We made a list and checked it twice.

Another work week came and went.  It was a lot of time on mass transit for Ben. There were good days and bad.  The good days meant a seat early and plenty of time to read.  Ben has finished several books this year that had sat on the shelf for way too long.

The bad days meant the bus was running late and was so packed that they don't stop where you are waiting, so you get to wait even longer in the cold.  The glass half-full perspective on this is that it wasn't raining.  That said, the Metro is apparently aware that people may find such practices annoying, so there are announcements that let riders know that "anyone who assaults a metro driver or station manger, while on duty, may be subject to enhanced penalties from the District of Columbia."  Ben is not sure if this announcement is meant to deter riders from assaulting drivers or to just encouraging people to wait until after the driver is off-duty.  

On Friday night, we went to the Kennedy Center to see the musical Billy Elliot.  We were a little nervous about traffic and finding parking, so we decided to eat at the Kennedy Center Cafe before the show.  We had heard decent things about the cafe.  Unfortunately, we heard those things from apparent liars.  Ben's portabella/artichoke ravioli were particularly bad.  Luckily, the Caesar salad was a little better.  Long story short, if you are headed to the Kennedy Center eat somewhere else ahead of time.   

After dinner we headed for the show.  Billy Elliot is a musical that is based on the Oscar nominated movie of the same name from about a decade ago.  The plot of the musical made a little more sense because we had seen the movie.  Essentially, Billy Elliot is a young man from a coal mining town, whose father and older brother are miners embattled in a long strike.  Despite tough times, Billy discovers a passion for dance and ultimately, after much emotional angst for all involved, is accepted to the Royal Ballet School.  The musical added some somewhat strange numbers about Margaret Thatcher that, while catchy, were a little confusing.  Overall, Ben preferred the movie, while Kelly preferred the musical.

Saturday morning started early.  After breakfast, we headed out to take care of a little last minute Christmas shopping and a few life chores.  Getting a little nostalgic for the trip upcoming trip home, we had lunch at Chevy's Fresh Mex on Saturday.  There is a Chevy's just down the road from Ben's house in St. Louis and we have sadly eaten there way too many times - but not recently.  It was a treat.  Stuffed with the three key food groups of chips, salsa, and chimichangas we decided to continue seizing the day.  

There was a good parking space available in front of the Smithsonian American History Museum.  

(If only this food truck had chimichangas.)

We had meant to return to the American History Museum for quite sometime.  When we went with visiting family this summer it was a total madhouse.  With a significant decrease in tourists, we were able to take our time and look around at a less frenzied pace.  As we smelled the roses, we spotted exhibits that featured items like this amazing 1980s mini-van.  One of Ben's high school friends had this same model passed on from his parents when he turned 16.  No one would have imagined then that it would have been featured in the Smithsonian.  

(OK, honestly this probably still has no business being in a museum.)

Exhausted from a thorough trip through the museum, we picked up a movie and headed home for the evening.  We got burned by Redbox - the one we had reserved at was broken - our first choice of the evening was not available at the second Redbox we visited, so we ended up with "30 Minutes or Less."  

Sunday, we were up early again for a reservation at Founding Farmers, which is a farm to restaurant establishment that we had heard very good things about.  

(Sadly, the menu does not feature items named after signers of the US Constitution - though strangely, there is a Benedict Arnold.)

Despite a lot of hype, Founding Farmers lived up to our expectations.  Kelly's French Toast was fabulous.  Ben had a pastrami hash mix that was topped with poached eggs and a mustard hollandaise sauce.  This was good, but it was also accompanied by the best English muffin that Ben and Kelly have ever had - seriously.

After breakfast, we stopped by Einstein Claus to tell him what we wanted this holiday season.

("Hey Einstein, I think you meant E = iPad2")

With our lists given to Einstein Claus, we headed to the Natural History Museum's Imax theater to see a 3-D Grand Canyon adventure.  

(It was hard to give these glasses back after the show.)

It was cool to see the Grand Canyon on such a large screen and in 3-D.  The video only increased our desire to make a rafting trip to the Grand Canyon. 

Before heading home we went by a seasonal holiday market and the nearby Smithsonian Portrait Gallery as there were some new items we had wanted to see. 

Back at home, we took care of some chores and watched football.  Also, Ben has been working on teaching some of the intricacies of football to the dogs.  It has been a slow process.

(Dexter has a lot of issues jumping offsides. If you have met Dexter, this should not be a surprise.)

For those of you wondering about flag football, our tournament that had been scheduled for this weekend was postponed due to congressional scheduling uncertainty.  The tournament will now be held in January at some point.  Maybe Dex and Mo will be ready by then.