The Other Side of the Tidal Basin

We've lived in DC for six years now and have never ventured to the far side of the tidal basin. It's a long walk... and the only thing that is REALLY over there is the FDR memorial.

But, with the grand opening on the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial last spring, we decided we should finally put on our walking shoes and take the hike out to see both memorials.

First we saw the George Mason Memorial. No pictures there. It was a bit of a neglected memorial. The fountains were off, and the crowds just passed it by. That said, it was still really interesting. But, the only other person there was smoking (despite the large NO SMOKING signs.... poor George Mason, no respect). Adelaide insisted on making tortured, it-is-so-stinky faces the whole time, so we moved on quickly.

The FDR memorial was a walking time-line of his presidency with quotes on granite walls, large statues of forgotten men in food lines and turbulent waterfalls that the park ranger indicated were highlighly symbolic. 

Symbolic or not, Adelaide thought the 

waterfalls were too loud.

Eleanor meet Eleanor.

Little known fact, Eleanor Roosevelt

was the starting center for the Harlem

Globetrotters in her day.

The kids liked Fala more than 

the statue of his master. I assume

my children aren't the first to try to ride

the giant Scottish Terrier... 

Adelaide has a book about Jane Goodall,

and evidently she liked to climb trees as a kid.

So, we let her climb this tree, as she really wanted 

to be just like Jane - a pretty decent role model, right?

 We did not see the "Do not climb this 80 year old cork tree"

sign until AFTER they got down. Guilt-tripping...

Finally, on to the newest national monument in DC - the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Somehow, they managed to mis-represent one of his quotes (seriously, you carve that in stone?) . So, it was under scaffolding while workers ground the mistake out.

But, the monument was a beautiful tribute. The statue overlooks the tidal basin with a view of the Jefferson Memorial. There are quotes from his most famous speeches on a wall of stone and many benches for reflecting. 

Looking into the future... 

Pretty nice view!

So, after we visited the monuments, we thought we were done for the day. I mean, Matt had been traveling for meetings most of the week while Melinda played the role of sick mom taking care of sick kids. Time for a restful afternoon, yes? NO!

After nap time, the kids begged to go back out. Adelaide wanted to go to the Zoo, but we decided to keep it closer to home and went to the splash pad near Target. After splashing, we walked the center and got the free popcorn at Mom's Organic Market. 

Splishing and Spalshing 

Karate Kickin' 

Funny "space age" chairs! 

These weren't as comfortable as

one would think. But, they were fun.

On Monday, Eleanor started in the toddler room at Adelaide's school. Adelaide was so proud of her. Eleanor has mixed feelings about being dropped off by Mom, but digs the playground and walks to the pond every day.

They are getting so big!