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Got a call from one of my many Aunts. Seems one of my many cousins was coming in town and wanted to see DC. My SO and I often drag outa-towners around DC. All he needs is an umbrella and you couldn’t tell him from a regular tour guide. But the problem is that DC-ites flee DC in August. This place was built on a swamp and you can cut the humidity with a knife.

So off we go. 4 adults and 4 kids (7 to 13). Just wonder what they will remember. Us adults had a good time. They will probably just remember the Hard Rock Cafe and maybe the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They were pretty much in awe.

I’m amazed at how many good kids we run into. Kids like us. I figure its because I treat them like intelligent beings cause we don’t know any better. If they comment on something, we give it the same attention we would if their parents spoke. You learn some funny things that way…

I gota love kids… At the end of the day, with their second wind, they were playing hide-and-go-seek in the back seat of the mini-van. Four kids stacked in one seat. How do you hide?

Building a house can cause you to do some pretty strange things. Not strange as in running around naked barking at the moon or anything. But things that when you look back at, you wonder just what good it did… You make hundred’s of little decisions on the way to actually completing the house. Things like which way a door swings. Does it swing in or out? What kind of knobs and hardware? What color is the trim? How high do you want your cabinets in the kitchen? Will kids be using the bathroom? How high to make the seats on the toilet? Sometimes you just shrug and ask the builder what do other people do. If you have a good builder, they give good advice.

Our builder is a good one. I learned early on when something was a not-so-smart decision. He doesn’t exactly come out and say it. Just pauses and then looks slightly puzzled. Then acknowledges they could do it. Now on the other hand, if the decision is a good one, you get praised immediately. I sometimes wonder how other home buyers must react. Sometimes the guys get this, don’t-hit-me-look on their faces when they disagree with you. We don’t scream, we don’t yell, and we go out of our way to make sure they know we like what they are doing.

I don’t know if I want to do this again. There is something to be said for limiting choices.