Livingston I Presume

Tonight we had the pleasure of spending the evening at the local Country Club helping a friend celebrate her 60th birthday and retirement.

As part of the party, they had engaged the services of Livingstone Taylor (brother of the musician James Taylor and very succesful in his own right) to keep us entertained for the evening. Part of the package included a copy of Livingstone's lastest CD for each of us!

Liv was very entertaining and has a very warped sense of humour. We had a great time.

Metro

We took the Metro home again after the White House. As you can see from the photos it was rather crowded.

I've also got some short videos of the Metro arriving at both an indoor (McPherson Square) and an outdoor (King Street) stations.

The White House

This interesting memorial sits in front of the Ellipse which is the Backyard of the White House. On our way to the front of the White House, the kids found some fun with this row of poles in place to protect the White House and surrounding buildings.

This is the Eisenhower Executive Building, located west of the West Wing, and houses the Vice President's Office as well as many other important people.

And here is the front of the White House.

This is a statue of Stonewall Jackson, who died in battle in the Civil War (accidently killed by his own men). It is located across the road from the front of the White House in Lafayette Square.

Did you know that statues of men on horses have significance as far as the stance of the horse. In this case, the stance of the horse indicates that Jackson was killed in battle.

Here's what Gemma and sam have to say about the White House.

A Signature Memorial

One monument we hadn't visited yet was that dedicated to the signers of the declaration of Independence. Melinda visited this while she was here and recommended it. We wanted to escape the crowds of the Cherry Blossoms so off we went.

It is located on a little island to the east of the Reflecting Pool on the Mall. The signatures are engraved into blocks of granite arranged in a semi-circle. The kids found their favourites (Hancock, Jefferson, Franklin and Ross).

Sam and Gemma struck up a conversation with this couple and spent a bit of time explaining who each of the signers were.

Cherry Blossoms

It's that time of year again. Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC. The Cherry Blossoms were a gift from the Japanese in 1912 to Washington, to cement relations between Tokyo and Washington. It eventually turned full circle when the Japanese took some cuttings from these trees to regenerate the cherry trees back to Tokyo.

The kids and I headed into DC on the Metro (between the cherry blossoms, the National Marathon and the Nationals Opening weekend traffic was a nightmare), and emerged into the Mall which is the crowdest I've ever seen it.


Did I mention that the Smithsonian Kite Festival is also on today? As you can see, there were kites everywhere.

And so on to the Cherry Blossoms. They are primarily located around the Tidal Basin which has the Jefferson Memorial on one side. They are in full bloom today, as are the crowds.

Later today there will be a ceremonial lighting of this pagado by some women of Japanese descent.

Here's the first of the Cherry Trees that were donated and planted back in 1912.

And I did some experimenting with the depth of field settings on my camera.

All She Wants To Do I Dance

Tonight the kids had a square dance at their school. As you can see from the photos they had a great time (and Sam made a friend!)