FIELD TRIP!!!

The last of my 8 cousins got married in the D.C. area so we partied with the family then headed out for our field trip!

We pricelined a hotel and had a yard sale to pay for it and packed up the darlings and went! What a GREAT TRIP! We loved it! I follow www.aquiverfull-christy.blogspot.com and they have made the trip twice. She has excellent suggestions and well, it was indeed awesome! We used the metro and spent a couple of days there with our picnic lunches. We may make a quick trip to a museum and we may come back for more. Since the majority of attractions are free in D.C., My Dear and I could say "yes" and say it often.

Dolly wanted to see the flag that flew over Ft. McHenry from the War of 1812. It is the flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner. We read every word of information in that are at the Museum of American History. In fact, we did this museum two days because of the "kid" areas in the basement.

Billy, My Dear and I all loved Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot. The theater has been rebuilt and is a National Park now. Museum in the basement then a lecture in the actual theater. Very good! Billy, as a second grader would read anything he could get his hands on about Abraham Lincoln so he had a strong base to build on! Even B. knows he comes on the $5 bill. She can't read the 5 on the bill but she knows "Abewaham Weencon!"

The children were good with walking through the monuments but it is the new World War II Memorial that really caught their attention. It is done so well and connected some history dots for me. The display of stars, each representing 100 American lives lost in the war stopped all of us in our tracks.

The zoo is also free so Miss B. enjoyed the few hours we were there and watching the funny Pandas. It was suggested that one of the Panda was the actual panda used in the movie Kung Fu Panda as it layed spread out on a rock-fat and happy!

The Natural History Museum had a nice insect exhibit with included a greenhouse area of butterflies. My brother had gone and strongly suggested we go. He even told me when the free day was to see the butterflies! So that is what we did on Tuesday and that was EVERYONE'S favorite activity of the day.

We put the miles on our tennis shoes and on the stroller! But we loved it!

In fact, we loved it so much we added a day to our trip and went to Philly! Independence Hall, the "Liverty" Bell (Dolly's favorite), Betsy Ross's home, and first post office in the US and it is still in operation. We had read about this post office and the work of Ben Franklin. Billy had read about William Penn's coming to America as a Quaker and his views that all are created equal because we are in the image of God! Very cool to see what we read about!

We LOVED the "Once Upon A Nation" story tellers who set up around Philly and told stories of less than well known heroes. I learned, I don't know a lick about history really and our text books are limiting! Even the homeschooling book we have used was disappointing.

Billy, Dolly, and My Dear joined the regiment and were trained while Miss B napped in the stroller and I laughed! The children LOVED it as folks were dressed in period costumes. One of them asked Dolly what "Colony she hailed from?" Seeing that we are not from an original colony-she just froze. He asked if she was Scottish because My Dear was wearing plaid shorts. I of course wanted to eat a Philly Steak while there...yum!

After a night in a historical building turned hotel (thank you Priceline!), we hit the road! But since we were so close to Valley Forge decided to stop for only an hour......ok, that does not scratch the surface!!! We MUST go back again! I want to take the bicycle tour of the area! We did get to hear one of the "Once Upon A Nation" storytellers.

The trip was filled with extended family, points of interest for everyone, picnics, 2 birthdays (Billy and I), swimming, history, and sleepovers every night!