the Buddist Monk who bowed to me and called me “holy mother” with a huge smile on his face.
There was also a nice gentleman who gave us tickets to tour the house in half an hour instead of 3 and a half hours. There was a long stretch (at least 3 minutes) of deep breathing in one of my favorite places on the face of the Earth, thanks to Lolli’s big kids.
We toured the house (my first in at least 3 years) and there was a shock on how beautiful the place is. There was the moment when Butterfly was just soaking in tour and getting excited about seeing the “first president’s bed! The one he died in! I have to tell my class!” 5 years of dragging her all over creation is finally paying off. She’s starting to see the joy of being a tourist. (And I think this is the second president’s death bead that we’ve seen, since we’ve toured The House Where Lincoln Died several times as well. Oh, I think we’ve seen where Jefferson died as well. Hmm…) We came out of the mansion just in time to catch the beginnings of the President’s surprise birthday celebration. I’m not sure how he could be surprised with the amount of people gathered on his bowling green, but it was nice to know that he is still loved, 312 years after his death.
There was that moment when Lolli and I were laughing over the phones while driving because we were hopelessly lost, even with a GPS. (Whose recalculation was going to take us straight through downtown DC during rush hour!) There was also that entire hour in the car where all three kids were knocked out and I got to listen to my music with no complaints.
This adventure came at just the right time to break me of the crabbies.
And like Lolli said, we made some memories that I will never forget. And I’ve got the pictures (and the blog!) to prove it!
Safire
DC outings, Lolli's family, Mt. Vernon Virginia sights