Next part of my update
Man, the long weekend did not help my attempts to catch up.
SO ANYWAY, after driving down to D.C. on Wednesday (now approaching two weeks ago) we were given Thursday to do pretty much what we pleased, while my parents took my grandfather with them. We started by taking the Metro to the National Mall (Keya's first trip on the Metro!), and came out right by the Smithsonian.
Now I had a little plan all worked out, but there was a stuffed bear involved, and she had already seen the bear, which I gave to her early to throw her off the scent. The bear was residing in my bag, with the ring tucked in a little heart that it was holding. So to keep her from getting suspicious, I took care of business first thing.
We went to the gardens tucked behind the Smithsonian Castle (which is now their Visitors Center), where I had her pose for a picture. Hey look, I have to get down on one knee to take this picture, how about that? :D OK now take another picture holding this bear. OK now one more, come over here. I take back the bear and give her this bracelet to put on. It's one of those little add-a-link things that the kids can buy at the grocery where you link together letters and stuff on the bracelet. So while she is deciphering the "Marry (heart) Me" on the bracelet, I whip the ring out and have it all ready. TA-DA!
One more picture with the bear AND the bracelet AND the diamond, we are off sightseeing. I showed her the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean and Vietnam Memorials, the Capitol Building (just the outside, sadly)... it was all pretty good. Of course, after Lincoln she had to use the restroom and I wasn't sure where to find public facilities (I lost my D.C. map not once, but twice). So we crossed the street to try the National Academy of Sciences. They wouldn't let her in without a photo I.D. We bypassed the IRS building State Department building for obvious reasons, and just kept walking until we could find a place. We ended up walking past blocks of federal buildings, had no luck at George Washington University, and finally found a pizzeria at least a mile away from the Mall.
Well after walking way back there (we found the Red Cross Museum along the way), we stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, at her request. The food as always was tasty but the server, Adam, was the slowest man on earth. This isn't even a matter of perspective either, we were literally waiting around for like 15 and 20 minutes at a stretch, during a slow part of the day. The entire lunch process took TWO HOURS, which killed our tour of the Capitol Building, or the U.S. Botanic Gardens, or the Smithsonian, or perhaps even more than one.
Still, given that we only had one day, and you could spend a week in D.C. and not see everything, I think we did pretty well. And Keya got her first look at our nation's capitol. Oh, and a ring, too, I guess. :D
SO ANYWAY, after driving down to D.C. on Wednesday (now approaching two weeks ago) we were given Thursday to do pretty much what we pleased, while my parents took my grandfather with them. We started by taking the Metro to the National Mall (Keya's first trip on the Metro!), and came out right by the Smithsonian.
Now I had a little plan all worked out, but there was a stuffed bear involved, and she had already seen the bear, which I gave to her early to throw her off the scent. The bear was residing in my bag, with the ring tucked in a little heart that it was holding. So to keep her from getting suspicious, I took care of business first thing.
We went to the gardens tucked behind the Smithsonian Castle (which is now their Visitors Center), where I had her pose for a picture. Hey look, I have to get down on one knee to take this picture, how about that? :D OK now take another picture holding this bear. OK now one more, come over here. I take back the bear and give her this bracelet to put on. It's one of those little add-a-link things that the kids can buy at the grocery where you link together letters and stuff on the bracelet. So while she is deciphering the "Marry (heart) Me" on the bracelet, I whip the ring out and have it all ready. TA-DA!
One more picture with the bear AND the bracelet AND the diamond, we are off sightseeing. I showed her the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean and Vietnam Memorials, the Capitol Building (just the outside, sadly)... it was all pretty good. Of course, after Lincoln she had to use the restroom and I wasn't sure where to find public facilities (I lost my D.C. map not once, but twice). So we crossed the street to try the National Academy of Sciences. They wouldn't let her in without a photo I.D. We bypassed the IRS building State Department building for obvious reasons, and just kept walking until we could find a place. We ended up walking past blocks of federal buildings, had no luck at George Washington University, and finally found a pizzeria at least a mile away from the Mall.
Well after walking way back there (we found the Red Cross Museum along the way), we stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, at her request. The food as always was tasty but the server, Adam, was the slowest man on earth. This isn't even a matter of perspective either, we were literally waiting around for like 15 and 20 minutes at a stretch, during a slow part of the day. The entire lunch process took TWO HOURS, which killed our tour of the Capitol Building, or the U.S. Botanic Gardens, or the Smithsonian, or perhaps even more than one.
Still, given that we only had one day, and you could spend a week in D.C. and not see everything, I think we did pretty well. And Keya got her first look at our nation's capitol. Oh, and a ring, too, I guess. :D