More Fun with the Smiths

Sophia really appreciates her home and family, and we have pretty much stuck to that during the day.  On Tuesday, July 5, we went to Marion Park ( just across the street) for a sketching session and to play in the playground.  I started what I thought would be a nice sketch, but overworked it.  We bagged that and went to "Good Stuff" for lunch.  They have great milkshakes, but were out of chocolate--my favorite.  We ordered malted milk, but also got a free strawberry shake because of an order mixup.  After that, we spent time at home doing puzzles and playing Candyland.  We also had some art sessions. Sophia really loves those.  I just love her sunflower painting.

It was a Tuesday...so, of course, we had dinner at Mr. Henry's.  It's getting to be even more fun for me as I meet more people. 

Wednesday, Peter went to work early and Louisa worked from home, so I walked Griffin to soccer camp.  Coach David is great, and I watched the guys warm up: 

They work hard and won a tournament match they had later in the week.

Later that day, Sophia, Griffin and his friend Griffeth set up a lemonade stand and made some pretty good money.  They also gave away outgrown clothes and used donations they got from that for an animal rescue fund.  Here's how the lemonade stand looked:

Sophia and I are both fans of gelato.   There are two main reasons.  One is that gelato is ice cream and is cold and creamy and delicious.  The other is that we like to discuss Italian things, and we know that Italians call ice cream gelato.  So on Thursday (July 7) we went to a new gelato place.  I had dark chocolate and Sophia had banana.  I tested both and they were great.   Something went wrong with my pictures, though.  Trust me, we had happy faces.

In the late afternoon, we went to the Folk Life Festival at the Smithsonian.  Actually, they hold it on the Capitol Mall.  I was very impressed.  It really is TOPS.  The themes this year were Columbian Culture, Rhythm and Blues, and the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps.  I spent most of my time at the "Motor City Stage," where there was great R&B.  Here's a picture of the kids enjoying it:

We also played drums and games in the Columbian village setup and had great food.  The Folk Life Festival happens every year in early July, and has different themes each year.  In addition, it was close to the carousel, so here's a picture of me and Sophia on the carousel:

On Friday, Louisa came home at lunchtime and took Sophia and me to a great neighborhood place called Zest.  I had a smoked turkey sandwich that may have been the best turkey sandwich I have ever had.  It was amazing.  We planned on going to either the Folk Life Festival or Yards Park Friday evening, but we had some pretty bad storms come through....so just took it easy at home.

I went to my sketching class on Saturday morning, which was at the New York Trapeze School.  It isn't in New York, but actually near Yards Park.  That was amazing, too.  I had trouble getting good sketches because it was so interesting....and the trapeze students moved so fast!

After that, I went to the National Gallery of Art and saw a show assembled from the Chester Dale collection.  What an amazing collector he was...with the help of his wife.  Picasso, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Casset, Dali, Matisse, Degas, etc.  And it is first class work!  I was most impressed with Modigliani.  I must have seen originals before, but the ones in this show had amazing skin tones.....the figures seemed to glow.  Mr. Dale bought at a time when prices weren't as high as they are now, but he set a record when he bought Manet's The Old Musician in 1930.  His gifts to the National Gallery have definitely contributed to making the National Gallery the institution it is today.   I had a great Italian buffet lunch.  Just like being in Bologna!  Later, I had a great Italian dinner with Louisa and Chantel.  An excellent culinary day.

Sunday we went to the Torpedo Factory, and that was fun.  We saw a great guy playing music on the plaza there, and he asked Sophia to be in his band.  She played marimba.  I didn't get any good pictures of that, but here's her band leader:

Still having fun....more to see and do.

4th of July Weekend

Sunday we went to the Zoo!!!! It was a HUGE treat to see orangatans using what is called the O-line--the big Os are the only ones who use it.  They can go from The Ape House to what is called The Think Tank.  They actually travel directly overhead, but can't get down.  They are not caged at all while on the O-line.  It's very ingenious--a word for the day.  We then saw them at the Think Tank where they are intellectually challenged--to find treats, to play with a blanket and work out problems, and to work on picture identification and sequencing.  All very interesting, and too complex to summarize here.

We came home and I had a surprise.  My birthday was last month, but I never got my favorite treat--ice cream cake.  When we came back from the zoo, I was surprised with a birthday ice cream cake.  And we got a picture of us all with it--Louisa's friend Danielle took the picture.

Monday--the holiday--time for a neighborhood parade, and Griffin held the banner for Brent Elementary School:

Then, a ballgame in the afternoon.  The Nationals won in extra innings with what Peter called a "manufactured run."  Jason Werth, a crowd favorite, started with a walk, then moved by a sacrifice bunt to second, stole third, and came home on a passed ball (or it might have been a wild pitch).  Whatever, it was a WIN!!!!  Here we are at the park and I'm chomping on a bratwurst with Griffin by my side.  It was another free hat day, which is why we have matching hats.  It doesn't get any better than this.







Happy Independence Day from Washington DC....Liberty and Justice for All!!!!

My apartment

I have an apartment here, which is nice....a little separation from the family.  I am so used to being alone that I find I kind of need that.  It is in the basement of Smith family house, so it is very convenient.   Here's a picture of the very contemporary kitchen:

It is comfortable, but we constantly work to make it better. I noticed that there was NO ART on the walls.  I found that Griffin and Sophia had both brought home "portfolios" of their art work from the last school year.  I raided it, and so here is an impromtu PLUM GALLERY EAST show:

"Caterpiller to Butterfly" Sophia Smith

"Masque" Griffin Smith 

"Shapes and Colors" Sophia Smith

"Seahorse" Sophia Smith

I also want to point out the alternate name of this gallery.  It is "Lulu's Famous E Street Gallery."  Lulu is Sophia's very sophisticated Madame Alexander doll and we are on E St.  Yes, there are more art works from Sophia than from Griffin in this show.  He doesn't do as much art as he used to.  He is seven and more into sports.

National Museum of Art

One of my favorite places in Washington DC is the National Gallery of Art.  It is on the Capitol Mall, like the Smithsonian Museums, but is not part of the Smithsonian.  There are two Buildings, East and West, with a fountain in between.  One of my favorite things is shown in the picture above--it's a moving walkway between the two buildings with twinkly lights that randomly change.  The National Gallery of Art also includes a Sculpture Garden that has a large round fountain that becomes an ice-skating rink in Winter.  I went on Wednesday afternoon, when I had an afternoon off from being with Sophia.  I was able to visit the gift shops,and saw a couple of great exhibits.  Also hung out in the Sculpture Garden, where I might return tonight.  They have a jazz concert every Friday night.

On Thursday, Sophia and I did a neighborhood walk and sketched at a local park.  Sophia drew a picture of her family:

She's the one with the long hair in the bottom left.  She is a real homebody and loves her family.

Just for fun, the artist posed with the drawing:

If It's Tuesday Night, We Must Be At Mr. Henry's

Last night was Tuesday....so we went to Mr. Henry's. When I mentioned Mr.Henry's last week, I got requests for how the kids look in their chairs.  So this is it!   I forgot to say that the other good thing about Mr. Henry's on Tuesday is that margaritas are $4. 

Other than that, Tuesday was a quiet day.  We went to Capitol Hill Arts Workshop to pay for two more sketching sessions for me with DC Sketchers, but we mostly just hung out at home.

On Monday, we went to the Museum of the American Indian, another Smithsonian Museum.  It was fun.  We saw a lot of small beautiful statues of animals and people, some of which were very old.  We also saw a movie.  The building itself is a pretty amazing sculpture.

Yards Park

The old Navy Yards are pretty near our Capitol Hill neighborhood.  The Yards have been turned into a community area with water play features for kids, a nice deck overlooking the Anacostia River, and a concert area with the river as background...it's sort of like Portland.  There's also a large covered area for events and grassy fields for play.  I took the picture above from the deck area and it shows how close the Park is to another favorite attraction---Nationals Stadium!  The baseball stadium is right there next door!

We went on Friday night.  There is a band every Friday night, with beer and wine sangria and other good stuff to eat, and a happy TGIF attitude in the air.  Louisa and I sat on the deck with Sophia while waiting for Griffin and Peter.  Here's my shot of Louisa:

Later, Louisa and Peter danced to a great band, with lots of "oldies.":

We had fun, and so we went again on Saturday for a community event that included free food, soda, and snocones.  There were toys for the kids, such as the one Griffin is playing with below.  You soak it in water and it splashes when you throw it.  Sophia is sitting on a kind of lily pad that is permanently installed.   The kids had a lot of fun playing in the water:

Good times at Yards Park.  Lots of pictures here.  I will want to know if there are too many and it slows things up. 

Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday

Things are getting a little busy, and now there's no time to post every day.

On Tuesday, Sophia and I had a little neighborhood outing with a trip to the post office to mail some paintings to Auntie Jen in California.  Then, we had a Metro ride to Harris Teeter, the local supermarket.  It was fun.  When you'r just almost four...everything is interesting and worth talking about.  Sophia loves to learn things, so we always have a topic of conversation.  Louisa picked us up and drove us home.  We had too much to carry on Metro. 

Griffin and his friends came home from the Tae Kwon Do Day Camp and hung out with us until it was time to go to Mr. Henry's for dinner.  Every Tuesday night is Kid's night at Mr. Henry's and lots of other families in the neighborhood participate.  A good time was had by all.  The kids watch a movie with kid-sized chairs lined up in for them in what would have been an upstairs bar area. The grownups get to talk with each other and catch up on neighborhood doings.

Wednesday was another Metro trip--this time to the Museum of Natural History, where we saw dinosaurs, the Hope Diamond, a reef with some fish that look like Nemo, lots of animals, and a live butterfly garden.  Here's Sophia in the garden:

We were pretty hungry by then and had some great crab soup and a not-so-great cheese sandwich in the museum cafe.  Before heading home on Metro, we had to catch a ride on the carousel.  Sophia had a beautiful blue horse.  After we were home, Griffin and his friends had a birthday celebration for his friend Jeremiah at Starbuck's and they invited Sophia.  Then, Sophia and Griffin had a play date with some other friends while the adults had a "grown-ups" only dinner at Ba Bay on Pennsylvania Ave.  I had chicken with lemon grass rice.  It was the best rice I have ever had.  I shared some with others at the table and everyone agreed!   Louisa's friend Chantel joined us for the dinner.  She and I stayed late while everyone else went home.  We had a great visit.

Thursday was supposed to be a trip by Circulator bus to the American Indian Museum.  Sophia and I got on the wrong bus, though, and had a bus driver who wasn't too helpful.  I need to do a little more on-line research.  We made the most of it, though, and went back and hung out in the neighborhood.  We had a quesadilla lunch at a Salvadoran restaurant on 8th St called "Las Placitas."  Then we came home to catch a favorite tv program, "Angelina Ballerina," and took it easy for the rest of the day.  Sophia has been taking ballet and really identifies with Angelina, who is a beautiful little mouse in a pink tutu, tights and ballet slippers.  What's not to love about that?