A lovely spring Saturday in DC

Today was an amazing spring day here in DC. One of those days where you just want to lay down in the green grass, close your eyes and drift away. . .

Except that you've got two kids, one of whom wants to run into the street while the other is trying to put that lovely green grass (it has rained a lot here lately) in his mouth.

We had a fun day bopping around various places in DC. Our day started with a trip to the river to watch the dragon boats that were supposed to be racing on the Potomac. Not a dragon boat in sight when we arrived since it appears that the event has been rescheduled since the river is running too high (again, a lot of rain).

After meandering down the riverside, we headed up to the annual Greek Festival, an event that we stumbled on a few years ago and found to be fun. Our review this year: No so fun. The lines were too long and the food was too expensive ($9 for a gyro?!?!). And the crowd wasn't as raucous as we remembered, likely because the festival had its beer and wine license revoked after too many raucous festival-goers attended in the past.

The festival was held on Massachusetts Ave. up by the National Cathedral, about 15 blocks north of our house. We decided that we might as well stop by the Cathedral since we were in the neighborhood. The National Cathedral is the only hardcore gothic cathedral that's been built in, ummmm, the last millenium? Hurrah U.S.A., way to show some imagination and creativity!

This was our second visit to the National Cathedral in as many weeks. Last week, we went to watch some crazy Swiss guy project images on the Cathedral (see here or here). The concept was pretty cool, but the kids weren't able to wait until it's completely dark to see lights on the Cathedral. Instead, Teddy conked out pretty early while Margaret fell asleep just as the show started. She did, however, enjoy the musical shows that preceeded the lights: after watching the Silk Road Dance Company, Margaret twirled and waved her hands.

Today, we wandered through the Cathedral. And it was, I have to admit, pretty cool. You got the same sense of size and grandeur that you get in European cathedrals and, just as in other churches, you chase your daughter around trying to shush her. But the best part involved wandering the grounds around the Cathedral. We kept discovering spots that were incredibly peaceful and uncrowded. Such as a little garden behind the Cathedral where we perched in chairs for a while and a sublime greenhouse that was right out of a Martha Stewart magazine.

We ended up in another garden where we all sprawled on the grass and doodled in our own particular ways: Teddy trying to eat grass, Margaret munching on Teddie's finger foods, Papa trying to get some good pictures, and Mama trying (mostly without success) to get Margaret and/or Teddy to pose for Papa's pictures. In the end, as I told Abby, it was a worthwhile way to spend the day. I've been to the Cathedral before, but haven't really explored it. And when I read some of the comments in the Cathedral's guest book (e.g., "A lifelong dream to visit"), I realized that, having travelled only 15 or so blocks to get there, we're pretty darn lucky. And spoiled.