Thank You For Smoking

So last night, after I get the girls down, I wander into the bathroom where JVL is keeping Cody company during his bath. "Are you going to the gym?" asks Jonathan?

I say, "I want to. I should. I know I should. But I'm pretty beat from today."

Because this morning, we did a long meander from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, and back, spending a good long while at the WWII Memorial. It's tied for my second-favorite, but the kids love it best, because of the numerous opportunities to dip their hands in the water when they think I'm not looking. 

As a side note, while we were there, Cody approached a very old WWII veteran being pushed in a wheelchair, shook his hand, and said, "Thank you for your service, sir." The man's eyes welled up — as did mine.

He also had a lot of questions about Lincoln's assassination, some of which I tried to gloss over. The best part was when he said, "Mom. You don't agree with President Obama very much, right?" "Not so much," I said. Then he replied, "But you would never use VIOLENCE against him like John Wilkes Booth!" "No, of course not," I assured him. "That's why we get to vote. You don't always get what you want, but you do have a right to pick the leaders you think will do the best job." It was the first of many such conversations, I expect (and hope).

Emma was also quite taken with our 16th president, as you can tell from this photobomb: "Oh! Mr. Lincoln is SO BIG! And I am so LITTLE! That was a lot of steps!"

She was also quite taken with the many, many, many baby ducks and geese we saw along Rainbow Pond and the Reflecting Pool. "Loot! Loot! (she still can't pronounce "k" sounds) It's a baby duckling! And, another baby duckling! Oh! Awww! They are so tute! Oh man! Oh no! I stepped in the duck poop!"

 

So anyway. It was a busy morning and we walked a LOT (my pedometer registered 18K steps by the time I went to bed.) So I said, "I don't know. I kind of just want to sit down and rest awhile."

Cody looks up from the shaving-cream-and-soap-and-shampoo potion he's making and says seriously, "You should go for a run, Mom. You shouldn't sit. Sitting is the new smoking."