Flat Stanley

All of the sudden it's spring. We've had about two weeks of beautiful blue skies and 60-70 degree weather, and I'm trying to make the mental transition from scarfs and gloves to flip flops and swingsets. It usually takes me a month or two to get back into the swing of things. I'm a planner by nature: it doesn't usually occur to me to be spontaneous, and I often forget about all the great things to do around here until something pushes me in the right direction.

Which is why I'm really grateful for my cousin Aaron right now. Aaron sent me a very important assignment: Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley is a character from a 1964 childrens book of the same name who was crushed by a board in his sleep and became paper thin, which allowed him to travel around the world in an envelope and visit his friends. Aaron picked me to be Flat Stanley's friend, so Patrick and I got to take him around Washington DC and send him back to Aaron's class with tales of his adventures. We picked a beautiful, sunny Monday and trekked out to the National Mall to visit some of the local landmarks.

We visited the FDR Memorial, from which we got a great view of the Washington Monument...





We stopped at the Lincoln Memorial, where Flat Stanley met some friends with whom he'd travelled to Mexico in the past. They chatted for a bit, then took our pictures with Flat Stanley.



Flat Stanley is just the right height to view the outer edges of the Vietnam Memorial.



He got to sit on Einstein's lap...



...say hi to the economists at the Federal Reserve Building...



...and wave to President Obama.



Thanks, Aaron, for giving us a great excuse to get outside in the sunshine!!