Days 4 and 5

A fever revved up in Jacob on Tuesday night. He crawled in bed next to me and I thought I was sleeping next to a baked potato. We left him at the hotel the next day while we went back to DC for another day of sight-seeing. He didn't have to be convinced.

Doug had concocted a food adventure the night before, and we set out for the fish market first thing. Aidan especially loved seeing all the fresh, whole fish and the live crabs. The fishmongers bantered with him and offered to let him hold a live crab. He declined. Doug and I both love seafood, so we happily tried the Maryland crab chowder, clam chowder, fresh red snapper, and ceviche with shrimp. The kiddos preferred snacking on huge slices of watermelon.

We gave ourselves another hour or so at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum (remember, these national museums are free!), we stopped at the Capitol for a tour of the Senate side courtesy one of Senator Brownback's interns. None of us had ever been inside the Capitol before. We visited the Senate chambers as well and heard Bob Bennett of Utah speak on energy.

We were STARVING by the time we hit Chinatown for another food adventure planned by Doug. We ate at a four-star restaurant where fresh noodles and dumplings are made in the front window. Then we hurried home to the sick one, who was glad to see us, even though he had enjoyed watching ESPN all day and had even started on his summer reading books (better late than never).

The next morning we dosed up our sick boy with Advil, checked out, and drove to Washington's crib at Mt. Vernon. This was really an excellent experience, and we could have enjoyed many hours more there. But as you can imagine, the feverish kid was pretty miserable out in the heat on a tour.

So we packed everyone in the car and I called the doctor for a prescription as we started our way up the coast to . . . .

Philadelphia! Which is where Aunt Annie now lives! We were ready for Philly cheesesteaks and then an evening swim in the neighborhood pool. Doug and Jacob skipped the pool but joined us for a massive group indulgence in ice cream.

PS: We picked up a prescription for our sicky boy on the way home!