Some Thanksgiving Moments

Curtains!

My only real project while my family was galavanting all over the East coast was to make curtains for our living and dining room windows. I found some fabric I liked on super clearance at JoAnn, and off I went! Now they're done and they really add a lot to our home. As you might notice on the dining room table, I'm also nuts for those skinny little red dogwood branches. Luckily I have a giant dogwood or two that I had to prune to nearly nothing, so now my home has these rustic, beautiful hints of red nature.

There you go, Mom. I hope you're happy! You still have have to come visit.

And the answer is . . . Mount Vernon

Our final destination for this journey was Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. I will admit that I have gained a lot of respect for George Washington as I have studied his life and the founding of our great nation. George Washington started out as a British soldier because well, almost everyone who lived in the 13 colonies was British. He proved himself a great leader in the British army, so after we decided to break free from the British he then became the obvious choice for commander of the American troops. He started with basically no army, so he not only had to win a war but he had to find some men to help him do it!

So, here is the home he lived in during the Revolutionary War. We use the word lived in very loosely as he only visited once during the entire war but his wife Martha lived there with the children. I did learn that they were her children and after her husband died she met and married George Washington. Fascinating what you can learn! So, here is the house (the boys are pretty tired of my taking their pictures, so enjoy their funny/impatient faces). It is beautiful and almost everything in the home is original which is pretty incredible.

We couldn't take pictures inside most of the house but we did get to snap a few photos in the kitchen.

Joshua in particular loved seeing dead animals and meat hanging to dry. Gotta love boys!

We also got to enjoy the view of the Potomac which is breath taking. I don't think I did it justice with my mediocre photography skills but hopefully you get the idea.

We then wandered around to see the slave quarters and other buildings. The boys, in particular, enjoyed the blacksmith shop where the man was really working on a project. He is making book ends for the estate. Pretty awesome that they keep everything home made!

And what trip would not be complete without seeing some animals. There were pigs, sheep, cows/bulls and even a rooster! I also took a minute to look at the gardens and saw a garden that even James would approve of. It was beautiful and still full of vegetables. I really liked that the plantation is still up and running. Pretty awesome!

And as promised yesterday we got to see where George Washington was buried. After the war he wanted to go home to his family and live out his days in peace but after much pleading he agreed to be the first president of the nation. Then, after serving two terms he said he was done and resigned. So many people would have loved for him to remain on but he knew that it was not good for the country. It is amazing to me that after all of that work to become free most people would have gladly crowned him king but he was such a humble man who knew that democracy was the best choice that he was able to give up the power (that he really didn't want in the first place) and give it back to the people. I am very grateful to him and the service he rendered to the nation and for his ability to help make this nation what it is today. I felt throughout the day that he was truly a man of God who was sent at that time to do exactly what he did.

After our great tour of the grounds we were able to go through a museum and watch a few movies. They even had a children's room where the kids could do puzzles, color, build with blocks, dress up and much more. The kids loved it and it was fun to see them all dressed up!

It was really a fun trip and a great end to a great tour through early American History. I always wondered in the planning stages if it would be worth the time and effort and decided that the answer was yes. So, I hope you enjoyed hearing about our adventures because I know that we enjoyed living them!

Washington DC was next, of course!

I'm sure you are just exhausted by watching our adventures but we are still going strong. The boys were a little hesitant to leave this morning but that was because they wanted to play with their cousins and not because they didn't want to go. But with the mention of a train ride I had them hooked. We left this morning and drove to the metro station. You will notice below that we grew in size. April (one of the before mentioned cousins) really wanted to see the Library of Congress and since it was in the plan for the day we invited her to join us!
So, our first stop was the metro station, because honestly, who wants to drive into Washington DC? No one, I hope! They loved the train and spent their time reading the maps, swinging on the poles and well, just being boys! Our first stop was the Washington Monument where we hoped to get tickets for a ride up but we were too late. Oh, well, maybe next time!

After that disappointment we headed to the Capitol Building. Now I had it all planned out to get back on the metro and take it down further but when I asked someone which way to go on the metro they told me not to take the metro because the Capitol Building was at that stop. Now I should have gone with my research but I didn't and we ended up walking/running much further than I intended. It was rough and we were all sweating by the end but we made it! Our tour time was 11:10 and we got there exactly at 11:10 to find a security line. ARG! Then, we learned that you couldn't take food or drink in. And, of course, we had packed our lunch. ARG again! So, we got out of line and ate as much food as we could before throwing the rest away. What a waste! I was quite appalled. Someone who lives near DC should create a food drop off, so all of that food doesn't just get thrown away. Eventually we made it in and got tickets for the 12:10 tour instead. Not bad. While waiting the boys played on some computers and took quizzes to test their knowledge on the government, the buildings and the documents. I thought it was great to see what they remembered and help them learn new things!

Then, the tour began! It started with a movie which was enjoyable. Afterwards we split into smaller groups and got these cool headphones. These were great because our tour guide could talk to us and we could hear her over the many other tour guides who were talking around us at the same time. Now as a side note the headphones are only for those ages 6 and up. Imagine, if you will, how a 4 or 5 year old would respond to this. EVERYONE else gets a cool headphone except YOU. Well, in Jacob's case it involved tears. I was very grateful to an understanding tour guide who got him headphones to use.
The tour took us into the dome room which was beautiful. I cannot adequately describe all of the beautiful pictures, sculptures, etc, but know that it was as amazing as they say it is! It was interesting to learn that all of the dead presidents are buried in the crypt below the dome room. All except one, that is. Can you guess? I'm tempted not to tell you because that is where we are going tomorrow! I think I will make you wait. :)I also loved the whisper room and wish we could have played around with it. I think it would be awesome to create that kind of room everywhere! It was fun to learn that they tried everything to make it not work but failed, so they eventually changed rooms (they did outgrow it as well).

Of course the kids loved the tunnel to the Library of Congress. I liked that they were tricked into walking a good distance without knowing it!
The library was definitely one of the favorites of the day. There was even a children's room. It was beautiful and functional! Awesome! The kids would have stayed here all day if I would have let them. Michael even started to do some reseach! Who's kids are these?
After I pried them away we went to find the balcony where we could see in the main part of the library. There was a lovely sign telling us not to go up because there were tours going on but well, after driving so far I was not going to just turn around, so I told the boys to follow me quickly and quietly and we snuck up. What did we see? NO ONE! But we did get to see the library and it was incredible! It said no photos, so you will just have to watch National Treasure again but it was worth sneaking up to see, especially since there was NO ONE there!

Then, we did some fun outdoor picture taking. We took photos of the Library of Congress, Supreme Court Building (I'm sure it has a name), the Capitol Building, and last but not least . . .
The White House! I had actually never seen it from the front but it was beautiful. It was so calm and still that it was hard to remember what really goes on inside that building!

So, our goal for the day was to see where the three branches of government are housed and we did it! It was a great day and we even made it out of DC and back home before dinner! Yes, we are amazing, and we had an amazing day!

On To Philadelphia

I was quite glad to wake up this morning to only a 30 minute drive into Philadelphia! On the down side it was raining, but did the rain deter us? NEVER! So, we drove in and started at the visitors center to get tickets to take the tour of Independence Hall. While there the boys signed up for the Jr Ranger program and got workbooks to fill out. AWESOME! They also had trading cards for the boys to collect. They are great as well and even educational which we all know I love!

Next we journeyed to the Liberty Bell which is beautiful!
Then, we had to wait a bit for our tour time, so we found a cozy room with some documents to sit in and work on our workbooks. It was really fun and dry and warm! Then, we started our tour which was great except for the part where Jacob almost broke my nose. Hmmm. . .
After a little informational lecture we went into Independence Hall. The first room was the court room. It was really cool to see that people used to 'stand' trial by literally standing in box made of bars (right behind the boys).

Then, we got to go into the room where the really important things happened like the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the ratification of the Constitution. The big chair at the front is called the Sun Chair and it is where they had George Washington sit once they decided to have him be the first President. It is an amazing room. Most of the room is done using period pieces but the Sun Chair is the original!
To keep the boys entertained they took lots of pictures. Jacob took this pretty cute one, so I had to share it. After our tour we went to Benjamin Franklin's print shop where they actually printed some pages for us. It was pretty fun to see the process and we got to take a copy home of a page printed in the shop that day right off the drying rack. It was a great day!

Oh, it was also nice to end the day at grandma's house and not some random hotel. The boys got to go to bed before 10 PM! Yippee! And I got to do some much needed laundry, so the boys would have clothes to wear for our adventures tomorrow!

Day in Boston

We left our hotel right at 9 AM as I wanted and we drove into Boston. Apparently Boston is not a town that accommodates driving, so we quickly parked in an underground parking lot and found our way to the visitor's center on the Boston Commons. We signed up for a tour and began our journey. Our tour guide was perfect for the boys as he was full of life and energy. We spent quite a bit of time in a very old cemetery. It literally felt like we stepped back in time as we walked through modern Boston but found all of the old buildings that were there during the time of the revolution. Our guide did a great job talking about the people and even used chess pieces to describe some of the events (I think this was the boys favorite parts). Some of our favorite things that we learned were as follows:

1. Only 5 people died in the Boston Massacre which was then blown out of proportion by propaganda to convince others to start a war.

2. When Paul Revere rode to warn of an attack he did not say that 'the British are coming' because well, they were all British at the time. Instead he said that the 'Regulars are out.' Weird but true.

3. Also, Paul Revere was captured later on this trip but he was let go when the British were worried about the fight. They just let him go but did keep his horse.

4. John Hancock, whom we all remember for his signature, wanted to be the first emperor of the US and then when they said that he missed the point on that idea he wanted to be the first president. But when choosing the first president later they needed someone from the South to unite the north and south. Interesting that this trend of electing someone from the South still happens on most occasions (excluding this past election, of course).

I could keep going but those were the ones that stood out to the boys. After the tour we ate lunch and then took a boat to see the USS Constitution. This ship was put into service in 1779 and is still beautiful. It was closed today but we did get to look at it and the boys loved the boat ride. Apparently with little driving in town public transportation is huge and why not include boat rides when the water is right there! It was pretty awesome!

Overall it was a great educational experience and the boys did pretty well. Joshua had the hardest time as he just has so much energy. They loved the pigeons as well and wanted to chase them all afternoon long. Unfortunately this almost cost Joshua his life. On our way back he saw a pigeon in the road and ran after it. I called him back and he came running after us and then right past us into the road in front of a bus. This was then the third time (at least) that I told him quickly to stop and fortunately he did just in time for the bus to be able to go around him. Even if it is hard for him to see the world around him at least he listens when I say stop. We were all pretty shaken up and I am sure that Joshua will stay close to me from here on out. But now we are safe and sound in New Jersey close to Philadelphia where our next adventure lies.

I will admit that the drive through NY/NJ were not my favorite but with that in the past we look forward to tomorrow!

On a side note I grew up in New Jersey, so it is kinda fun to be back. I do wish that we had time for me to show the boys where I grew up but we will have to save that trip for another time. I promise to upload pictures tomorrow, but for now you will just have to wait. :)

The Journey Begins

The boys and I have now been on the road for 1 1/2 days and well, we have seen a lot of freeway and visited many bathrooms (way too many in my opinion). We are now about 1 1/2 outside of Boston, MA and are very excited to actually go do and see things tomorrow! Yippee! The boys have been really good about the trip so far and have listened to audio books non-stop! We finished the Thief Lord first and enjoyed it but it wasn't our favorite. It is by Cornelia Funke and we really enjoyed the Dragon Rider much better and recommend it to all! We listened to a lot of Magic Treehouse and I must admit that I don't hate them which is good because I brought a lot of them (almost all that the library had).

One thing that did make me sad today was that we just missed the fall leaves. We drove through upstate NY today and I was so hoping to see some beautiful scenes but while there was some orange there was not much else. :(

Well, now it is time to sleep, so I will have the energy to see the historical sites in Boston with the boys and hopefully be to our next stop (Philadelphia) before bedtime tomorrow night! Our blog for tomorrow should be much more interesting!