Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio then Dallas Texas

Heather and Craig were celebrating their 10th anniversary and decided to go on a cruise.  So, we were asked to babysit.  Of course we said yea, even though we were in Washington D.C. on our way to Maine.  Now, only the truly dog people will understand this but, we had to find a good place to leave Pralines.  This was over 4th of July weekend too.  I called my niece in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, only a short 5 hour drive from where we were in our motor home.  Her husband Mike and she graciously agreed to babysit Pralines.  So we left our motor home in the D.C. area, drove to Ohio.  Dropped Pralines then flew out of Cleveland to Texas to babysit.

We arrived in Texas on Thursday and the kids were leaving till Saturday morning, which gave us a few days to get the routine down.

It was hot!! So the kids went swimming.

Claire was in charge of the hose.

Claire played with her cousin Miles.  Miles is 3 weeks older than Claire.  Claire is our petite little one.

Grandma Charlene sent the kids gift cards to Target, so we went shopping.

Addie got a mermaid Barbie.

Claire got a pink singing ball. (Very annoying.)

Asher got a swim mask and snorkel, but I didn't have a picture. So here he is eating.  Which he did most of the time we were there.

We made it to church, all of us looking pretty good.

We went to the playground at the Galleria.

I can modestly say that our grandchildren were the LOUDEST children at the playground.

We colored.

Made Dodad a handmade birthday card.

Uncle Scottie brought Asher birthday present. 20 hot wheels.  We had 16 left when Heather and Craig got home which I thought was remarkable.

We had ice cream for dinner one night and pie another.

On the third of July, Dodad and Kiki, Craig's parents, picked the kids and took them to the Lake house for the weekend.  Our babysitting time was over with the grandkids.  We did still have our granddogs.

Dodad taking the kids to the 4th of July parade.

*  Disclaimer: Both grandparents loved babysitting, but we agreed 4 days was our maximum.  And we needed help.  We had Iris, the nanny on Monday and Miranda, the babysitter, the rest of the time except of Tuesday when we were completely on our own. Kiki and Dodad had their two nieces and other family members.

Busboy and Poets and a stop to make Addie happy.

Our nephew had moved to Washington D. C. to finish his teaching credential and a masters program in ESL.  He was married in February and we were unable to make it, so we made a point to meet up with Allen and Carol one afternoon.

They suggested Busboys and Poets for lunch.  A great choice. Why the name? The name Busboys and Poets refers to American poet Langston Hughes, who worked as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel in the 1920's prior to gaining recognition as a poet.

Besides lunch they hold poetry readings and their restaurant is full of art.

A diverse crowd made for a most enjoyable lunch.  Unfortunately, I was so caught up in conversation with Allen and Carol, I failed to get their picture.

On the way home, I spoke to Heather and she said if we were close that Addie's favorite TV show was D.C. Cupcakes.  It would thrill her if we picked her up a T-shirt.  So of course we went.

We were told we would have to wait in line, maybe hours.

We only waited a few minutes. Just enough time to make our selection.

Could just buy a T-shirt.  Had to have a sample to see what all the fuss was about.

Two cupcakes and 

a T-shirt to go.

What we do for our grandchildren.  Love you Addie.

Natural History Museum and the National Art Museum

Our time in Washington was running out, so Bob and I divided up.  I went to the National Art Museum and he headed to the Natural History Museum.

He saw....

Dinosaurs !!

And life sizes animals.

Gems.

And butterflies.

I walked through the sculpture museum.

On to the entrance of National Museum of Art.

I saw an exhibit on Serge Diaghilev, he was a promoter of ballets in Europe.  He talked Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Coco Channel and others to design costumes and backdrops for the ballets.
No pictures allowed but it was an amazing exhibit.

Even the cafe had a beautiful wall of water.

We ended our afternoon having lunch at the cafe in the Sculpture Museum.

Old Post Office

We got off the metro in front of the Old Post Office. We planned on taking a ranger talk about the Old Post Office, because we were sure we had never been there before.  We waited outside for the ranger.  When he didn't show, we reread the sign that said we were to met the ranger inside on the second floor.  As we entered the building we discovered that, Oh yea, we'd been here before, but it was worth a second visit.

Outside.

Inside.

View of Washington from the top.

Looking out toward the capital.

Looking out toward Washington's Monument that is being repaired.

The other two directions.

And since, I am directionally challenged, I won't tell you what directions.

National Museum of American History

Last time we were in Washington the American History Museum was being remodeled.  We enjoyed our visit this year.

We saw Julia Child's kitchen and Emeril's chef jacket.

We viewed transportation from the past.

We saw the first ladies dresses.

Other things we saw:

Clinton's saxophone.

Eisenhower's Uniform.

A snippet of the American Flag.

Presidential China.

And much, much more.