Shh, don’t tell…

While most of America celebrated Father’s Day yesterday, the circus family did not.   Shh…Please don’t tell the circus children.  They think Father’s Day is next week, because that’s when we are celebrating it.  We paint pumpkins in Nov and build gingerbread houses in Jan, so why can’t we celebrate dear old dad one week late?  Yes, we are shamelessly pulling the wool over our innocent children’s eyes.

Scott and I wanted to get away for a weekend alone, just the two of us, as our  gift to each other for our 30th birthdays this year.  While Scott’s birthday was at the end of May and mine is in mid July, the only weekend between the two that would work for us happened to fall on Father’s Day weekend.  Scott said he didn’t mind celebrating a week late and we figured the kids were young enough to not notice the difference, so away we went. 

We dropped the kids off Friday afternoon at my in laws and headed for a short drive to our nation’s capital.  First stop…Chick-Fil-A of course!  (in my rush to pack the kids, the dog, Scott and me, and get myself primped and prettied, I ran out of time to fix lunch for the two of us). 

We stayed at the Gaylord National right across the Potomac River from historic old down Alexandria, Va.  The newly built hotel was luxurious!  We enjoyed an evening on the waterfront on Friday and a day in D.C. on Saturday.  We had so much fun! 

We’ve both been fortunate enough to grow up close to the nation’s capital.  We’ve seen the monuments and museums on numerous occasions.  But we’ve found over the years that we appreciate them all the more as adults.  We enjoy taking advantage of our proximity to the district.  Saturday we spent some time walking around the capital, enjoying lunch at a local microbrewery, and then the afternoon at the art museum.  Scott and I visited the National Gallery of Art for a field trip in High School, but haven’t returned since.  We’ve been wanting to get back there, but it isn’t quite circus children proof!  Can you just picture my little “artists” loose in there?  No, thank you.  This was a perfect date activity (and it’s even free)!  We enjoyed talking about the paintings, picking which ones we’d want on our walls if we could. 

It might surprise you to learn that Scott has a deep appreciation for modern art.  He was particularly taken with this one.

This however, was the one we both liked the best of all we saw that day.  Notice the painting within the painting?  Anyone want to buy it for our living room?

I was taken with the Small French Paintings.  I was particularly struck by the fact that I was standing right in front of a piece of art that the real Monet, or Matisse, or Degas painted many years ago.  These weren’t prints.  These were the real deal!  The same artists I read about in school, some of the same prints I had studied, were there, right in front of my face! I am not an art connoisseur by any stretch.  But I did have an appreciation for the beauty and history before my eyes.

After an afternoon with the art, we took a walk to the WW II Memorial.  We’ve been wanting to visit it since it was built a few years ago, but hadn’t made it over that way.  My favorite part was seeing a real WW II veteran walk through the memorial.  Scott ran over to thank him.  I wanted the whole place to give him a standing ovation.  While I noticed he did get greeted a few times, sadly he went unnoticed by most of the visitors. 

It was one of the most perfect days I’ve had with Scott in a long time.  I am thankful to be married to my best friend and for the time we got to spend away together.  However, I was very eager to see my children this morning!   I missed them a lot!

I look forward this week to preparing some special things for Father’s Day next Sunday and the day we’ll spend as a family honoring Scott for the terrific Daddy he is!  Some people march to the beat of their own drums, here at the circus we celebrate at the whim of our own calendar!