Thursday, August 4, 2011

Day 1179 - Doorway Dance Party

In July, we had a BBQ send-off for me (plus an excuse for a BBQ). It was a lot of fun, but I have absolutely no idea how this happened.

From 21st Century Digital Kid

Day 1205 - Dad and Ruth's Big Washington DC Adventure!

Today, Ruth and I went down to Washington, DC. The official reason was to get everyone's visas for Ghana, which we did.

The consular desk is in its own separate little office, but after we got the visas I asked the very nice security guard if I could take Ruth in to see the embassy a bit. He was clearly leaving his post and wanting us to hurry up, though he was nice about it, so we just took a peek around and saw the few pieces they had on display, saw the banners, etc. Ruth really liked some of the wooden statues they had.

I asked her if I could take a picture of her in front of the embassy, and she insisted that I take one of "her and the lamp" first:

From 21st Century Digital Kid


I couldn't decide which one of these shots of our budding world traveler I liked better, so you get them both.

From 21st Century Digital Kid


From 21st Century Digital Kid


On the way out, she had to use the potty, which led to our first Starbucks experience of the day. We bought a chocolate milk of which she drank: one sip.

Outside, there are these large spheres as sculptures. She told me which one each planet was as we ran around them. Despite the color issues, she was quite clear that this one was Mars.

From 21st Century Digital Kid


Then, we went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Ruth liked the dinosaur bones well enough, but she was a bit more interested in the dioramas (and snacking).

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I know this one is rotated wrong. It's a T-Rex!

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And here she is at her favorite part, the dung beetle exhibit!

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Then, she wanted to see the Capitol building, just like in Grace!

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To get this shot, I said, "go stand in front of the Capitol!" and she took off like a shot, until I told her to stop when she got to a good spot and smile.

And, of course, she found a carousel.

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After the ride, she kissed her horse and stroked its head for being a good ride for her. It was really cute.

She really wanted to go have lunch in Chinatown, so we went. I'd heard good things from a colleague about China Boy. Ruth insisted that she wanted "noodles, but I don't like crunchy kind, I want mushy noodles." So we got our Chow Fun and pork, and were not disappointed.

From 21st Century Digital Kid


The place is a wonderful hole in the wall where they apparently make their own noodles (but you occasionally have to yell to the back for service). There were only two tables, and so we settled in with a couple of psychologists, the pants of whom Ruth charmed off. Then she wanted to ask me what the word for a bunch of things in French was (no, I don't know why). Then she wanted to know what the words for things in Chinese were, and I had to tell her to wait to ask Grampy. There was also a Chinese couple in to get their pickup, and she wanted to know if they were from China. When I suggested she just ask, she said, "no, I'm just thinking about it."

Oh, and she talked a bunch about how she's going to go to China with Grampy some day.

Then we had a cookie at Starbucks, and she told me that she was tired and wanted to go home and have a story and go to sleep. She told Melissa she'd tell her about her adventure "in the morning."

It was about 5PM. But hey, no nap.