DC

After the Hell that's been the past two weeks at our house (major septic system troubles), the family needed to get away from it all. But because of said Hell, we had to do it on the Cheap. Not cheap . . . Cheap. Follow me? So we did what anyone in the mid-Atlantic region does when they need a Cheap weekend family getaway: we went to D.C.

Actually, Jason and I had reallyreallyreally wanted to see the Terracotta Warriors, and that's why we initially thought of taking the boys up there for a weekend. Too bad 1) it was sold out; and 2) see above paragraph. But DC has lots to do for free, so we went ahead with the weekend plans, sans the Warriors.

We managed to leave the house by 9am on Saturday --a huge feat if you know Noah and his sleep issues-- and were in the Air and Space Museum before noon. Of course, Noah was immediately bored and hungry, so we split up: Jason and Aengus explored the Air and Space while Noah and I ate and went next door to the Hirshhorn.

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed being back in an art gallery for the first time in years. It was soothing. I particularly enjoyed the Josef Albers exhibit . . . but then, I'm a sucker for studies of human perception of color. Noah seemed to really enjoy the art as well, which made me very happy.



We met back up with Jason and Aengus and headed to the Museum of Natural History. We only made it through about half of the museum before the boys were out of patience. Aengus managed to learn quite a bit about prehistory and the evolution of various animals, at least. The Hope Diamond? Not so impressive. All the other crystals and gems? Cool, but not enough to stop and read all the information about them.

After a quick photo op,



we walked up 14th Street to our hotel.



It was crazy in the lobby, but for good reason: a college curling team was on hand in the conference room, giving lessons and talks and letting people try their hand at the sport. That's right: we could actually see what it's like to curl! Later, there would be drink specials in the lobby lounge while the Olympic curling event was being televised. How awesome is that?!

Apparently, not that awesome. Not one other person in my family was interested in having a go at curling. Party poopers, the lot of them. I swear, I am in the wrong family.

Instead, Noah got on his laptop, Jason watched TV, and Aengus and I went swimming in the pool. I was pleasantly surprised by how well Aengus could swim; I'm reconsidering the lessons I had been insisting on, despite his objections.

Sunday morning, we were up, out of the hotel, and on the prowl for coffee by 11am. We stopped by the Old Post Office Pavilion, as recommended by several tour books. We got our coffee (not terribly expensive) and decided that, although I loved the architecture, the only reason to stop at this place is for a cheap bite to eat for lunch. And maybe the free view from the tower. I wouldn't know; once again, no one in my family was game for it. Losers.



We headed for the American History Museum, which I'd been talking up to Noah all week. I thought he would, at the very least, enjoy their music exhibit. I figured he'd recognize a bunch of icons of pop culture, too.

Alas, the museum sucked. It sucked big, hairy balls.

The only icons they had were C3PO, Kermit, and the ruby slippers. That's it! My kids were not interested in the history of electricity (Yeahyeahyeah, Mom, we know Edison was homeschooled. Whatever.) or transportation or the presidency or the First Ladies' gowns. I perceived some mild interest in the Star-Spangled Banner and one or two of the hands-on science exhibits. But Aengus perked up when we found the Price of Freedom exhibit (American military history), and he was able to name every single gun on display.

At this point in our story, I refer you to my previous post, entitled, "NRA."

Next, we headed over to the Holocaust Memorial. We practically ran through it, though, because the boys were not interested. I was able to impart some of the basics to Aengus (including that his birthday falls on Kristallnacht), but I would have liked to have spent two or three hours there, reading everything and contemplating it all.

We were out of there in less than 45 minutes.

Sigh. I gave up at this point and we headed home. Every day it kills me that I can't give my kids the world; what I wish for their home education, more than anything else, is to have the finances to take them out into the world, to see and experience all they can. But they're simply not interested.

Who do these people belong to? Because they surely can't have come from me.