It's a bird... it's a plane... it's Superman

It's a bird...

We are visiting Fairfax, Virginia... the herons are roosting in their rookery on an island at Burke Lake near Fairfax.

It's a plane...

Saturday afternoon: the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport. From the museum tower we watched planes landing.

We also checked out the many wonderful historic planes on display.

Sunday: in front of the Washington Monument.
A beautiful day, perfect for an outdoor food truck lunch.

The Moongate in the gardens at the Smithsonian castle.

At the Moongate garden: Alice, Evelyn, Miriam. This garden is inspired by the garden of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

But wait! It's Superman...

At the Museum of American History, also on the National Mall.
Our national icons are all here! This costume is from the 1950s.

The history museum has been closed for remodeling for several years.
At last, you can see the Ruby Slippers once again. A whole room is
dedicated to them: almost like a shrine.

Even better, you can see Julia Child's kitchen again -- it's been my favorite exhibit in the American History Museum
for a long time. She tested lots of recipes here! We enjoyed watching the accompanying video about Julia Child as well.

Julia Child's restaurant-level range from her kitchen in Cambridge, MA,
now part of the Smithsonian installation. Also almost like a shrine.

Across the National Mall from the American History Museum is the Freer Gallery.
It's also just reopened, so we visited another favorite: the Peacock Room,
which was decorated by James McNeill Whistler in 1877 and brought from
its original location in London to the United States by Freer.

All weekend: we're celebrating Miriam's acceptance
into several of her top college choices. She will be
deciding which one to go to soon.