DC 2018, part one

 We kicked off the summertime with a home-and-home series with Claire and Peter's family and also Colleen. 

Brooke gave a lesson in acrylic paint 

Then the following week Dad and the older girls traveled to DC 

We braved the heat to tour the tidal basin. Nice to meet you, Founding Father George Mason, the strongest abolitionist among the Virginia Fathers. 

By the time we reached the TJ Memorial, the kids were pooped 

Gummy bears to the rescue. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson invented the gummy bear? 

That's not true, but what was true was that the tidal basin offered opportunities to see some wondrous wildlife up close 

The FDR memorial is full of rock and water 

and a shout-out to the greatest First Lady of all-time 

this time in DC, it was hard not to reflect on how uninspiring our current POTUS is. Can you imagine the real DJT uttering words like this?

onto the next memorial. Remember these words?

That's one giant reverend. Just last week we saw an equally large image.
50 years ago, April 4th, shot rings out in the Memphis sky...

The Belmont Paul Women's Equality National Monument celebrates the effort in the early 20th century to ratify the 19th Amendment

Does the woman in green not look like a young Joan Ehmann?

There were fascinating 20th century artifacts, like a typewriter

and rotary telephone

Anti-suffragists created the suffrage cat parody as if to say, if we let women vote, who's next? Personally, I would let this puss vote anywhere, especially in Pennsylvania, if he could fill in the boxes next to the blue candidates

but the highlight was learning about the ratification banner, which Erin had just celebrated in her recorder class at school. Then she busted out the recorder while Caroline and Brooke sang along. The ranger captured the video and posted in to the site's Facebook page. Way to go Erin, Caroline, and Brooke!

Next we headed to the Conway-Rehding estate where the artist-in-residence gave a painting lesson

The top of the studio is very green

Our hike at the C&O canal was very hot, but good for the kids' constitutions

This was take 1 of the recorder concert. On take 2 for the Ranger and Facebook, they nailed it