The Tourist

We spent Thursday and Friday of last week in Washington, D.C. with Dawne & Steve, Natalie & Tucker. Dawne came up with the (brilliant) idea of staying near a Metro station so we didn't have to drive in D.C. and worry about parking. This plan worked out fabulously. There was a stop near everywhere we wanted to go and the kids loved riding the Metro.

There's so much to do in D.C. and both Scott and I hadn't been there for years, but we tried to cram in as much as possible. We walked the mall on Thurday evening after we arrived and visited the Washington Monument, the new WWII Memorial (which we had never seen before), the Vietnam Wall and the Lincoln Memorial. Friday was a non-stop day that started in Arlington to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, then to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe followed by a stop at Ford's Theater next door. We wrapped the day up with a fairly lengthy visit of the National Air and Space Museum and a stop to see the White House (from beyond the fence, that is).

Malcolm was a real trooper. He was tolerant of being up past his bedtime on Thursday. He also showed a remarkable degree of good humor throughout the day on Saturday, taking his first nap in the stroller at Arlington and his second nap in the Ergo babycarrier (started in Ford's Theater, slept on the Metro and woke just as we entered Air and Space).

Trying To Beat The Heat

It's been hot this week. Very hot. When we haven't stayed inside to enjoy the air conditioning, we've gone swimming. Heidi invited us to swim in her mom's pool with Alex and Max several times this week (okay, we may have dropped hints a couple of those times), where Malcolm got to try out his new pool float. He also thinks that the poolside rocks look mighty delicious, but no one will let him have a taste.

On Saturday, Malcolm enjoyed swimming with Dawne, Tucker, Natalie and Grammie (I swear the Clarks shout-out was completely unintentional, but after proofreading this, I just had to link it!).

In other news, Malcolm had his first paid babysitters this week (on separate occasions): Charity and Shannon. He did very well with them and they with him. This is exciting for us, because it adds a new level of freedom to our social life. Well..."freedom" at $5 an hour.