Katie and Peter's Blog: Super Sunday

Last week I went to Atlanta to make sure my parents were behaving. I'm sorry to report that they are on their best behavior. It was great to spend so much time with them. I owe Nancy big time for being a solo parent for an entire week. While I was away I would video chat with Katie and Peter every day. It's remarkable to think how far consumer technology has come in the last few years. Video chatting on my phone was unthinkable just 5 years ago. The phone I had back then could barely receive text messages!

Today Katie and I had a Daddy/Daughter day on the Mall (hint: Super Bowl Sunday is a great day to do things and avoid crowds). We started by going to the Air and Space Museum's Planetarium to see a show with Big Bird, Elmo, and their new Chinese muppet friend Hu Hu Zhu. They showed us how to find the Big Dipper and North Star and explained why we can't fly kites on the moon. Hu Hu taught us some Chinese words and told us that he sees the same stars from China that we do. Katie loved the show but I was a little suspicious of Hu Hu's motives.

After the show, we wandered around the museum to look at the planes and rockets and grabbed lunch at the cafeteria. Then we went to the outdoor ice rink at the Sculpture Garden and showed off our latest skating moves. Actually, the bad rental skates and hard ice made skating pretty difficult for both of us. We did several slow laps around the rink, holding hands, and twirled a few times. It was fun to skate outside in the beautiful sculpture garden but we were ready to move on, preferably indoors.

Katie was full of funny quotes today but two in particular happened while ice skating. She pointed to the grand Archives Building and asked what it is. "They have old photos and records there," I replied. She responded with, "Can one day I play their records in my room?" I chuckled at the thought of the Archives storing stacks of old 45 rpm records instead of important documents.

Also, she pointed to a new installation in the sculpture garden that has thirty small statues that are all headless. Of course, Katie asked why they don't have heads. I struggled to come up with a decent explanation but she thankfully did it for me: "Maybe they haven't glued them on yet." That made me smile with relief, especially after reading the real reason: the statues are the artist's "personal response to totalitarianism" and refer to "a group of children who froze to death as they were transported in cattle cars" during World War II. Yikes.

Then we walked over to the Natural History Museum (or the "Rock Museum" as we call it). Katie loved the dinosaurs and immediately identified the T Rex skeleton. She also liked seeing fossils of familiar animals like dogs, squirrels, horses, and turtles. Then we went up to the Gem collection and were wowed at the shiny, colorful stones. It reminded me of shopping at the jewelry store -- no prices listed anywhere and you're afraid to ask.

Katie got to see the Hope diamond, the most famous diamond in the world. It's a 46 karat diamond necklace that legend says will curse whoever wears it. I totally believe it. Anyone that wears a 46 karat diamond is doomed to suffer neck pains from the weight or stab wounds from thieves.

After 5 hours of Daddy Time, Katie had decided she was worn out and wanted to go home. As we walked across the Mall to get back to the car, Katie wanted to run. After a few minutes, she stopped. "Are you out of shape?" I asked. "No," she replied. "I'm out of breath."

Also, we passed a man playing a nice tune on a saxophone on the sidewalk. Katie looked at his tip jar and said, "Oh boy, everyone always wants money, money, money."

After a quick ride on the Carousel on the Mall, we went home to tell Nancy and Peter all about our adventures. Nancy made chili and nachos and I made buffalo wings. We watched the Puppy Bowl and then tried to watch the Super Bowl but Peter had other ideas. We did manage to watch most of the 4th quarter which was really exciting. We were bummed to see New York win though. We prefer that New Yorkers have as little to brag about as possible.

Our Burger Princess?

Caught taking a quick nap. Nancy had a similar experience. When she woke up, she had faint recollections of hearing the camera clicking a lot while she slept. In order to preserve household harmony, I won't publish those photos.