The People's House

 Last night I was a volunteer at the White House again.  This time I was assisting with the postcard station where people could pledge to do community service in honor of the military.  At the end of my shift I was allowed to do the tour but the crowds were still pretty heavy.  Therefore, I did not get as many pictures as I had wanted.  By the time I made it upstairs the lines were so slow that I mostly just wanted to get home.  I'll be back in a couple of weeks.

There were a couple of amusing moments.  A little girl who filled out a pledge postcard couldn't think of any community service that she wanted to do so instead she pledged to "wash the dishes".

Also, as a secret service member exited to the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden from the room I was in (the Garden Room), he broke the door.  I watched him fumble with his keys and attempt to latch the door over and over again.  After a while it seemed like he'd finally got it to work and then left.  Not so.  The door kept blowing open, which is BAD when you have hundreds of visitors flowing through the building in any given hour.  At one point I walked across the room and slammed the door, catching the eye of one of the guards, who came over to investigate.  There was quite a bit of commotion as various staff members and supervisors showed up to investigate and shake their heads.  As they inspected the lock a piece of metal fell off.  I can only assume that someone was sent over to do repairs later in the evening or first thing this morning.  

Other than that, it was exciting to see how the decorations turned out this year!

East Wing Entrance

 East Colonnade and a view of the sleigh and trees in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden

Visitor's Foyer, with piles of books transforming into trees!

(the books are going to be donated to local schools after the holidays)

tree detail

Vermeil Room

 China Room and Library

 The East Room

 More East Room.  The nativity scene is made of wood and terra-cotta figurines from Italy.  

Some are over 300 years old.

 Green Room, Blue Room

(sorry I didn't get a lot of pics here, the crowds were kind of bad)

Red Room, State Dining Room and gingerbread White House with a real working fountain!

Front Hall

Exiting through the Front Portico!

Like I said, I'll be back in a few weeks.  Stay tuned!

Downtown Detour

It's been a while since we visited the museums downtown.  After parking near all the courthouses in Judiciary Square we had lunch in Chinatown, a few doors down from the former boarding house where John Wilkes Booth supposedly plotted the Lincoln assassination.

Since we hadn't fully explored the National Portrait Gallery, I decided we should go there first.  We started at the temporary exhibit Dancing the Dream.  I was very interested to read little tidbits about the likes of Balanchine, Baryshnikov, and Farrell, and now I feel I must find a book about American Ballet to read.

The round painting is a study of what was to be painted in the rotunda at the US Capitol building

 A landscape by Albert Bierstadt

 

 This portrait of a girl is a photo reproduction made by winding 

a single black thread around a grid of small nails

 A replica of the memorial in Rock Creek Park, for the wife of Henry Adams,

who committed suicide by drinking chemicals used in photography

Since it was a calm Sunday afternoon I asked if we could give the Natural History Museum another try since every other time we've been it's been the crowds have been unbearable.  This time we did the geology and gems exhibits.

Igneous rock crystals, the same that make up Devil's Tower in Wyoming

 Rocks that glow in the dark, rock exhibit made to look like a mine

(a small boy asked his mother "are we inside someone's stomach?")

 We decided to call it a day and walked past the seasonal ice rink in the sculpture garden on our way back to the car.

Wisconsin, Quickly

It was a fast weekend in the midwest for Hans' cousin's wedding.

We were up at 3:30 am on the 24th so we could catch a 6:30 plane to Madison, where Hans' family picked us up.  We ogled some cheese on the way to Trempealeau and then didn't do much for the rest of the day besides rest and eat cookies.  The next morning was clear and cold.  I woke myself by wandering the garden which was starting to wind down for the winter.  The neighbor's rye field was just starting to sprout this winter's crop.

Later, we and Hans' mom and sister went for a short hike in nearby Perrot State Park.  The views of the wildlife refuge that sits along the Mississippi were excellent.

 Winona can be seen in the distance

  

A little garden glamour

Friday night we drove down to Prairie du Chien, where we'd be assisting with the rehearsal dinner and staying the night since the ceremony was in Prairie the next afternoon.  There was a five-hour break between the ceremony and the reception, which was to be held an hour away in Dubuque, Iowa.  Since some of us were feeling peckish, we went to the local Culver's for burgers (all dressed up).

 The homemade decorations were lovely, but not as much as all the desserts!

 Cathedral dome details

I was stoked that Alesha wore her bridesmaid dress from my wedding!

 River views from the reception hall

 

The next morning we paid a visit to Hans' aunt and uncle, Leigh and Forry.  We had a lot of fun catching up and playing with the animals.  Also, we were introduced to new kitty Dusty!

 

At the end of the day we made a quick stop to visit Hans' great aunt Rita and I swapped bowling stories with her.  That evening we had one last evening meal with the Weilands (with lots of tasty home-grown veggies).  The next morning was very slow.  Everyone was pretty tired from all the wedding events.  On the way to the airport we made a couple of cheese stops, as a visit to Wisconsin is incomplete with out one!