First was my date with six-year-old E, who had been studying Martin Luther King, Jr., in school and wanted to go see the new MLK memorial here in Washington, DC. He also wanted to take the metro there. My sister dropped him off at my house and we took the metro downtown, then still had a bit of a hike (for a six-year-old, anyway) to get to the memorial, which is on the southern rim of the Tidal Basin. It was a chilly but gloriously sunny winter day.
I had given E some gum during the walk there, which he then proceeded to use to make a snaggle tooth every time I took his picture. That kid is the epitome of silliness!
After the memorial, we went to the Natural History Museum, where we got lunch and visited several fun exhibits: skeletons/bones, the insect museum, and the butterfly house. The butterfly house is a smallish rectangular room filled with hundreds of colorful butterflies and moths flitting all around and resting on the flowering bushes lining a winding center path. Magical! One even landed briefly on E's head, which thrilled him to no end.
Next came five-year-old J, who originally wanted to go to Chuck-E-Cheese to play before having lunch at Famous Dave's. Luckily, my sister talked him out of Chuck-E-Cheese (my love for these kids only goes so far), and instead we went ice skating. It was J's first time on the ice and he actually did pretty well. I can barely ice skate myself, so we wobbled around the rink for about 30 minutes before he said he was getting tired and wanted to take a break (which really meant stop skating and do something else). He thought it would be a good idea to try roller skating next, before ice skating again.
We had lunch at Wendy's (J's choice), then I suggested we go to a movie. I showed J trailers for some kid movies on my phone and he chose to see Beauty and the Beast (in 3D!). In spite of the scary parts, he said he liked the movie. Afterwards, we cozied up with some hot chocolate to round out the afternoon.
Last weekend it was my three-year-old niece's turn. She wanted to go to the farm. Again, we had lots of sun and slightly warmer temps--perfect for being outside and looking at animals. She loved climbing up on the fences to look at the sheep, horses, goats, and cows, and she ran (not walked) from place to place.
We played on the playground at the farm for awhile, where she insisted that we talk like pirates. Aarrrgh, matey! She also said such heart-meltingly-sweet things during the morning as, "You're my favorite aunt," and "We're best friends." Aawwww....
When it was time for lunch, I suggested the Silver Diner--a 1950s-style diner with jukeboxes on each table--as an alternative to Chick-Fil-A. Luckily, she is adventurous and agreed. Her exact words were, "Well, I haven't been to the Silver Diner so we can try it." Thank goodness!
After lunch, we tried to go to the play area at the mall but it was closed for cleaning, so instead we got some nail polish--she picked out bright orange--at the CVS and went home, where I painted her nails. Gorgeous!
I sure do love these kid dates!
5 comments:
Aw, you are the best AUNTIE ever! Sounds like you had a blast!
I'll second that - they are lucky to have you! You're lucky to have them! Beautiful post.
This sounds like such fun!!! I bet the kids loved it -they are getting bigger and bigger! You're so lucky you live so close to your nieces and nephews :)
Such a good auntie! I am sure they will never forget the one on one time you spend with them!
You are symbiotically blessed to live so close to each other. You provide them with the love and an Auntie and your wit, humor and intellect - and they give you little hands to hold and smiles of learning. I'd be so interested to hear them recount memories with you when they are adults.
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