Wendy, Steve, and Vanessa picked us up at BWI at 6am
Thursday morning. Thanks to cell phones, we called after
we got down to baggage claim and were able to walk right
out to the curb, watch their red rodeo pull up, and hop in.
Vanessa was bright and cheery and chattering about
Green Eggs and Ham. Unfortunately, we couldn't just keep
visiting. Wendy and Steve had to go to work and Vanessa
had to go to daycare. So we got to see ChildWay. What a
nice place and nice staff!
Another view of ChildWay. This time the kids were out back
coloring the walls with sidewalk chalk.
A quick view of Wheaton High School as we drove past.
Jenny and I slept for a couple of hours and then got up
to join Grandmommy at the Aquatics Center where she takes
an aquacise class. Jenny enjoyed the tube slide while I
did laps in the lanes behind the class.
Sally leads the class.
This mushroom fountain is great for the back.
Friday Mother and Dad treated us to a Roy Rogers lunch
in Gaithersburg. We had driven two cars, fully loaded with
stuff to be transported to the villa.
Mother's giftshop at Asbury.
If we were Jewish, Harvey would definitely have come home
with us. He dances and sings.
After agonizing for the couple of hours of Mother's shift,
Jenny finally decided to acquire the little dog, seen here
on top of her head. She named him Francis Asbury, in honor
of the location. During Mother's shift, the rest of us
went over to the villa and unloaded one of the cars.
We also took Dad's slides to the attic and organized them
on the shelves.
Dinner on Friday was Chinese, at the place near Wendy
and Steve's home, where they are well known and get
excellent service.
Jenny and Vanessa shared a bowl of soup, neither wanted
a full bowlful.
Jenny and Wendy get silly.
Vanessa is bemused.
Saturday's big event was the Summer Dinner Theater
presentation of Kiss Me Kate at Montgomery College.
Mother had arranged for a table for eight to include
Wendy and Steve and their good friends, Linda and Julian.
What a fun time we had! Julian and Steve know how to
have a good time and the show was well done.
Sunday morning we went to church at Foundry. I was
happy to see some old friends from MYF times, such as
John Parker.
Wendy's luck with parking included just happening to
park a few carlengths away from Mother and Dad's car on
'O' Street for church. Then her luck held as we cruised
along and found 2 adjacent spots right by Einstein
and the Vietnam Memorial.
We hiked along the Mall.
While taking pictures, this gentleman asked if we'd
like him to take one with all of us in it. Then we
started exchanging stories; he'd been working in the
Pentagon on 9/11. He thanked Dad repeatedly for
fighting in WWII.
Our first glimpse of the brand new WWII Memorial, our
major objective.
Honoring the Michigan veterans, including Dad.
Each of these 4000 stars represents 100 American soldiers
who gave their lives in the conflict. During the war years,
each household would display a star in the window for a
member serving in the military. A gold star meant that that
person had died in the service of his country.
Dad saw action in the Battle of the Bulge in Europe.
While we were taking Dad's picture, another gentleman came up
to us. He, too, had been there, as a medic.
The monument is impressive all by itself. But I was even more
impressed by the encounters and memories and appreciation that
it is fostering, simply by being there and being talked about.
We then hiked over to the Smithsonian Museum of American
History for lunch. Mother and Dad left us to return home
to more packing, while Wendy, Vanessa, Jenny and I did
a bit more sight-seeing.
One of the exhibits included this quartet of Stadivarius
instruments.
We paused to let Vanessa have a snack; she'd slept through
lunch.
We touched barely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to
the Smithsonian. There are a lot of buildings housing
an incredible array of articles.
These flowers were growing in planters along the sidewalk.
On the way back home, Wendy drove us past her office building.
We picked up Steve at home and then headed over to
Rocking Horse Road for dinner. Vanessa was looking classy.
Later that evening, Lois Trautvetter Buitano called.
I was thrilled to see her. We went to school together
from 1st or 2nd grade right through to high school graduation.
She now lives in Potomoc, MD, but for this evening, she
came back to her parents' home on Rocking Horse Road where
we had a couple hours' visit.
Lois and Hugo and their daughter, Karen, with the senior
Trautvetters.
Mr. Trautvetter has added a lovely pond to their backyard
in the last few years. Vanessa loved it and had to be
dragged away when it was time to leave.
We didn't try to cook dinner at home Monday night.
Pizza Hut in Gaithersburg was a great choice after
running three carloads of stuff to the villa. All
together, we had four cars there: Mother's, Dad's,
Wendy's, and Steve's. Steve met us there after work
and after stopping by CompUSA to get Norton AntiVirus
for my parents' computer. So each of the cars had
something for the villa, but three of them were really
loaded.