The Capitol Day One

When we popped up out of the metro on the Mall, we found ourselves in the middle of the Solar Decathlon: 20 teams competing in 10 events in the building and running of their solar-powered idea houses. We wandered around admiring them for quite a while. I should go check and see who is winning.

We stopped in at the Smithsonian, which is beautiful.

We let Joss have a ride on the carousel on the Mall. I thought he'd be scared, but it was just his speed. He smiled and laughed and looked for Papa and loved it.

Then he fell asleep and Rob and I visited the National Gallery. It was just our speed.

It was wonderful. They have a fantastic collection.

We especially enjoyed the Calders for Maddie's sake. She's read The Calder Game by Blue Balliet and has loved it. I like the diverse protagonists, the art history, and the puzzling and codebreaking in all of her books.

I really didn't get Rothko in college. Now I completely understand the appeal.

Then Joss woke up and we took him down to the cafeteria for a late lunch.

Here he is plotting his next exploits: he has both parents paying attention and a full plate of food. Hmmmm. Where could we go with this?

[click to enlarge] We walked around the supreme courthouse.

[click to enlarge] And we visited the capitol. We were too late for a tour, but we did get to see the new visitors center which was very well done. Then we met my brother, who happened to be in town for meetings for two days, and went out to Thai food with him and his friends. We didn't take a single picture! But we had a fun time, Barb and Ryan took us back to their house for dessert and even drove us back to the hotel. We were worn out by then! Well, Joss and I were worn out. I always get the impression that Rob could keep walking around the clock when we're touring someplace interesting.