DC and a cute boy

The Natural History Museum had the Windland Smith Rice International Awards Exposition of  Nature’s Best Photography.  The photos, taken primarily by professionals, were enlarged and printed on Epson’s best paper.  This made fur and feathers seem as if you could feel them.  Jerry was in awe.

We stopped by to see the orchid exhibit as a follow-up to our tour of the Botanical Gardens.

 

Then we went to our favorite DC museum, the Renwick.  It is located in an old three-story home.  Much of its appeal is the size, big enough to have an outstanding collection of  American arts and crafts and small enough to not overwhelm and exhaust visitors.  These pieces captured our interest on this trip

by Sebastian Martorana, “Inpressions,” a marble pillow that looks so comfortable

a grandfather clock that appears to be covered with a cloth but is actually carved from a single piece of wood

But the best “art” of all are our pictures reminding us of the wonderful time we had with Bennett.

Modeling a new sweater and cap knit by friend Donna

 
Being adorable

Ben in DC Part II

Raising children today means so many wonderful activities to enjoy, especially in a large metropolis.  Sunday was a wonderfully full but bitter cold day.

We started with story hour at the Jewish Community Center.  An excellent woman led parents and infants in a song session using a parachute as the rhythm instrument.  The children/parents raised and lowered the chute in accordance with the words and beat to children’s songs like If You’re Happy and You Know It.  The children are aged 2 months to 2 years and performed appropriately.   Ben was fascinated by the whole thing.

Next it was down the elevator for preschool swim time where the instructors made games of blowing bubbles, kicking, floating and playing around.  This was even more fun for Ben who is a real water baby.

Then it was off to Baltimore for friends and family.  We met cousins Barbara and Bob and friends Jean and Ron at Nick’s for delicious crab cakes, gumbo, shrimp, typical Maryland dishes.

Well sated, we went to the Jewish Museum to see an exhibit on the early comic book creators, many of whom were Jewish.  The memorabilia filled the memories of the men and women who grew up in the thirties and forties relishing the super-heros.  Cheryl, our expert, was not pleased with the label copy for the exhibits and was itching to improve it.  Ben was rather blase until he got to ride in the mini Batmobile.  He proved himself an excellent driver to the delight of all the photographers in our group.




The second exhibit in the museum was of the development of the early Jewish neighborhoods.  This very good exhibit echoes the story repeated in cities across the country, every member of the family working, Jewish children playing with the Italian, Irish and black children who shared the streets.  The requisite candlesticks and  potato masher, tailor shop and delicatessen were scattered throughout the rooms.  Quotations from early residents described the good and bad of these poor neighborhoods. Of amusement were things like the carp floating in the bathtub awaiting being chopped up for gefilte fish (translation available upon request).

We all loved sharing a wonderful and full day.

Across the Continent for Ben-time

Our latest adventure was a trip to Washington, DC for some grandparent time.  Jerry bought Bennett a set of tools and we found that he enjoyed the taste of his new saw.

On Wednesday, after lots of hugs and kisses for Bennett, we enjoyed a lovely, and relatively warm, day in DC.  Cheryl always has wonderful suggestions for places to go and things to do.  Every Wednesday, at noon, the Shakespeare Theater has free performances.  We laughed at an hour-long performance by the Clown Cabaret.  Not normally fond of slapstick, we found their Shakepearean-pun-filled performance most enjoyable.

After the show, we walked over to the American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery for an exhibit of Matthew Brady’s photographs of the Civil War.  Brady’s pictures brought the reality of war into homes on both sides of the conflict.  An additional exhibit on painting during that time was also excellent.

The next day was our day to spend with Ben.  We took the Metro to the Botanical Garden for a “Snugglers”* tour. 

This tour was on plants and their pollinators.  Dave the entomologist would have loved it.  Ben slept most of the time but we enjoyed it.

*Children three and under carried in back packs or baby bjorn.

It was Valentine’s Day and our gift was spending the evening with a loving boy while his parents had a date night.

The next day was Cheryl’s birthday which we celebrated with a trip to his and Zaidy’s favorite store, Costco.  Last year we discovered a wonderful restaurant in Silver Springs, MD so we returned there for a birthday dinner.  Society was even better the second time.  The steak, lamb and crabs were delicious.  Cheryl ordered an appetizer of fried Mac and Cheese. 

 The birthday bread pudding was fabulous and enough for four people to share.  And the service there was excellent.  We will be back and maybe next time Ben will be awake to join in.