Summer Vacation - Day 3

We woke up early again this morning and started on our drive towards New York, stopping first at Valley Forge.

This was where General Washington brought his Continental Army to live and train. It is basically the birthplace of our Nation’s Army. Of course, they had been fighting before coming here in 1777, but this was when they became unified. They began wearing the same uniforms, and working together as a cooperative force, instead of the hodge-podge they were before.
I’m no historian, but I believe we won the war because of what happened here at Valley Forge.

Of course, they also died here during the winter of 1777-78… which makes this place notable  as well. These men (all volunteers) were able to triumph over adversity and sacrifice for a cause they believed in.
Don’t worry, I drilled this lesson of perseverance into the brains of my children.

Replicas of  the more than 1000 cabins the soldiers built themselves.

8-12 men slept in each one.
Jefferson feels right at home. I have no doubt he would have been here had he been alive.
 

Getting a detailed look at the things that belonged to each soldier. And the kids being taught how to attach and use a bayonet (my boys are in a trance).  


The kids playing war.
It really was this vibrant green outside.


Here is Shawn helping Reagan with her Jr. Ranger booklet.
In almost every photo of my kids, you’ll see them holding clip boards. They trudged these things around each and every day filling out their booklets. Mostly because I made them. But also because they wanted to earn their Jr. Ranger badges. 
‘Only the most awesome children have them’… that’s how I brainwash my kids to love history. So far it’s working. 


Reagan worked really hard on this clover headband, then gave it to her dad, how sweet.
 



This is the home General Washington lived in at Valley Forge. I also got a picture of the staircase and railing he walked up and down each day, no doubt debating his next strategy.
 
 

We thought we might be there an hour or 2. Well, 4 hours later we were heading up to New York.
We stopped at Pizza Hut for dinner, which is where I threw a mini-tantrum…. Something about ‘always being the photographer and never being in any photos’ and yada yada yada
So, Shawn grabbed the camera and took this lovely picture of me at a scenic Pizza Hut in New Jersey. 
 

Then we waited over an hour for our hotel room. It was being deep cleaned after a previous occupancy of 1 year. 1 YEAR? who lives in a hotel for a year?
They had no other rooms available. But we did get our night stay for FREE, which didn’t make it seem that bad anymore.

Summer Vacation–Days 1 and 2

I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone when I say that Shawn and I love American History.
With all our hearts.
I cannot emphasis this enough!
And my poor children bear the brunt of this obsession. 

There are worse things than being named after great American leaders and Heroes I suppose.

It was only a matter of time before we took a vacation to see American History sites. (I am going to dub it, ‘the vacation of a lifetime’). The idea crossed Shawn’s mind when he signed up for CE credits in Philadelphia. If he was going to go all the way up there, why not take the family?
And while you’re there, why not travel the extra 1 1/2 hrs to see New York?
And on the way home, why not stop in DC?
Why not? sounds easy enough

It turned into a 9 day Historical sites, American facts, restaurant eating, road trip, hotel staying overload.
I’m confident my children can redeem college credit for everything they were forced to do did.

I have to be honest, I am overwhelmed with how to go about blogging this trip. I want to include everything (which others might call ‘bore you to death’). But I know it will take forever. So bear with me. I’m going to have to break it up into days. Oh, and I took over 1,000 pictures. I will probably have a mental fit trying to decide which to show.

I’ll start with Day 1 (clever me)
Shawn spent the entire day in classes. I was woken by my mom at the hotel room door around 7am. Oh, I didn’t mention she was coming? Well, who could resist a trip like this? She flew in to Philadelphia and met us at our hotel.
We spent the entire day at the pool…. we had to relax and conserve our energy for the rollercoaster we were about to embark on.

  

We spent 1 hour in traffic traveling only 5 miles to pick Shawn up in the city.
Then we went to the Reading Terminal Market to find the best Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. The market has a rich history back to the 1700’s. It is bustling with people and unique vendors. If we were going to find a Cheesesteak sandwich, it was going to be here.
And it seemed everyone else had the same idea, because all of the shops were sold out of steak… it was 5pm.
We frowned, then made due with cheesesteak sandwiches from an old diner. They weren’t the best… heck, they weren’t even good.
But we ate them in Philadelphia… which is all that really mattered anyways.

Day 2
We woke up at the butt-crack of dawn (we actually did this every day), and headed to Independence Hall
Where it all began
It… as in, the United States of America
As in, every freedom we enjoy and our entire quality of life is a result of what happened in this building. 
 


This was the exact spot where the Declaration of Independence was adopted, and the Constitution was signed.
Everything in the room was a period piece, except the “Rising Sun” chair, where  George Washington sat.
Benjamin Franklin said about the chair, “I have often looked at that behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now I... know that it is a rising...sun.”

You can’t enter this room without yell-singing, “Sit down John, sit down John, for God’s sake John SIT DOWN” (but without the profanity) 
It’s an unwritten rule.
 

We lingered until the other tour group had left and the room was empty. I could almost hear the echoing voices of those great men debating.
I think I’m holding my hand to my heart so I don’t faint

 

Next door was Congress Hall

Many things happened in this room during the first years of the Nation’s history. But I think what makes it an important landmark is that this is where John Adams was inaugurated as the 2nd President. George Washington sat in one seat, John Adams the other. This was the first time in the history of the World when a leader gave his power to another by choice, and not as a result death or war.
 

Taking a rest in shade. It was a hot day! Grant might be bored.
 

Then we stood in line for close to an hour to see the Liberty Bell
Yes, it was worth it. I would have stood in line 10 hours to see it!


Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof Lev. XXV X



The kids were asked, “What does liberty mean to you”:
Jefferson – “Freedom from taxation”
Grant – “That we can do whatever we want. Lets ROCK this party!”
Reagan – “That I get to stay up past my bedtime”

Next we went to the US Mint. I had my heart set on going to the main one in DC, but this one would have to do.
The Philadelphia mint produces coins. We learned more about coins then I ever imagined. I have truly underestimated the change in my pocket.
Fact: it took coiners at the First US Mint three years to produce our nation's first 1 million coins.  Today, in Philadelphia, they can produce 1 million coins in 30 minutes
Fact: Coiners in colonial Philadelphia worked 11 hours each day, 6 days per week.  Employees earned about a dollar a day.

Fact: They have specialty coins you can purchase each featuring a US President. They have every President EXCEPT Jefferson, Grant, Kennedy, and Reagan. What are the chances of that poor luck? Really, it seemed like a cruel joke, like I was on Candid Camera. I’m still trying to get over the disappointment. I don’t think I ever will.

This is the only picture we took. There is no photography inside.

To top off this amazing day, it also happened to be my mom’s birthday.
Happy Birthday Mommy!
Her only birthday wish (besides dancing along the streets of Philadelphia to “Happy”, which she did), was to get ice cream at the famous Bassetts. It is America’s first ice cream company… and one of the top 10 ice creams in the country.
For an ice cream conesuir, there was no better place to spend her birthday. So, we headed back to the Reading Terminal Market, searching through all the shops and crowds, until we found this little parlor.  
 

If your face is covered in a mess of ice cream it can only mean 1 thing… it is the best ice cream you’ve ever had!
And it was pretty darn good

The day was done, and so was our short time in Philadelphia.
We went back to the hotel, packed up our things, and stayed up WAY TOO late watching the Disney Chanel.

Catch-up

Catch up, update, rambling… whatever you want to call it… I’m behind in updating my blog. Not that there is anything spectacular to talk about. Just the normal boring stuff. But it’s that stuff that is sometimes more important to remember. 

Note: All of these pictures were taken with my ipad, so they are sub par. And I didn’t bother to crop or edit a single one. I’m on a time crunch here. Summer means I have absolutely no time to myself… there are kids everywhere! But I’m stealing a few moments to update my blog.

First we have to go back… way back… to what seems like years ago, but in fact was just last month.
Success Day
Each grade has a success day where they recognize each child with an award of some sort. There are recognitions for math, science, reading, etc.. But my favorite would have to be “Super Bus Rider” and “Super Breakfast Eater.” Sadly, my children weren’t awarded those. 
Here is Jefferson (evidently cold, in June) with the other class presidents, leading everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance. And accepting his awards for Math, and Reading, and other stuff. He was one of the top readers in his grade (over 2 million words), go Jefferson!
 

Here is Grant receiving his awards. He also was recognized as being the 2nd highest reader in his grade.
 

He’s pretty much a rock star!


Then there was Reagan, who received the “Mighty Mathematician” award.


Reagan with her Kindergarten teachers on the last day of school. It took MONTHS for her to go to school without crying. But by the end of the year, she was begging to go, thanks to the tireless effort of these women… and the entire staff (I don’t doubt she was the most difficult child they’d ever had)!


Jefferson received his Bear in cub scouts. Here he is pinning the bear pin on me. How do you like the madras shorts with the scout uniform?
I guess I shouldn’t talk, I look like a hopping bunny

Lets see, what else do I have to share?

Kennedy on a play date with her friend Sarah. They sat in these swings for an hour!


Grant recently finished another baseball season. He was the Tiger’s first baseman and team captain. I can’t be the only mom who thinks her son is going to go pro, right?
He hits every pitch and catches every ball thrown to him. I’m not exaggerating… every ball!


I absolutely love watching him play. Shawn and I would have this girl strapped to our backs for 2 hours, 2 nights a week (sometimes until 9pm) to watch Grant.

I took on a project. It felt so good to actually do something creative again.
This was the hutch I found at a garage sale. It was covered in cobwebs and stains, and painted with a ridiculous amount of paint.  
 

I basically had to disassemble the entire thing. What do I mean basically?… I actually did.
In hindsight, it probably would have been less work to build one from scratch. But I’m happy with the result.

Now, if you thought that project was a bit scary. Look at this one…..
I bought this GIGANTIC armoire a few weeks ago. To give you an idea of how ginormous it is, I actually had to remove ALL (as in every single one) of the car’s seats, and it took 3 adults to maneuver it inside of my van. What was I thinking? Well, at the time I thought it would be a fun project. Now it gives me goose bumps and makes me nervous. 

I have become clinically obsessed with brussel sprouts. I eat a plate full like this every day.
I know it’s become a problem because I will turn down ice cream to have these instead.
 

I just finished single-handedly building this Harry Potter lego. It took HOURS and DAYS and WEEKS.
Not that I don’t have anything better to do. Just that I was trying to avoid doing anything else.
It doesn’t look too impressive in this picture… but trust me, it’s a masterpiece! 


The boys built it first, 2 years ago. Then over time it broke and joined the tub of legos.
I decided it needed to be put back together. So, I found each individual piece, one a time, by digging through this. I had to find 1,290 pieces!

I’m also happy to announce that I finished the Christmas gift I started for Kennedy 1 1/2 years ago. I’m so productive! It’s finally done and hung, just in time for her to be old enough to reach it and yank it down.


And Kennedy with her buddy. I don’t think Emmaline likes the choke hold.
These darlings played together the past 2 years. Sadly, her family just moved away. They both share the unfortunate past of having traveled across the country as newborns. I think that makes them best friends for life.  
 

That’s it folks! I’m all updated, like I just completed blog spring cleaning.
Except for the HUMUNGOUS vacation we just took. I’m sure that will take a lifetime to document.

But, I’m thinking about putting together another lego instead…. as distraction.