Afterwards, we went for sushi in Chinatown, walked through the holiday market, and then visted Cowgirl Creamery, where we purchased some delicious pepper-encrusted cheese and salty-crackers.
   
I seriously love being in the city, especially around the holiday. I don’t know what it is. You can just feel anticipation, excitement, and warmth in everyone walking around.
   

On Saturday afternoon, we spent some time being lazy and playing bocce ball in Lincoln Park. Bowser was the only one of us working really hard at moving all the balls around after they stopped rolling, but those are the rules – even though he was pretty lopsided towards chasing all the red balls, no arguing over whatever the dog does! He was like a team of his own. When we weren’t playing bocce, we took turns lounging in the grass (and lining up the ridiculous amounts of phones/cameras/technology we had with us for a simple trip to the park).

That night, we took our 6-person bike gang down to the Capitol and then across the National Mall to see some monuments at night. Jami and Kari took their very first CaBi rides and it was pretty sweet to see everything by moonlight. We stopped at the Capitol briefly, then rode past all the Folklife Festival tents on the Mall, then around the circle of the Washington Monument, passed by the WW2 memorial, rode along the under-construction reflecting pool, stopped to see Mr. Lincoln, where we were somehow more fascinated with the light coming from the kiosk at the base, and then finally walked along the Vietnam Memorial wall. The return trip was nice too – cruising along Pennsylvania Ave in the center bike lanes around 11pm — when the temperature in July in DC is finally tolerable — it’s always a pretty exhilarating feeling. No matter how long we live in DC, I will never get tired of seeing the city at night. It’s pretty amazing.

   

   

Sunday was pretty much the perfect day. Shopping at Eastern Market in the morning, pedicures in the afternoon, and sushi boat for late lunch/early dinner. Does it get any better than spending time with family doing those things?! I think Kari definitely enjoyed her first sushi experience and was pretty much a chopstick master by the time we finished. We came home and watched the DVR-ed women’s World Cup Soccer game — still can’t believe that header that tied us up with Brazil!!! Dinner was grilled corn with Old Bay and BBQ chicken followed by a vicious game of Asshole in which Jami was president the entire time . not fair!

It was sad to see them leave this morning. These visits always fly by so fast. Can’t wait until the next one…

One of the things we enjoyed discussing was the melting pot of American culture that came together on the Mall yesterday. David remarked to me that they had already seen more people in one spot in 5 minutes than they might see in a whole month in Glenallen, Alaska (home). Though this is kind of a no-brainer comment, it was interesting to consider the types and numbers of people we all encounter in our daily lives. Kristy put it a little differently. She just started moo-ing when we got herded into line for the security checkpoint, and said something about a panic attack under her breath. Later, Uncle Sid said to me separately that he was glad our younger cousins could see such a cross-section of America in one place, different from the types of people they see at home in Maine.

And that’s what the 4th is all about. When David in his redneck hat can have a discussion on the power of God with a Swami on the National Mall, and it ends with the purchase of a book on meditation for $1, that everything great about America all rolled into one.

oh also! I have some new ink. While we were waiting for the show to begin, Esther, Morgan, and I got henna tattoos done. Mine is a peacock on my forearm, done by 11 year old Rameni, who was from Hawaii but moving to Florida soon, and who was in DC for her grandmothers 90th birthday and also to (apparently) draw henna tattoos for people on the 4th of July for the price of $5. She has 7 brothers and sisters, and drew a damn good peacock!

America = an oversized birthday cake float

   

the eagle has landed

   

OOOooooooooh

   

AAAaaaaaaaah
   

sparklers!

   

Morgan’s star, a circle, and not sure what Elek was drawing

   
not pictured: David’s redneck hat

The 4th is almost here! Bring on the family, BBQ, redwhiteandblue, and fireworks. woohoo! This morning I put flags out in the front yard, cleaned out the wheelie cooler, and got out the red velvet cupcake mix. I still need to find my stars and stripes headband if this is going to be an official celebration, but the preparations are in the works.

What are your plans?