Day Three: A Day of Firsts, and Our Nation's Capitol

It was not easy to get the boys to leave the Courtyard Marriott in North Olmsted, Ohio, which the boys now consider their second home. Because I have spent so little time in hotels in my adult life, it did not occur to me that a previous resident of our room may have set the alarm clock until ours went off at six AM. So the dudes and I got an early start on the day, which I never mind much. The boys each insisted on bringing a go-cup of decaf from the in-room machine along with them, although I doubt it's going to make lifelong coffee drinkers of them. We bought a half-gallon of milk at a nearby Wal-Mart and put it into our cooler filled with free hotel ice, a piece of dining cheapskatery topped only by our sitting in the rest stop this afternoon making our own peanut-butter sandwiches for lunch and pouring the milk into restaurant paper cups.

Staggeringly, we made it the entire seven-hour drive without engaging the Nintendo DSI. For once, the boys have sparked an interest in something I've tried to interest them in: the obsessive reading of maps. We hit D.C. at about 4PM, hit next to no traffic and parked in the economy lot. We still had milk left over, and rather than leave it in the car in 90-degree weather, I thought I'd schlep it to my aunt's Penn Quarter apartment on the subway along with the rest of our gear. I then forgot the milk after setting it on the ground in the Metro station to read a map. I realized this later on and hope that the discovery of my mysterious jug of liquid abandoned in the airport subway station didn't result in an emergency evacuation.

Not enough can be said about the luscious and much-needed vegetable-filled meal served to us by the world's best cook, Eileen. I will save my space for kvelling over Oscar's successful (1) taking the subway without complaint, and (2) taking the elevator to the 12th floor of Eileen's building, the first elevator he has taken in years. Photographic proof is above. An evening rooftop swim was enjoyed by all. Yes, that is the Washington Monument in the background of the swimming-pool shot. And last of all, we sloped across the street for a late-night visit to TangySweet, the DC fro-yo place. I forced the boys to stand outside Jaleo (visible in the background of our nighttime cityscape) and read the menu while we were eating our dessert. I am going to take them there. They will sit and watch me eat tapas until I burst, whether they like it or not. And if I can force some cheese-stuffed piquillo peppers into their cakeholes, so much the better.

Tomorrow: We tour the Capitol with the hopes of cornering Massachussetts congressman Scott Brown and asking him some tough questions.