Horrorscopes

After all that driving yesterday we were happy to stay at home today, except for a quick trip to the library to check up on the Girl's exhibition (it's fine), and to check out a new pile of books.

It has been another hot, hot day, in the high 80s. I know it's churlish of me to complain (I gather the weather in Britain is fairly dismal right now), but I'm really not convinced by this "Go directly to summer, do not pass spring" thing that seems to be happening here. However, it's great to be able to hang the wet laundry outside and have it all dry in less than half an hour.

Tonight the kids have been working on a magazine. The Girl has written the horoscopes page. Apparently it's a good time to be an Aries (like the Girl): "This week you will receive a gift and be treated like royalty." There's some timely advice for Aquarians (that'd be her brother): "If you have been annoying to a family member, now would be a good time to stop." But watch out Sagittarians: "You shall make a horrible mistake."

The road home

We awoke to a day that looked set to be even hotter than the two just passed, and in fact temperatures did soar up to the low 90sF. DC may be further south than Albany, but I'm sure it's not supposed to get that warm so early into April. It seems rather unfair that a couple of weeks ago it was too cold to enjoy being outside, and now already it's too hot.

Anyway, we decided against sweating it back into the city before beginning our long journey home. It wasn't a bad drive. We stopped off for a break in Princeton. As you might imagine, it has quite an Oxbridge feel and in fact is prettier than either of those towns, or at least so it seemed on a sunny spring day with all the blossom out. But if Princeton were the only American town you'd ever seen you would have no idea about America at all.

And so we're back. It's good to go away sometimes, and also good to come home. Though to be honest, for all that we've lived in New York state nearly three years now and I'm busy with so many things, for me it all still feels like an ongoing vacation.

I suppose it's all relative.

Capital punishment

Another day in DC for us. The Boy needed a little more time in the Air and Space Museum, so he and I returned there while the Man and Girl checked out some Natural History - particularly human origins and dinosaurs - in another branch of the Smithsonian.

Staying with the animal theme, we travelled over to the National Zoo to see some live exhibits. There were plenty of wonderful animals, but plenty more people, and it was even hotter than yesterday so that all in all the trip became a bit punishing. But you can't really complain when it's all for free.

This evening we've hung out at the hotel and on the harbour front. There's a little beach with some fun statues to climb on, a pier to stroll up and down, and lots of restaurants. Also boutique shops selling nice stuff you don't really need. If only the place wasn't too trendy for a minimart...

The coolest thing today was...

...the Washington Monument (The Man).
















...Abraham Lincoln (The Girl).











The National Air and Space Museum (The Boy). This is the actual Apollo 11 Command Module.


...seeing the Presidential motorcade, again (me).




We've had a full day and seen a lot. Just by chance the Obama family passed by on their way home from church (we'd just been looking at their house), so that was a bonus and I can notch up another fleeting glimpse of the President to my tally.

We caught some sun, too - it was a fantastic day to be out and about and seeing the iconic sights of DC.

Capital journey

We took a long but uneventful drive today. The in-car DVDs certainly did their job in keeping the people in the backseat entertained. In fact the couple of times we stopped for snacks along the way we had the novelty of the kids begging to be allowed back in the car to continue the journey.

Mostly we were driving along interstates, but we made a diversion through Princeton and were surprised by how olde English it looks. There were great views of Philadelphia from the highway. And then before we knew it, about eight hours and 370 miles after we'd set off, we were skirting Washington DC, and discovering our hotel destination.

We're booked into a place in Maryland's newly developed National Harbor complex, across the river from DC. The hotel's a bit trendier-than-thou - I feel like I'm spending the night in a Habitat showroom, and the elevator music is way cooler than you'd hear in a Marriott. It's fun to be staying somewhere a bit different for a change.

Now, time for a good rest ready for an action-packed day tomorrow...

Hang ten

The Girl turned ten today. Momentous though that is, we celebrated in quite low-key style. Some presents, some time outdoors (it's been beautifully warm) and a trip to Stuyvesant Plaza.

An unplanned treat was being invited to set up an exhibition at the library. There's a display case in the children's section where kids can show off their collections of snow globes or baseball memorablia or whatever else they collect. Two years ago the Girl signed up for this honour, and to be honest we'd pretty much forgotten about it, but yesterday the call came that her name had finally arrived at the top of the waiting list. We scrambled together a good collection of "Toys from around the world", packed them in a box and brought them to the library, where the birthday Girl enjoyed arranging them. They will be on show for the rest of the month.

Another highlight of the day, for the kids, was an investment in some in-car entertainment - a dual-screen DVD player. We'll be starting out on a long road-trip tomorrow - though alas, for the kids, it won't be nearly long enough to get through the sackload of DVDs they've packed in eager anticipation.

Rope-a-dope

It was the annual Spring Sing at school this morning, all very tuneful and jolly. I especially liked the Pre-Ks rendition of the Bob Marley classic "Three Little Birds" (Don't worry 'bout a thing).

The weather has been very kind today - blue skies and a warm sun. Most of my sewing class raced through their projects in the afternoon so that they could go and play outside, and I can't say I blamed them.

Tonight at dusk as we drove to the library we slowed up for a group of kids having a tug-of-war across our street - with an invisible rope, as it turned out. April Fooling goes on well beyond midday over here. Were you on the receiving end of any April Fool's jokes this year - or did you dish out any good ones?