A capital Christmas

Home for the holidays for only the second time post-marriage, we were determined to do something we wouldn't have done if we were in Syracuse or Rodman. At about 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve, we loaded Greta into the CRV and drove across the river. Our mission? Capture some family snapshots in the iconic settings that define this town.

Here's the National Christmas Tree, a live 85-foot Colorado blue spruce that grows just outside the White House grounds. Greta admired the enormity of it and wouldn't turn to face the camera.

This is Freedom Plaza, a small urban park popular with the homeless and skateboard crowd. If you're a Daily Show fan, it's also the digitized backdrop they use whenever their Washington correspondent is reporting. It's got a great view down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol.

We also made it over to the Washington monument, that phallic tribute to this nation's first president. Finally secure in this post-9/11 world, the grounds are again open to the public. We took advantage of the windy day and flew a kite.