This last Saturday, I went on an adventure with Rachel and the Hounyo brothers.
We went to the Theodore Roosevelet Memorial Island for an outdoor excursion. We got off to a late start. Rachel had picked up the boys and was having trouble finding the entrance to the park. You can't get to the island by car; you have to park and then walk across a footbridge. I called Rachel to inform her that I was waiting at the bridge (in my mind, it was clear that it was the footbridge). When she was still unsure how to find the place, she decided to drop the boys off on Lynn Street, which gives access to the park if you're coming from the metro. She then went home and got her GPS to find a way to the parking lot.
When she dropped the boys off, she instructed them to walk down the KEY bridge and they would find me. I realized what had happend when I was walking toward Lynn Street where I thought I would run into them and ran into the KEY Bridge. Rachel arrived at the park, I arrived at Lynn Street. The boys were not with Rachel and the boys were not with me. So, we had lost the boys. I wasn't sure they were there, but there was a pretty good chance they had walked across the bridge to Georgetown. I started walking that way, and I started praying.
Of all places to get lost, there are worse places in Washington, DC, than Georgetown. I wasn't worried for their safety so much as their own emotions. They didn't know the area and aren't quite comfortable in an English-speaking setting. I got to the end of the bridge and couldn't see them at first. I quickly found them close to the Francis Scott Key Park. All was well. The boys were a little scared, but happy to be found.
We walked back across the bridge to get to the island. When we were on top of the bridge, I pointed out the island in the middle of the Potomac. I had just learned that the boys didn't really like snakes. They saw a small garden snake next to a flower bed and nearly jumped out of their shoes. When they saw the island they were immediately worried about the possibility of snakes. I assured them (without really knowing) that though there were probably snakes on the island, we probably wouldn't see them, because they don't like to hang out on the trails. I really had no idea, because I had never been to the island before and I don't know the snakes on the east coast.
We walked along the trail around the island--no snakes. We paused and took pictures:
David
David as Spiderman
David and Wilfried
And then, we went off the trail a bit. You guessed it: a snake. We climbed over some big rocks to find the trail again, and David's feet had barely hit the ground when he was jumping into the air trying to get away from the snake. Wilfried hadn't even seen it but was running for his life. In the picture you can only see the head and the tail of the snake just at the bottom of the vertical tree trunk. I held David's hand to guide him through the rest of the island while he walked with his eyes closed. He was afraid to see another snake and we weren't even allowed to say the word. So cute!
Eventually we found the memorial plaza and took more pictures.
From the left: David, Wilfried and Josiah
I'm pretty sure this one is my favorite. 
You better believe they climbed up on that thing. Only took a minute to do it. They are good climbers.
The Stalinesque statue of Roosevelt.
Another great day and a great adventure. We're going to have to go back to the island to see the fountains at the plaza--they were not on that day. I think David is going to be brave about the snakes. I told him about how Batman (in Batman Begins) was afraid of bats, because of a traumatizing experience and he conquered his fear to become Batman. He made a weakness a strength. David liked that story. Maybe he'll be Snakeman. Hmmm...maybe not.
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