Washington DC

Granddaughter Peyton and her Washington State team won the chance to compete nationally in a program called, "Future Cities".  She and her team designed a model city of the future that would meet the needs of people of all ages and also be efficient and have a positive impact on the environment.  So, over President's Day, they had the chance to travel to Washington DC to compete with teams from many other states as well as China and Canada.  There were 45 teams in all.

Here is Peyton (on the left) and her team of three, with their teacher on the right.

Daughter Jessica went along too, and invited me to join them.  It sounded fun, but I worried a little about traveling alone all across the country.  Most of my travels in recent times involved Layne as well as me.  Its strange how easily I fall into a nervous state when I haven't done something for awhile.  Layne encouraged me to go.  So, last Saturday, in spite of feeling a little nervous, I flew to Washington DC, to meet up with them in their hotel, just a couple of blocks from the Capitol.  I packed light and went standby.  The trip there went perfectly, and I found Jessica at the hotel, in the midst of one of the Future City activities.  It was all so easy and so pleasant.

Here's Jessica and Peyton, in the hotel lobby.

I shared Jessica's room.  When there weren't any Future City activities we were involved with,  Jess and I walked all over the area surrounding the Capitol, visiting galleries and museums.  They were all free!  There were so many wonderful sights, all within close proximity.  Jessica is quite a walker.  I had to work to keep up with her! 

Our favorite place was the Library of Congress.  It was amazing.  Here you see Jessica standing by the balcony that overlooks the main floor.  The architecture was breathtaking and inspiring.  We were awed by it and had a hard time moving on to other places.  But we did move on, taking in all sorts of other sights, over the few days that we were there.

 We circled the Capitol.  Because of the weekend and holiday, the government buildings were closed.  But we were free to walk among them as we wished.  Here's Jessica in front of the Capitol.

Here we are in front of the Lincoln Memorial.  We wandered through other sights as well, some of which were provided by a Future City bus tour.

The Korean War Monument was eye catching and a tender reminder of the price of war.

Here I am in front of part of the Viet Nam War Monument, which lists the names of those killed.  It is very sobering to see.  It has a special meaning to me since Layne was there for a year during the war.

The weather was cool but pleasant most of the time we were there.  But on our last day, Tuesday, it took a turn towards warm, reaching temperatures in the 70s!  I was amazed.  I expected it to be snowy and cold.  What a surprise!  On Tuesday we attended the awards ceremony for Future City.  It was held in one of the ballrooms in the Hotel (Regency).  There was a stage, dramatic lighting and two big screens to offer a better view of the events of the evening to the audience.  

Here is a view of the stage, before the teams entered and filled the seats in front of us.  The competition was fierce; the teams came up with some pretty sophisticated ideas and city models. We watched as the winning teams were chosen.  Peyton's team was not one of them.  But the whole event was fun and beneficial for the kids participating, whether they won top honors or not.  The awards were presented by the sponsoring corporations.  It was impressive.  A huge party for the kids followed, complete with food, face painting, artists drawing portraits, and dancing.  It was loud, crowded and, for the kids, fun.

In the meantime, Jessica and I took our last walk through the National Mall, enjoying the warm evening and the lighted sights.

It was a wonderful time.  We all flew home Wednesday morning.  My standby flights both had room for me, bringing me home by early afternoon.  I left the warm temperatures of Washington and was received by Boise temperatures in the teens!  Wow, what a contrast.  The people we met and the sights we saw in DC were all a sweet experience.  I so enjoyed spending time with Jessica and having the chance to enjoy activities and conversations.  Once again, I've been blessed.

Gerald and Frances are here visiting.  I love having them here!  They are reconnecting with their kids and Gerald is spending quite a bit of time helping Seth with his online studies.  Gerald is a clear, deep thinker, with dreams and plans to offer his children the best opportunities for happy successful lives.  I admire his vision.  Frances is a lovely girl.  She insists on cooking our dinners and puts out the most delicious Chinese meals.  

After a relatively warm and snow-less winter, it snowed today.  Seth and Gerald spent the last of the day's light building a snow creature and dissolving into a snowball fight.  Can you tell which guy is which?  Just in case you can't Seth is in the foreground, Gerald behind him.

Before my DC trip, we lost one of our kitties.  We've had Audrey's two sister cats for as long as we have been here.  The calico took sick last week.  She struggled to walk, but somehow managed to drag herself to an unknown location, perhaps to die.  We searched and searched for her, but could not find her.  She is gone.  We are all feeling the loss of her.

Planning

It has been pretty quiet around here since I returned home.  The kids are used to me "cracking the whip" with them again.  I have been so worried about "parenting" them right but I'm beginning to relax.  It is an imperfect world after all and that applies to me and that's OK.  Isn't it?  The kids are good and happy to be involved in our world.  They like family time and seem to be pretty uninterested in doing much in the way of activities with friends outside of school.  I'm thinking that will change with a little more time. 

I believe I mentioned that Layne bought me a new stove top for my birthday.  It is installed, and I love it!  He did several other sweet things for me while I was in California.  When I am gone, he seems to get inspired about doing unexpected things that he thinks I will like.  And I do! 

Layne has introduced the idea of getting our house painted this summer.  So my mind is alive with ideas for colors.  I've scoured the neighborhood, looking for inspiration.  I've made copies of the house to color in a variety of ways for us to look at and, hopefully, decide.  I keep thinking about it.  Such possibilities!  Here's a picture of the house as it is now. 

So the coming months will bring three family weddings, and a house to paint. And no doubt a few more things that will come up along the way.  I'm feeling good, so bring it on!