Memorial Day in D.C.

What a lovely day. We went next door for dinner last night and stayed up late, so we slept in today! We finally got into Washington around lunchtime, so we wandered down to the Sculpture Garden for a picnic lunch and listened to the music festival nearby. Gabriel loooooved the ducks and the fountains, and he was super excited that we let him put his feet in the water. It absolutely tortured him that he couldn't get all the way in for a little swim, but a bit of yogurt and dancing distracted him enough to keep him warm and dry!

We then headed over to the National Air and Space Museum. We thought that a bunch of huge pieces of metal would totally bore Gabriel to death, but he was fascinated! He couldn't get enough of the planes and other aircraft. He pointed, yelled, sang, jumped (kind-of... his feet don't quite come off the ground yet), and danced around all the planes. Maybe he'll be a pilot? Or a plane fixer-upper? I guess we need to invest in a model airplane!

All during this time, the parade was forming up, practicing, and marching by. Gabriel especially liked the horses and drums, but any music is fine by him. Let me put it this way: we did a lot of dancing in public today!

After some museum-ing, we met up with a friend from high school (Brenda) for a nice, relaxing visit and Spanish food. Gabriel loved playing peek-a-boo, and we were very glad Brenda was patient: Gabriel was quite fussy and tired by the end of a long, fun day!

As for last night, it was great! Our neighbor had her family over and invited us to join the party. Gabriel was the center of attention, and he knew it. It was like having a little celebrity sitting in my lap! He danced, pointed out body parts, waved, smelled flowers and demanded others smell flowers, clapped, and pointed to his heart's content. By the end of the night, G had eaten a bit of everything (including some of a brownie, a pill bug, and a bit of dirt from the garden) and shared hugs and kisses and high-fives with everybody present! What a little star! He is great entertainment and seems to liven up any party!!!