Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Edwards Family Goes To Washington

This past weekend, we were lucky to have the chance to take our kids to Washington DC for the very first time. We did a TON of stuff in just a few days: White House Tour; Captol Tour; Air & Space Museum; Natural History Museum; National Book Fair on The Mall; Several of the Monuments by moonlight; The National Archives. It was all pretty awesome.

There were a few moments that stood out for me, though.

When we were in the Museum of Natural History, we stopped in a Physical Anthropolgy exhibit. It had all sorts of skeletons on display, and featured a hands-on lab for the kids. Each station in the lab had a few skeletal items (mandibles, vertebrae, etc,) Then each one had a CSI-like tablet where there was a "mystery"...did this bone suffer trauma? What caused the strange growth? Was the injury pre or post mortem?

Karlin was happily and intensely working at a station, examining the parts and trying to solve the mystery. The Education staff member came over and welcomed her, and said "We encourage you to touch everything, but please be gentle, as these are real human bones." Karlin was still for a half-beat, then dropped those bones like they had been on fire. She was appalled that they were isung REAL HUMAN BONES. Only the promise of large amounts of hand sanitizer would convince her to re-engage.

We stopped at the relatively new WWII Memorial. If you haven't been, it's beautiful and moving and touching. There is a wall along the backside that has 1 gold star for every American killed in the war. In front of that wall, someone had left 2 perfect white roses. I found Karlin standing there, looking at the roses. She looked at me and said "Look - someone left these roses here." And I said "Yes - they probably left them for someone who died in the war." She looked back at the wall and said "But..that's so sad. All those people died and it's so sad. I just feel like I should leave something too, for all those people." She was actually teary-eyed, which got me crying too. I explained that yes - it WAS sad. And the point of the memorial was not only to honor and remember the people who fought and died, but also to serve as a reminder that the war had happened, and why. I was awed and moved by the fact that her 10 year old brain was so touched by that Monument.

On our last day, we were catching the Metro train for the final time. We had been using it for 3 days, and although it was the kid's first time on public transportation, they got the hang of it pretty quick. If you've never ridden it, you basically have to decide which color line you're on, and then you determine which direction based on where the final stop is. On that last day, we walked in and I said "we're on yellow again." Bart said "Which direction?" Chase, without missing a beat, slid his fare pass in, walked through the gate, and said "Yellow to Fort Tottum, Dad." After 3 days, the kid was a Metro Pro.

On our first day back, several of the neighborhood kids came over after school. I let them in the hallway, and they asked what we had seen. Before I could answer, Chase appeared at the top of the stairs and yelled "We saw the Declaration of Independance!" Well, we did - it was true. But it was NOT the first thing I thought the 7 year old would mention. I thought for sure he would bring up the 3-story rockets in the Space Museum, or the giant Mammoth in the Natural History Museum, or the giant Abe Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial. But no - he told them about the Declaration of Independance. We went through the Rotunda at the Archives, and saw the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independance, and the Bill of Rights. I KNOW Chase didn't fully grasp what we were looking at or why, but he was quiet and well behaved and respectful just the same. I tried to give him a quick-and-dirty rundown of what those papers meant, and of how old they were. It amazes me that he actually took something away from that experience.

Children are amazing creatures. It never ceases to amaze me the things they see, the way they respond to thing, and the things that stick with them.

And today - 3 days later - Karlin asked me what the difference is between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. We may have to go back to Washington soon...