Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Monuments and Manhood (D. C. Chronicles)

Time: Friday, April 10, 12:00 p.m.
Location: The Mall and the Monuments
Status: High energy, High Enthusiasm, Low Stress

Monuments are perfect for men...especially young men!

1. Outdoors with lots of green space for frisbee....or football....or wrestling....
2. Lots of places to jump, hide, run and often involve water features where one can get wet.
3. Small (if any) lines, and nobody waits in them anyway.
4. Go at your own pace.
5. See. Check off list. Go.



My boys (and husband) really enjoyed the fresh air and freedom of wandering the beautiful Mall....with the frisbee and football we'd brought in the Blue Bag of course....now this was a good use of their taxes!

Here's a little vignette of Drew..we used to play here a lot when he was little.






He's much better at frisbee now....and much taller...


Of course, there are so many picture opportunities in these places. There's a Bible verse about not exasperating your children... Look at Andrew....

I think I did it.



But there were more pictures in their future...many more...



The Lincoln Memorial was a long time to get to, but worth every step!



A serious pose from the serious guy.


They're thinking, "How many more pictures is she going to take?"


Well, who could resist this?



...or this...I was having some fun with Zach...



...irritating him...and I'm enjoying reliving it all over as I post these!


"Lily! Reveal your source for the flowers! You can't pick the flowers!" (This had been a problem the whole trip....)


..."MMM HHHHMMMM.... source found."



I didn't anticipate that the Vietnam Memorial would be as meaningful to the kids as it was. We were all touched.


We always try to find a "Lindquist" if we can. No relation, but it's a connecting point anyway. I just have to wonder, what sort of man was Virgil Lindquist? He was probably just a little older than my boys. We wonder and are grateful for his service and sacrifice. And I ache for his mother.
I wonder, am I going too fast between humor and sentiment? Can you follow me on this thing? I don't want to appear disrespectful.


Now throughout this trip, Zach was on an independent streak. He'd often try to lose himself in the crowd. Can you find him here?



He really didn't make the best choice for blending in.



Note to self and other Moms: If buying drippy treats, make the kids get treats the same color as they are wearing. Saves stress! Wish I'd taken a picture of Lily wearing her snowcone, but it was too dicey at the time.

The House. I never get tired of this view.


The Man. I never get tired of him either!


And here's The Man with the Book--guidebook that is. This guidebook practically became attached to his body. I did get tired of that.
I have an idea...at the end of the D.C. Chronicles, ...and they will end someday...I will offer a prize for the first person to respond with the correct count of how many times the guidebook is visible in Tim's hand. I'm curious to know myself.

3 comments:

Chris said...

They don't know it now, but someday they will really appreciate this trip...

TR11s said...

Ok, I counted nine photos with Tim holding the book. Some are variations of the same shot, such as the eyes closed, eyes with sunglasses series, and one shot shows "something" in his hand which I can only surmise is the book. I'd like to claim more, because I know the book is there, but it isn't actually pictured, so I suppose those don't count. Anyway, if I win the prize, I'd like a morning visit in your kitchen with a yummy homemade latte. I know, I'm easy, but that's why you love me, right?
By the way, you're really funny. Joe and I laughed all the way through your chronicles.

Suzanne said...

It's only funny to you, Lisa, because you know firsthand the circus in which I live! You jumped the gun, though, with the guidebook guess! I still have two days to go!