Yesterday evening was cloudy, but this morning dawned bright and beautiful, just perfect for spending a day in the city! We left in good time. I read several chapters out loud from Book 2 of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, which we are still enjoying immensely. Crossing the bridge from New Jersey into Philadelphia was exciting! I've always wanted to visit this city but never really expected to get there! We knew our time would be limited, and we also knew we needed to be extra patient with the kids, who have probably been museum-ed out and are definitely getting on each others' nerves (and, truth be told, on our nerves, too!).
So we had a few ideas in mind of what we would see, but we did not set a definite agenda, deciding to play things by ear and see how much of a wait it would be for the two places that were must-sees: Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Wonder of wonders, we got our timed tickets immediately to see Independence Hall! We simply walked across the street from the visitors' center, went through security, and merged with our group, who tromped inside the first building to listen to a brief talk from the park ranger. Our ranger was very good, and she involved our kids (who were pretty much the only ones in this group of 85 or so people) with her questions and explanations. Charis impressed a number of people with her previous knowledge of the historical situation, so it was a proud homeschool mom moment to be able to explain when people asked that we were on a homeschool journey to kick off our year of American History!
After the background discussion, we actually went inside Independence Hall and got to see the courtroom and the room where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were actually signed. Wow! So cool.
And guess where we went next? Yup...across the street to see the Liberty Bell! Amazing.
We walked a few blocks away to Franklin Square, where the kids played on the playground while Ted walked to a vendor to purchase Philly cheese steak sandwiches. (You knew that was on the agenda, right?!) We enjoyed our picnic lunch, let the kids play on the playground some more, and then walked past Franklin's grave and to the Benjamin Franklin museum. We watched the old Disney animated film "Ben and Me," which the kids really enjoyed (we did, too), and then we puttered around the museum just a short while before deciding that we really needed to be done.
The kids had time to play on the playground near the TLF while I worked on dinner, and now we're winding down another day of vacation. Tomorrow will be our last--and longest!--day, as we will pack up and leave for home, stopping (Lord willing) at Valley Forge and the Flight 93 memorial on the way. Originally we had thought we might camp outside Gettysburg, but after our last disastrous attempt at camping, we decided we would rather drive all night and just get HOME rather than try that again, LOL!
For pictures of our day in Philly, go here!
September 29, 2010
Day 11--Traveling/Sightseeing
Tuesday morning we said goodbye to the B family and headed north. Destination: McGuire AFB near Trenton, NJ. Around Baltimore we were already needing a potty stop, but it worked out well, because Ted saw signs for Ft. McHenry! We decided to take an unplanned side trip and spent a couple of hours touring this site, which was extra special since we had seen the ACTUAL Star-Spangled Banner at the Smithsonian the day before.
We watched a short video about what got the U.S. involved in the War of 1812, which was good, because my knowledge of that whole situation was pretty sketchy! In a nutshell (for those who need a refresher), the Brits were fighting the French (remember Napoleon?), and they kept boarding our ships and confiscating items so as not to allow our stuff to be taken by the enemy. Hmmm. Seeing as how our rebel spirit had just won our nation's independence, no wonder we joined the fight! At the very end of the video, the curtain that was at the side of the room drew back, revealing a wall of windows facing the fort, where our current American flag is flying. A small sign signaled that we should stand, and we heard a beautiful, a cappella men's chorus singing the National Anthem. It was one of the most thrilling, patriotic moments I've ever experienced!
We walked up to the fort and got to explore all around it and inside some of the buildings. The kids really enjoyed this stop, especially the boys. (If you view the photos on Facebook, look for the boys with their muskets!) We were so glad we saw the signs and decided to stop, as it really was a fantastic experience for everyone. Before hitting the road again, we ate our picnic lunch there.
Then it was back in the Suburban for what seemed like a very long time, even though we were expecting the drive to only be a couple of hours. As it turned out, Google gave us directions to...the airstrip at McGuire AFB, trying to route us directly through Ft. Dix in the process! We were thoroughly confused and finally ended up asking a guard at the Ft. Dix checkpoint how to get where we needed to go. When Ted viewed the maps later, we discovered that what should have taken us 15 minutes from our exit off the freeway actually took closer to an hour. So, as you can imagine, we were rather tired and grumpy by the time we arrived, and I still had to get groceries at the commissary! We may very well have ended up ordering pizza instead, except for the fact that we had the brilliant idea to have Ted get his haircut while I got groceries, thereby saving him a trip to base once we got home. It actually worked out pretty well. I bought frozen pizzas for us to eat for dinner, plus sandwich supplies, fruit, chips, etc. for the next couple of days.
The kids were pretty rambunctious by the time we got back to the TLF. I ended up going to sleep before some of the kids, as I had a sinus headache and nose difficulties and was feeling wiped out (ha! no pun intended! Gross, LOL!). Thankfully I felt quite a bit better this morning after a good night's sleep!
Before I sign off, just a note...when planning a road trip that involves these small, New England states, be sure to budget for TOLL ROADS!!! Holy cow!! $4 here, $5 there...and we thought $2 was bad at the first stop!! So far on this trip we have paid $16 for TOLL ROADS!!!
Time with Friends
One of the best things about being on vacation has been the chance to visit with friends! Before I continue with our daily account, I thought I'd take time to show some "people pictures."
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| This is my friend Claire, who, along with her husband Bob, graciously hosted our family four days of our trip! They fed us wonderful meals and gave us their roomy basement to camp out in. Our families met when we were originally stationed in Ohio, and we've kept up with each other via our blogs and Facebook. Claire is expecting their 8th child and has been an inspiration to me in many ways, so I truly enjoyed getting to visit with her in person, even though our time was somewhat limited because of all the sightseeing. It was also fun to see her children in person--she only had the 4 boys when we last saw each other! |
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| Tobin, Jonathan, and Arden--I never did get a picture of Jonathan with his eyes open! |
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| Faith and Lucan--they are about 6 weeks apart. |
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| "The Princess Table"--Kenna, Grace, Anna, and Faith. These girls had SO much fun together! |
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| Charis with Tiffany and Rachel, adopted daughters of our friends Alan and Carol F of Maryland. Charis and Rachel played together and were in church classes together when we were stationed in D.C. |
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| My dear friend Monica and me--a too-short visit that left us looking forward to spending more time together at Leadership Training with Stampin' Up! |
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| Charis was delighted to see her friend Amberly again. Her family recently moved from Ohio to Virginia, and they spent a day in D.C. with us. |
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| Caleb, Jonathan, and Arden. These three boys were nearly inseparable the brief time they got to spend together! |
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| Anna and Kenna--they are similar in so many ways! Kenna will be so lonely without these sweet girls to play with! |
September 27, 2010
Day 10--Last Day in D.C.
Today has been a cooler, rainy day, which is just fine with us, as we planned to be inside most of the day anyway! The kids weren't so excited to be dragged away from the B's house this morning, though, feeling that they would rather stay here and play with friends (or read our friends' books) than go see stuff, LOL. But Ted and I won that debate, so back into the District we went.
We met my friend Monica and her twins, Erika and Nigel, at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. We went through a fair number of galleries, including a special exhibit, "The Star-Spangled Banner," where we actually got to see THE Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that was flown to give Francis Scott Key hope of victory and the inspiration for what become our national anthem. Then we toured through the Price of Freedom, which began with the Revolutionary War and went through current military conflict. It was so cool to see an actual redcoat uniform, Washington's uniform, and other REAL artifacts from our nation's history. Lucan and Kenna both were getting squirrelly toward the end of this area, so we beat feet downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch, after which they were a bit happier for a short while.
We said goodbye to Monica and her children after lunch and then went through the Presidential Gallery. It was at this point that Lucan was nearly beside himself, and the boys were dragging their feet again and proclaiming imminent boredom comas, so we quickly exited that area. We thought the pop culture area would be fun for everyone...but it was surprisingly and disappointingly small. Apparently they rotate the items on exhibit there?! I did expect more than one room! We saw the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, Ono's speed skates, Kermit the Frog, costumes from the Broadway production of The Lion King, and Archie Bunker's chair. Big whoop! I really wanted to see Darth Vader!
At this point Carol F, a friend from our Maryland church, met up with us, bringing her two daughters whom they have adopted from China. Rachel was a good friend of Charis's during our year in Maryland, and Tiffany joined their family shortly after we moved to Las Vegas. So it was fun to see them. They walked around with us through the First Ladies' gallery and into the Transportation area, which I thought would hold the boys' attention at least, but we were having major attitude and behavior issues, so in the interest of keeping our sanity, Ted and I decided to just leave.
We had tickets for a 3:30 tour of the Washington Monument. It was not even 2:30 at this point. Lucan was NOT interested in falling asleep in the stroller, as we had hoped, and it was sprinkling outside. Nevertheless, we went to the Monument area, and Ted checked to see if there was a chance we could change our ticket time to something earlier. Sure enough, we were able to get all 10 of us on a 2:30 tour! Woohoo! That was a huge blessing, as Carol had checked online for tour times and saw that there were ZERO spots available at all during the day! The rain probably had people bailing out. So it worked out for us. We didn't wait long at all and were able to see out all four sides. We walked back to the parking garage, and Lucan conked out just as we arrived at the building, of course. But it gave Carol and me some good time to chat, and all four girls enjoyed being together as well.
Now we're back at Bob and Claire's for our last evening before we take off again. Lucan is no happier than he was this afternoon...I'm not sure if he actually napped very long, though we did try putting him down. I'm wondering if he's getting some more teeth...he's so fussy and has a runny nose as well, plus he has awakened at night the last few nights.
So, with that, I'd better close and see if I can help either calm the baby or help Claire with dinner! Pictures from today's adventure can be seen here.
We met my friend Monica and her twins, Erika and Nigel, at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. We went through a fair number of galleries, including a special exhibit, "The Star-Spangled Banner," where we actually got to see THE Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that was flown to give Francis Scott Key hope of victory and the inspiration for what become our national anthem. Then we toured through the Price of Freedom, which began with the Revolutionary War and went through current military conflict. It was so cool to see an actual redcoat uniform, Washington's uniform, and other REAL artifacts from our nation's history. Lucan and Kenna both were getting squirrelly toward the end of this area, so we beat feet downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch, after which they were a bit happier for a short while.
We said goodbye to Monica and her children after lunch and then went through the Presidential Gallery. It was at this point that Lucan was nearly beside himself, and the boys were dragging their feet again and proclaiming imminent boredom comas, so we quickly exited that area. We thought the pop culture area would be fun for everyone...but it was surprisingly and disappointingly small. Apparently they rotate the items on exhibit there?! I did expect more than one room! We saw the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, Ono's speed skates, Kermit the Frog, costumes from the Broadway production of The Lion King, and Archie Bunker's chair. Big whoop! I really wanted to see Darth Vader!
At this point Carol F, a friend from our Maryland church, met up with us, bringing her two daughters whom they have adopted from China. Rachel was a good friend of Charis's during our year in Maryland, and Tiffany joined their family shortly after we moved to Las Vegas. So it was fun to see them. They walked around with us through the First Ladies' gallery and into the Transportation area, which I thought would hold the boys' attention at least, but we were having major attitude and behavior issues, so in the interest of keeping our sanity, Ted and I decided to just leave.
We had tickets for a 3:30 tour of the Washington Monument. It was not even 2:30 at this point. Lucan was NOT interested in falling asleep in the stroller, as we had hoped, and it was sprinkling outside. Nevertheless, we went to the Monument area, and Ted checked to see if there was a chance we could change our ticket time to something earlier. Sure enough, we were able to get all 10 of us on a 2:30 tour! Woohoo! That was a huge blessing, as Carol had checked online for tour times and saw that there were ZERO spots available at all during the day! The rain probably had people bailing out. So it worked out for us. We didn't wait long at all and were able to see out all four sides. We walked back to the parking garage, and Lucan conked out just as we arrived at the building, of course. But it gave Carol and me some good time to chat, and all four girls enjoyed being together as well.
Now we're back at Bob and Claire's for our last evening before we take off again. Lucan is no happier than he was this afternoon...I'm not sure if he actually napped very long, though we did try putting him down. I'm wondering if he's getting some more teeth...he's so fussy and has a runny nose as well, plus he has awakened at night the last few nights.
So, with that, I'd better close and see if I can help either calm the baby or help Claire with dinner! Pictures from today's adventure can be seen here.
Day 9--Day of Rest/Bike Tour
Sunday was a nice, relaxing day for us. Ted make the whole crew whole wheat pancakes with strawberries. (Bob did his part by microwaving scads of turkey bacon, even going so far as to finish the job in the basement when the circuits kept blowing in the kitchen!) The service at the B's church didn't start until 10:30, so we had plenty of time to enjoy visiting and breakfast.
The service was very nice--lots of hymns, which is a nice change of pace from what we typically do at Faircreek. I do miss singing hymns frequently...we get one thrown in every now and then, but somehow it has to be "jazzed up" or made "contemporary" somehow, LOL. I do like the variety of music we get, but now and then I do feel nostalgic for the good ol' hymns that I grew up singing. Anyway, it was nice to be in church again, and the kids did quite well visiting a new place.
In the afternoon Claire stuffed us again with a spaghetti dinner, after which Lucan and I took a nap. Ahhh! Then it was time for a much-anticipated event: the Bike'N'Roll Monuments@Nite tour! Ever since Sarah B had told me about the tour, which was a highlight for her whole family when they visited D.C., I had been interested in checking it out. When I finally sat down to finalize plans for our trip, I mentioned it to the kids, who responded with a hearty YES!! We decided it would be best to leave Kenna and Lucan with the B family, and they (our kids) were pretty happy with that decision! (As I mentioned in a previous post, Kenna has been having a blast with Anna, Grace, and Faith!)
We were a bit concerned about the weather--clouds had rolled in, and it had been raining in the afternoon. But God really smiled on us! While it did sprinkle just a bit in the beginning and toward the very end of the tour, the evening was absolutely gorgeous, quite cool, which was a welcome change from the heat of the day before. Tobin actually borrowed Ted's sweatshirt for the beginning of the tour, so if you view the pictures on Facebook, you'll see him in a large black shirt. He warmed up quickly, though, and passed the sweatshirt on to me when he got tired of wearing it!
Here's what all we got to stop and see on our tour, with our guide giving us interesting factoids about each place before we could (in most places) explore for a bit:
All in all, it was a three-hour tour, a three-hour tour. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) All of us have decided that it was definitely a highlight of our trip so far! We were very thankful that Bob and Claire didn't mind us leaving the little ones at their house, as it was a much more enjoyable experience for all of us that way. So, if you're ever in D.C., we highly recommend this tour! It was well worth the money we splurged on it. Since so much of the rest of our vacation has revolved around free or greatly reduced-priced activities, we felt it was worth spending a little more on this, and we're glad we did!
The service was very nice--lots of hymns, which is a nice change of pace from what we typically do at Faircreek. I do miss singing hymns frequently...we get one thrown in every now and then, but somehow it has to be "jazzed up" or made "contemporary" somehow, LOL. I do like the variety of music we get, but now and then I do feel nostalgic for the good ol' hymns that I grew up singing. Anyway, it was nice to be in church again, and the kids did quite well visiting a new place.
In the afternoon Claire stuffed us again with a spaghetti dinner, after which Lucan and I took a nap. Ahhh! Then it was time for a much-anticipated event: the Bike'N'Roll Monuments@Nite tour! Ever since Sarah B had told me about the tour, which was a highlight for her whole family when they visited D.C., I had been interested in checking it out. When I finally sat down to finalize plans for our trip, I mentioned it to the kids, who responded with a hearty YES!! We decided it would be best to leave Kenna and Lucan with the B family, and they (our kids) were pretty happy with that decision! (As I mentioned in a previous post, Kenna has been having a blast with Anna, Grace, and Faith!)
We were a bit concerned about the weather--clouds had rolled in, and it had been raining in the afternoon. But God really smiled on us! While it did sprinkle just a bit in the beginning and toward the very end of the tour, the evening was absolutely gorgeous, quite cool, which was a welcome change from the heat of the day before. Tobin actually borrowed Ted's sweatshirt for the beginning of the tour, so if you view the pictures on Facebook, you'll see him in a large black shirt. He warmed up quickly, though, and passed the sweatshirt on to me when he got tired of wearing it!
Here's what all we got to stop and see on our tour, with our guide giving us interesting factoids about each place before we could (in most places) explore for a bit:
- The Washington Monument
- The White House
- The World War II Memorial
- The Albert Einstein Memorial
- The Vietnam Memorial
- The Korean War Memorial
- The Lincoln Memorial
- The FDR Memorial
- The Thomas Jefferson Memorial
All in all, it was a three-hour tour, a three-hour tour. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) All of us have decided that it was definitely a highlight of our trip so far! We were very thankful that Bob and Claire didn't mind us leaving the little ones at their house, as it was a much more enjoyable experience for all of us that way. So, if you're ever in D.C., we highly recommend this tour! It was well worth the money we splurged on it. Since so much of the rest of our vacation has revolved around free or greatly reduced-priced activities, we felt it was worth spending a little more on this, and we're glad we did!
September 26, 2010
Day 8--Hangin' in D.C.
Yesterday was a really fun day! Some friends of ours from Ohio just moved to the D.C. area a few weeks ago. Amberly is their daughter, who is one of Charis's very dearest friends. The girls were so excited to get to see each other--it made saying goodbye in Ohio not so difficult to know we'd be able to spend a day touring D.C. before too long. We met at the White House Visitors' Center, which was surprisingly uninteresting. (I'm sure we adults would have enjoyed it without kids...) So we pretty much made it a bathroom stop, then walked toward the mall.
First stop was the National Archives, where we were pleasantly surprised to discover there was NO LINE. (During the several times we visited with family members during our tour in D.C., we ALWAYS waited in line!) Even more exciting for me was getting to see a rare copy of the Magna Carta! WOW! There are only 4 existing copies, and we got to see one! The kids were thrilled to actually see the Declaration of Independence, though they were surprised at how faded the document really is. After spending some time in the Rotunda, we browsed the displays that talk about how documents are preserved and how they play a role in our lives today--references for movies, etc.
We had a picnic lunch sitting by the fountains in the sculpture garden across from the art museum. It was quite pleasant in the shade. Then we split up--Charis, Amberly, Kenna, Angela, and I went through parts of the National Art Museum, mostly with me carrying Kenna to make sure she didn't get us in trouble by touching things. (If you've ever been to an art museum, you know how picky they are about that sort of thing, right, Dad?!) We didn't see a whole lot--it's incredibly spread out--but we did find some paintings we recognized from some of our Sonlight art books, and the sculptures we saw were interesting. Then we joined the rest of the crew at the Air & Space Museum, where the kids were lined up for a paper airplane contest after a presentation about the mechanics of flight.
We split up again, since Charis and Amberly wanted to see the Children's Discovery Center that the others had already gone through. So Brian took them while the rest of us went upstairs, headed for the space section that the boys wanted to see. The elevator spit us out near an exhibit about the Wright Brothers and the beginning of flight as we know it. We decided that we can see the real thing in Ohio and turned the corner to go to the space wing.
Tobin did not come with us.
It took a little while to realize that we were missing a child, and then began a mad, frantic search, going in and out of the areas around the elevator, calling his name, and fighting down the panic that was threatening to overtake me. SO MANY PEOPLE! Ted, holding onto Kenna, was running around with me, while Angela stayed with Arden, Christopher, and Kiersten. After what seemed like forever, we heard an announcement on the P.A. system--"If you have lost a child, please come to the security desk downstairs." We flew down the escalator, praying that it was Tobin who was waiting for his parents. I have never been so thankful to see his little face! After a joyful (and shaky) reunion, we went back upstairs, with Tobin grasping my hand tightly. We spent some more time maneuvering around the crowded museum before finally deciding that the little ones had had enough. (Lucan did get about an hour-long nap in the stroller during our time there, which is probably the longest nap he's had since we left Ohio.)
We walked the D family to their Metro station and said our goodbyes, then trudged back to the parking garage, where Kenna got her fingers stuck in the elevator door. Poor thing! She was screaming like mad, and the only thing we could do was simply yank her hand out. We did have an ice pack, which she kept on her fingers for a little bit after we were in the truck, and mercifully she conked out and had a good nap on the way back to Claire's house. During the drive, we read more in our Guardians of Ga'Hoole book--we have 1 1/2 chapters left! We also stopped at Whole Foods for Ted to pick up some wheat and strawberries so he could make pancakes for everyone Sunday morning before church.
Claire had a yummy beef and barley stew with homemade biscuits ready for us. Bob and Nathan were at Nathan's football game, but they joined us soon after we had a fire going in the backyard, and the sticky goodness of kids and s'mores began! Lucan had been bathed and put down for the night, but the other 11 kids and all of us parents enjoyed some time around the fire.
It was a bit of a rough night for Lucan, Ted, and me, since Lucan awoke at 1 a.m. and spent about an hour fussing and flailing for some unexplained reason. But he did eventually go back to sleep and actually slept until nearly 8:00 this morning! Ted is now working on the pancake batter--I helped him cut strawberries, and soon the pancake assembly line will commence. So I will close here so that I can help with this process and also get ready for church. I'm looking forward to visiting the B's church and worshiping corporately this morning! Last week we were touring Monticello, so it will be nice to be in a church again!
First stop was the National Archives, where we were pleasantly surprised to discover there was NO LINE. (During the several times we visited with family members during our tour in D.C., we ALWAYS waited in line!) Even more exciting for me was getting to see a rare copy of the Magna Carta! WOW! There are only 4 existing copies, and we got to see one! The kids were thrilled to actually see the Declaration of Independence, though they were surprised at how faded the document really is. After spending some time in the Rotunda, we browsed the displays that talk about how documents are preserved and how they play a role in our lives today--references for movies, etc.
We had a picnic lunch sitting by the fountains in the sculpture garden across from the art museum. It was quite pleasant in the shade. Then we split up--Charis, Amberly, Kenna, Angela, and I went through parts of the National Art Museum, mostly with me carrying Kenna to make sure she didn't get us in trouble by touching things. (If you've ever been to an art museum, you know how picky they are about that sort of thing, right, Dad?!) We didn't see a whole lot--it's incredibly spread out--but we did find some paintings we recognized from some of our Sonlight art books, and the sculptures we saw were interesting. Then we joined the rest of the crew at the Air & Space Museum, where the kids were lined up for a paper airplane contest after a presentation about the mechanics of flight.
We split up again, since Charis and Amberly wanted to see the Children's Discovery Center that the others had already gone through. So Brian took them while the rest of us went upstairs, headed for the space section that the boys wanted to see. The elevator spit us out near an exhibit about the Wright Brothers and the beginning of flight as we know it. We decided that we can see the real thing in Ohio and turned the corner to go to the space wing.
Tobin did not come with us.
It took a little while to realize that we were missing a child, and then began a mad, frantic search, going in and out of the areas around the elevator, calling his name, and fighting down the panic that was threatening to overtake me. SO MANY PEOPLE! Ted, holding onto Kenna, was running around with me, while Angela stayed with Arden, Christopher, and Kiersten. After what seemed like forever, we heard an announcement on the P.A. system--"If you have lost a child, please come to the security desk downstairs." We flew down the escalator, praying that it was Tobin who was waiting for his parents. I have never been so thankful to see his little face! After a joyful (and shaky) reunion, we went back upstairs, with Tobin grasping my hand tightly. We spent some more time maneuvering around the crowded museum before finally deciding that the little ones had had enough. (Lucan did get about an hour-long nap in the stroller during our time there, which is probably the longest nap he's had since we left Ohio.)
We walked the D family to their Metro station and said our goodbyes, then trudged back to the parking garage, where Kenna got her fingers stuck in the elevator door. Poor thing! She was screaming like mad, and the only thing we could do was simply yank her hand out. We did have an ice pack, which she kept on her fingers for a little bit after we were in the truck, and mercifully she conked out and had a good nap on the way back to Claire's house. During the drive, we read more in our Guardians of Ga'Hoole book--we have 1 1/2 chapters left! We also stopped at Whole Foods for Ted to pick up some wheat and strawberries so he could make pancakes for everyone Sunday morning before church.
Claire had a yummy beef and barley stew with homemade biscuits ready for us. Bob and Nathan were at Nathan's football game, but they joined us soon after we had a fire going in the backyard, and the sticky goodness of kids and s'mores began! Lucan had been bathed and put down for the night, but the other 11 kids and all of us parents enjoyed some time around the fire.
It was a bit of a rough night for Lucan, Ted, and me, since Lucan awoke at 1 a.m. and spent about an hour fussing and flailing for some unexplained reason. But he did eventually go back to sleep and actually slept until nearly 8:00 this morning! Ted is now working on the pancake batter--I helped him cut strawberries, and soon the pancake assembly line will commence. So I will close here so that I can help with this process and also get ready for church. I'm looking forward to visiting the B's church and worshiping corporately this morning! Last week we were touring Monticello, so it will be nice to be in a church again!
September 25, 2010
Day 7--To Claire's House!
Yesterday was simply a travel and rest day. We were up early (no surprise there) and able to leave the condo well before the 10 a.m. check-out time. Actually, we were pleasantly surprised at how quickly we were able to pack up and get out of there! We did stop for a potty run not 15 minutes after we left...but since Ted was gassing up the Suburban, it worked out well. Plus, we got Starbucks. :-)
It was about a 3-hour drive from Williamsburg to Claire's house in Virginia, not too far outside of D.C. We stopped for a light lunch, since we had eaten an early breakfast, and got here in plenty of time for Lucan to get a good nap. I really enjoyed just sitting and visiting with Claire and Bob and watching our kids have fun together. This is an especially good place to visit for Arden, who I felt was getting lost in the shuffle of our other activities. He isn't quite old enough to truly appreciate all the historical things we were seeing (listening to explanations got "boring" for him), but he is definitely too old to be entertained by, say, playing in the dirt and rocks like Kenna and Lucan were! Sometimes I felt that all we were doing was nagging at him: pick your feet up; stop stirring up the dust; please stop annoying Lucan--he's trying to nap; please stop hanging onto the stroller--you're making it hard to push; etc. His favorite parts of the day were getting to go swim or sit in the hot tub at the condo. I do think he enjoyed some of the things we saw, but overall, I think in his mind, all we did was WALK, WALK, WALK! And sometimes he got in trouble just for WALKING!
So, being here with boys his age has already been good for everyone! (Bob and Claire have 4 boys and 3 girls and are expecting another baby!) Yesterday the boys played lots of games, and Arden got his first chance to play street hockey. Tobin played Star Wars monopoly with Luke and who knows what else with the other boys--all I know is, they were BUSY! Kenna has been in heaven with 3 little girls to dress up and giggle with. And Charis, the lone older girl, found some books on the shelf that will probably keep her busy when she's not playing with Lucan, who is just happy enough exploring a big new house.
Claire fixed us a delicious dinner (green beans, corn, salad, and chicken enchilada casserole) last night, and we settled down at a fairly decent hour. It was probably good the kids had a chance to play all day, as they were much more compliant with bedtime than they would have been if we had just arrived here at dinnertime!
Today we're back to being tourists. We'll be meeting some friends at the White House Visitor Center (in lieu of actually touring the White House), and then we'll explore some of the Smithsonians. Our vacation is halfway over, and we're enjoying every minute of it! (Well, mostly...see previous post for the asterisk to this statement...)
It was about a 3-hour drive from Williamsburg to Claire's house in Virginia, not too far outside of D.C. We stopped for a light lunch, since we had eaten an early breakfast, and got here in plenty of time for Lucan to get a good nap. I really enjoyed just sitting and visiting with Claire and Bob and watching our kids have fun together. This is an especially good place to visit for Arden, who I felt was getting lost in the shuffle of our other activities. He isn't quite old enough to truly appreciate all the historical things we were seeing (listening to explanations got "boring" for him), but he is definitely too old to be entertained by, say, playing in the dirt and rocks like Kenna and Lucan were! Sometimes I felt that all we were doing was nagging at him: pick your feet up; stop stirring up the dust; please stop annoying Lucan--he's trying to nap; please stop hanging onto the stroller--you're making it hard to push; etc. His favorite parts of the day were getting to go swim or sit in the hot tub at the condo. I do think he enjoyed some of the things we saw, but overall, I think in his mind, all we did was WALK, WALK, WALK! And sometimes he got in trouble just for WALKING!
So, being here with boys his age has already been good for everyone! (Bob and Claire have 4 boys and 3 girls and are expecting another baby!) Yesterday the boys played lots of games, and Arden got his first chance to play street hockey. Tobin played Star Wars monopoly with Luke and who knows what else with the other boys--all I know is, they were BUSY! Kenna has been in heaven with 3 little girls to dress up and giggle with. And Charis, the lone older girl, found some books on the shelf that will probably keep her busy when she's not playing with Lucan, who is just happy enough exploring a big new house.
Claire fixed us a delicious dinner (green beans, corn, salad, and chicken enchilada casserole) last night, and we settled down at a fairly decent hour. It was probably good the kids had a chance to play all day, as they were much more compliant with bedtime than they would have been if we had just arrived here at dinnertime!
Today we're back to being tourists. We'll be meeting some friends at the White House Visitor Center (in lieu of actually touring the White House), and then we'll explore some of the Smithsonians. Our vacation is halfway over, and we're enjoying every minute of it! (Well, mostly...see previous post for the asterisk to this statement...)
Day 6--Jamestown
Just the highlights...since I'm a little behind!
Thursday morning we headed to Jamestown, once again starting the day with a 2-hour tour. Jamestown is much bigger and busier than the Yorktown Victory Center; there were lots of tour groups shuffling around, often intersecting. We stepped back in time over 150 years before the Revolution and learned about the English attempts to get rich in a new world. (And, for the record, I finally learned the difference between the Jamestown and Plymouth settlements! My history lessons sadly lacked staying power...)
Our first stop was a replica of the Susan Constant, one of three ships that brought the English traders to the New World. Made me slightly nauseated even just thinking about being below deck for 144 days, not to mention being crammed in with 53 other people! After climbing around the ship, we headed to the settlement within the fort after a brief stop to see how to make an Indian canoe and compare/contrast the vessels. We went in various buildings, and the kids got to see yet another musket fired, try on armor, build a wall, and see and feel the difference among coal, coke, and clinker. We decided that Tobin is on track to become an apprentice blacksmith--he correctly guessed each of the lumps! It was interesting to see the governor's dwelling--quite different from the palace at Williamsburg! Much more, ah, rustic, shall we say.
Finally, we spent some time in the Powhatan Indian village. Here the kids got to scrape fur off a hide, make rope, learn about outdoor cooking, and sit inside a dwelling. Lucan was getting rather frantic around this time, so I lay him back in the stroller and walked around on the boardwalk until he conked out. He got a pretty good little nap.
After this, our official tour was over. We went back to see all 3 of the ships up close, but the sun was climbing higher in the sky and people were hungry and thirsty. So before long we got our lunch out of the Suburban and found a shady spot outside to eat. It was much hotter this day than it had been our other days--over 90 degrees. The kids were tired and hot, but they held up pretty well, or at least, the older ones did. Charis was somewhat miserable, as she had hurt her foot the night before while playing in the pool. Ted and I took turns carrying her piggyback when we made the longer walks.
After lunch we gladly made our way inside the air-conditioned museum. We viewed a few things before time for the movie to start, a 24-minute history of Jamestown Settlement. Lucan had a poop blowout in the middle of it, so I missed the end of the movie dealing with that. And apparently Kenna had a meltdown after I left, so the rest of the family also left the theater. We managed to get a good overview of the museum before we decided it was time to go home. Oh, yes, and we also had the obligatory stop at the gift store to look around! We bought a game, Made for Trade, that actually has 4 different game variations and allows players to experience a bit of the decisions early settlers would have had to make. We played a round that night at the condo, and it's pretty fun! We look forward to trying the more complicated versions later.
Back at the condo, we put Lucan down for a nap, polished off the rest of the ice cream we had brought home the day before, and sent Ted and the kids to the pool. I washed up some dishes, started some laundry, and did a short blog post, then ran a couple of errands before dinner.
After baths, when Kenna and Lucan were in bed, we tried out our game and then read a few chapters in Book 1 of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. We are loving the story! We brought the first two books with us from our library, but unfortunately book 3 was checked out. Apparently the movie covers material from the first 3 books, so we will try to finish reading that before we see the movie. It was a fun way to unwind and relax together...aside from Lucan's yowls. He had a hard time settling down that night!
Thursday morning we headed to Jamestown, once again starting the day with a 2-hour tour. Jamestown is much bigger and busier than the Yorktown Victory Center; there were lots of tour groups shuffling around, often intersecting. We stepped back in time over 150 years before the Revolution and learned about the English attempts to get rich in a new world. (And, for the record, I finally learned the difference between the Jamestown and Plymouth settlements! My history lessons sadly lacked staying power...)
Our first stop was a replica of the Susan Constant, one of three ships that brought the English traders to the New World. Made me slightly nauseated even just thinking about being below deck for 144 days, not to mention being crammed in with 53 other people! After climbing around the ship, we headed to the settlement within the fort after a brief stop to see how to make an Indian canoe and compare/contrast the vessels. We went in various buildings, and the kids got to see yet another musket fired, try on armor, build a wall, and see and feel the difference among coal, coke, and clinker. We decided that Tobin is on track to become an apprentice blacksmith--he correctly guessed each of the lumps! It was interesting to see the governor's dwelling--quite different from the palace at Williamsburg! Much more, ah, rustic, shall we say.
Finally, we spent some time in the Powhatan Indian village. Here the kids got to scrape fur off a hide, make rope, learn about outdoor cooking, and sit inside a dwelling. Lucan was getting rather frantic around this time, so I lay him back in the stroller and walked around on the boardwalk until he conked out. He got a pretty good little nap.
After this, our official tour was over. We went back to see all 3 of the ships up close, but the sun was climbing higher in the sky and people were hungry and thirsty. So before long we got our lunch out of the Suburban and found a shady spot outside to eat. It was much hotter this day than it had been our other days--over 90 degrees. The kids were tired and hot, but they held up pretty well, or at least, the older ones did. Charis was somewhat miserable, as she had hurt her foot the night before while playing in the pool. Ted and I took turns carrying her piggyback when we made the longer walks.
After lunch we gladly made our way inside the air-conditioned museum. We viewed a few things before time for the movie to start, a 24-minute history of Jamestown Settlement. Lucan had a poop blowout in the middle of it, so I missed the end of the movie dealing with that. And apparently Kenna had a meltdown after I left, so the rest of the family also left the theater. We managed to get a good overview of the museum before we decided it was time to go home. Oh, yes, and we also had the obligatory stop at the gift store to look around! We bought a game, Made for Trade, that actually has 4 different game variations and allows players to experience a bit of the decisions early settlers would have had to make. We played a round that night at the condo, and it's pretty fun! We look forward to trying the more complicated versions later.
Back at the condo, we put Lucan down for a nap, polished off the rest of the ice cream we had brought home the day before, and sent Ted and the kids to the pool. I washed up some dishes, started some laundry, and did a short blog post, then ran a couple of errands before dinner.
After baths, when Kenna and Lucan were in bed, we tried out our game and then read a few chapters in Book 1 of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. We are loving the story! We brought the first two books with us from our library, but unfortunately book 3 was checked out. Apparently the movie covers material from the first 3 books, so we will try to finish reading that before we see the movie. It was a fun way to unwind and relax together...aside from Lucan's yowls. He had a hard time settling down that night!
September 23, 2010
Stress? On vacation?! Naaaah!
Lest you think all is rosy in vacation-land, I thought I'd do a reality check. Here are the not-so-fun family moments that we could do without during our All-American Adventure.
But there ARE wonderful, blessed moments. Just a few...
- 6:30 a.m. wake-up calls from our alarm clock, a.k.a. Lucan.
- Ear-piercing shrieks from the highchair as Lucan decides to boycott food for the morning.
- No coffee OR hot tea. (Apparently they don't service condos like they do hotel rooms?! What's up with that??)
- (Very loud) fighting amongst 4 children over the army figurines during what is supposed to be breakfast.
- More (very loud) fighting between the youngest 2 children over the aforementioned figurines after the removal of the two who actually own the toys.
- Multiple wounds on children inflicted by a sibling (or two). (Typically a wooden sword or toy musket is involved in these "flesh wounds.")
- Leaving Lucan's shoes back at the condo and trying (in vain) to keep him in the stroller during our two-hour tour at Jamestown.
- Loud wails when Lucan is overcome with exhaustion. (Fortunately I did manage to get him to sleep in the stroller, and I only missed a short portion of the activities.)
- Numerous complaints during the tour that tend to taint Mom and Dad's enjoyment of the experience (I'm hungry, I'm hot, I'm thirsty, I'm bored, etc.).
- A poop blow-out in the middle of the 24-minute movie about the history of Jamestown, resulting in Mom exiting the theater and dealing with an up-the-back-of-the-onesie mess.
- A meltdown from Kenna during the 24-minute movie about the history of Jamestown, resulting in Dad and siblings exiting the theater.
- Another meltdown from Kenna during our exploration of the museum.
- Crabby parents who are tired of dealing with meltdowns and bickering and complaints.
- Stinky socks. (Do boys EVER grow out of this?!)
But there ARE wonderful, blessed moments. Just a few...
- Seeing Lucan ask for (and receive) a piggyback ride from big sister Charis.
- Hearing Kenna say, "May I please play with your gun, Tobin?" AND hearing Tobin say, "Sure!"
- Drinking a pumpkin spice latte that my hubby brought me early in the morning since we had no coffee in the room. :-)
- Feeling a cool breeze while enjoying a picnic lunch in the shade.
- Eating ice cream together and talking about our favorite parts of the day.
- Piling on the bed together and watching a fun movie while giggling and eating popcorn in a heap.
- Hanging out at the pool, getting cooled off and unwinding after a whirlwind day.
September 22, 2010
Day 5--Yorktown
Today was WAY fun! We got another early start (thank you, Lucan), but since we wanted to be on the road by 9 a.m., it worked out well. We're in a pretty good routine with getting showers and breakfast done, lunches packed, and everyone herded out the door. Today's first item was a family tour starting at 10 a.m. and lasting until noon. There were 3 homeschool families in our group with 17 people total, with "Mr. Jack," a tall, elderly, soft-spoken man as our tour guide. Jack was wonderful at engaging the kids, really drawing them into the discussion and helping them make connections.
First stop was a set-up of a Continental Army camp. As you can imagine, the boys were most interested in this! After a stop to learn about "medicine," however, both Tobin and Charis informed me that they weren't feeling so well, LOL. Obviously they take after their mother, who does NOT take after HER mother, who spent years in the nursing profession! Just TALKING about amputations, cauterizing blood vessels, infections, etc., was enough to make my kids woozy! Fortunately, their attention was quickly diverted as we saw the officers' quarters, the kitchen, and another demonstration of loading and firing muskets.
Next we went to a "middling" farm, a typical middle class homestead, with one building for the family to live in and another as the kitchen, a sign that the family was doing pretty well, to have the kitchen as a separate room altogether. Incidentally, I had never heard of this! I guess I always pictured something from "Little House on the Prairie!" But it makes sense...having the kitchen be a completely different building would keep the house cooler during the summertime, as well as prevent flies and smoke from invading and saturating the main living area. Inside the kitchen were lots of hanging dried herbs and vegetables, and even dried meats.
One amusing thing that happened in/near the kitchen was that a friendly turkey followed us in and began pecking at the snack mix on Lucan's stroller tray! Lucan looked rather alarmed at first, but then seemed to enjoy the commotion, which greatly distracted the rest of the class, LOL.
We saw the materials for dishwashing, soap-making, and cloth preparation and dyeing. We got a first-hand look (and sniff) at the building housing dried tobacco, the main cash crop of the day. And we saw the slaves' garden area. One thing I guess I didn't realize was that even this "middle class" of people, families who lived in a one-room house, typically had slaves. Again, I'm coming from a "Little House" mindset, which was a couple of decades after the Civil War in what was then "western" territory--so in my mind, I've always thought it was just the rich people on plantations who were slave owners. Not so. Quite sobering.
Mr. Jack next led us down a time line trail and gave highlights of events leading up to the Revolutionary War, and then he took us around the museum. This was good, because he pointed out items of particular interest, which helped focus the kids' attention and keep them from getting too bored. (Although I must point out that by the time we got into the museum, Arden had given up all semblance of paying attention and was completely absorbed with playing with a young friend he made on the tour, who was carrying Civil War soldiers in his pocket. The two acted out their own battle scenes and had a merry time.)
All in all, the two hours really did fly by! And Tobin mentioned multiple times how much he liked the things we did and saw, so that was encouraging. :-) We retrieved our picnic lunch from the Suburban and enjoyed eating together in a shady spot. Then we went back to the museum and watched a 20-minute video before wandering around the soldiers' camp and the museum a bit more to see some things we had missed previously.
We drove through Yorktown itself and out to the battlefield, where we realized we'd have to pay to get into the park. Since Lucan had conked out by this time, and we weren't entirely convinced that the kids would find it all that interesting, we turned around and headed back to the Victory Center parking lot, where we parked and let the older kids climb back out so they could mount a redoubt, an earthen defensive area actually used by the Welsh during the battle for Yorktown. I stayed behind with Lucan, who was supposed to be sleeping (remember?!). He had been awakened when Arden crinkled an empty Sunchips wrapper in his face. Honestly, son?! WHY?! I snapped at Arden, making him get out of the Suburban and go with everyone else, because I did not want him poking at Lucan anymore. This for some reason seems to be a thing with him. (This was not the first time this week that he had wakened a Lucan who had FINALLY fallen asleep after a looooong morning and afternoon!) So Arden stomped along but refused to get in any of the pictures. If you look at our pictures on Facebook from today, you'll see one of him looking AWAY from the redoubt, and you can just imagine him sulking in the distance, because that is what he was doing!
Thankfully Lucan fell asleep again, and the ride home was extremely quiet, with Kenna conking out along with her little brother and the older kids reading. We tried to stop for ice cream cones at McDonald's, but they told us they were "out" of ice cream. (How can you run out of ice cream?! Honestly!) So instead I ran into the grocery store and spent $3.08 for 1 1/2 quarts of yummy cherry-chocolate ice cream, which we took back to the condo and enjoyed once everyone was awake again. Since we returned earlier than we had the past couple of days, we also enjoyed about an hour or so in the pool with the kids, a great way to cool off after a hot afternoon.
We had frozen pizza (that we cooked, ha) for dinner, then put Lucan to bed and piled on the bed in Ted's and my room and watched Night at the Museum 2: Battle at the Smithsonian. The kids had watched the first movie with us a few months ago, so it was fun to revisit the characters. Plus, we plan to see some parts of the Smithsonian museums while we're in D.C., so the kids got a kick out of that.
And with that, it's time to sign off and get to bed! Tomorrow: Jamestown!
First stop was a set-up of a Continental Army camp. As you can imagine, the boys were most interested in this! After a stop to learn about "medicine," however, both Tobin and Charis informed me that they weren't feeling so well, LOL. Obviously they take after their mother, who does NOT take after HER mother, who spent years in the nursing profession! Just TALKING about amputations, cauterizing blood vessels, infections, etc., was enough to make my kids woozy! Fortunately, their attention was quickly diverted as we saw the officers' quarters, the kitchen, and another demonstration of loading and firing muskets.
Next we went to a "middling" farm, a typical middle class homestead, with one building for the family to live in and another as the kitchen, a sign that the family was doing pretty well, to have the kitchen as a separate room altogether. Incidentally, I had never heard of this! I guess I always pictured something from "Little House on the Prairie!" But it makes sense...having the kitchen be a completely different building would keep the house cooler during the summertime, as well as prevent flies and smoke from invading and saturating the main living area. Inside the kitchen were lots of hanging dried herbs and vegetables, and even dried meats.
One amusing thing that happened in/near the kitchen was that a friendly turkey followed us in and began pecking at the snack mix on Lucan's stroller tray! Lucan looked rather alarmed at first, but then seemed to enjoy the commotion, which greatly distracted the rest of the class, LOL.
We saw the materials for dishwashing, soap-making, and cloth preparation and dyeing. We got a first-hand look (and sniff) at the building housing dried tobacco, the main cash crop of the day. And we saw the slaves' garden area. One thing I guess I didn't realize was that even this "middle class" of people, families who lived in a one-room house, typically had slaves. Again, I'm coming from a "Little House" mindset, which was a couple of decades after the Civil War in what was then "western" territory--so in my mind, I've always thought it was just the rich people on plantations who were slave owners. Not so. Quite sobering.
Mr. Jack next led us down a time line trail and gave highlights of events leading up to the Revolutionary War, and then he took us around the museum. This was good, because he pointed out items of particular interest, which helped focus the kids' attention and keep them from getting too bored. (Although I must point out that by the time we got into the museum, Arden had given up all semblance of paying attention and was completely absorbed with playing with a young friend he made on the tour, who was carrying Civil War soldiers in his pocket. The two acted out their own battle scenes and had a merry time.)
All in all, the two hours really did fly by! And Tobin mentioned multiple times how much he liked the things we did and saw, so that was encouraging. :-) We retrieved our picnic lunch from the Suburban and enjoyed eating together in a shady spot. Then we went back to the museum and watched a 20-minute video before wandering around the soldiers' camp and the museum a bit more to see some things we had missed previously.
We drove through Yorktown itself and out to the battlefield, where we realized we'd have to pay to get into the park. Since Lucan had conked out by this time, and we weren't entirely convinced that the kids would find it all that interesting, we turned around and headed back to the Victory Center parking lot, where we parked and let the older kids climb back out so they could mount a redoubt, an earthen defensive area actually used by the Welsh during the battle for Yorktown. I stayed behind with Lucan, who was supposed to be sleeping (remember?!). He had been awakened when Arden crinkled an empty Sunchips wrapper in his face. Honestly, son?! WHY?! I snapped at Arden, making him get out of the Suburban and go with everyone else, because I did not want him poking at Lucan anymore. This for some reason seems to be a thing with him. (This was not the first time this week that he had wakened a Lucan who had FINALLY fallen asleep after a looooong morning and afternoon!) So Arden stomped along but refused to get in any of the pictures. If you look at our pictures on Facebook from today, you'll see one of him looking AWAY from the redoubt, and you can just imagine him sulking in the distance, because that is what he was doing!
Thankfully Lucan fell asleep again, and the ride home was extremely quiet, with Kenna conking out along with her little brother and the older kids reading. We tried to stop for ice cream cones at McDonald's, but they told us they were "out" of ice cream. (How can you run out of ice cream?! Honestly!) So instead I ran into the grocery store and spent $3.08 for 1 1/2 quarts of yummy cherry-chocolate ice cream, which we took back to the condo and enjoyed once everyone was awake again. Since we returned earlier than we had the past couple of days, we also enjoyed about an hour or so in the pool with the kids, a great way to cool off after a hot afternoon.
We had frozen pizza (that we cooked, ha) for dinner, then put Lucan to bed and piled on the bed in Ted's and my room and watched Night at the Museum 2: Battle at the Smithsonian. The kids had watched the first movie with us a few months ago, so it was fun to revisit the characters. Plus, we plan to see some parts of the Smithsonian museums while we're in D.C., so the kids got a kick out of that.
And with that, it's time to sign off and get to bed! Tomorrow: Jamestown!
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