George Washington's Birthday at Mount Vernon!

Every year on George Washington's Birthday you can visit his home, Mount Vernon for free.

We went and celebrated the birth of our first president!

Duncan watching the blacksmith at work.

Mount Vernon was a fully functioning farm with a blacksmith, a smokehouse, greenhouse, etc.

Duncan was my only child that joined me (Ronan & Morgan both said they'd been too many times), but we were joined with some other friends as well which made for a great time!

Nathan, Duncan, Charlie, & Ted at the backside of the house (where it overlooks the river).

Of course rolling down this great hill was a must for these boys!

George Washington's tomb.

We went through the house, as well as the exhibits, and enjoyed ourselves. 

And to top it off, they served us birthday cake to celebrate his birthday!

Happy Birthday George!

Spring Break in Philadelphia!

We decided to spend some time in Philadelphia for spring break!

We started at the mint!

We weren't allowed to take photos inside the mint, but this is the process....

Benjamin Franklin's grave...

Duncan & Ashlyn played 'mission impossible' every time they walked down the hallway of the hotel.

Complete with their own theme music.

It was so fun to watch.

Next on the list was Independence Hall...

We stood in the very room that the founding father's voted on the Declaration of Independence!

George Washington.

In front of Independence Hall.

The Liberty Bell!

My cute girl on a raining day in Philadelphia!

The New LDS Philadelphia Temple is coming along!

Can't wait to take the kids through the Open House next year!

Thanks for a fun few days Philadelphia! 

National Archives & The Library of Congress!

During the Fall Session of our Homeschool Co-op (SHARP), Hayden & Ronan both took a Medieval History class. Their teacher organized a field trip to see the 1297 Magna Carta at the National Archives, as well as the 1215 Magna Carta that is on display at The Library of Congress for a period of time (on loan from the Lincoln Cathedral in England).

As this is the time period we are studying in our own homeschool history class, we were super excited about the oportunity!

I guess I should say SOME of us were excited. Morgan has proven to not be as into history as the rest of us. I don't know quite what to do with that.

 I just don't grasp NOT being interested in history.

Anyway, we gave her the option to come with us or stay home. Only, we said if she stayed home, she would be watching the girls as well (who I knew wouldn't have the interest and stamina to spend a day in D.C. at two different museums to see things that just wouldn't capture the interest of a 5 & 7 year old). She choose to stay and watch them.

So, Brian & I took the 3 boys the Nations Capital for a great History field trip!

There were 6 kids from the Co-op class, and Duncan.

It was a fun time!

I enjoyed spending the day with my boys.

The National Archives was our first stop. We really enjoyed all there was to see there!

And had a great tour guide.

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos.

So, these of the outside are all I got.

After lunch we walked over to the Library of Congress.

And had a nice walking tour of sights.

The Supreme Court Building.

The Library of Congress.

I absolutely loved the architecture inside The Library of Congress building.

Just so beautiful!

The Giant Bible of Mainz.

This is one of the last manuscript Bibles before the invention of printing.

It is from 1452.

It is just amazing to me that we can look at something written almost 600 years ago!

The Gutenberg Bible.

Printed in 1455.

The first great book printed in movable metal type.

We recently learned about this in our history lessons, and Duncan was so excited to see it!

We were taken on an Architectural Tour of the building, and I very much enjoyed it!

Just beautiful.

We then went on the Magna Carta tour...

And got to see the 1215 Magna Carta.

At the Library of Congress I was allowed to take photos.

They also had some other great documents.

Like George Washington's draft of the US Constitution.

We also enjoyed just walking around and looking at all the the wonderful books that they had.

 

A book lover's heaven!

Although, I do have to say that poor Ronan was a bit upset.

He had a different picture in his mind as to what the trip to The Library of Congress would be like.

He envisioned being able to wander about the library freely, looking at any all all books he pleased.

That is not how it went.

First off, you need to have a Library of Congress library card.

And you need to be 16 years old AND have a valid reason for needing one.

We were to get Hayden one, BUT he didn't bring his ID with him.

So, we will be making another trip back to get one and have him do some research.

The Reading Room in The Library of Congress.

US Naval Academy!

This last year, in our homeschool, we were studying the American Revolution. We are lucky enough to be within driving distance of many sites, and took advantage of that.  I had planned to go visit the Naval Academy when we were studying about John Paul Jones, but something came up, and we never made it there during the school year. 

BUT, the summer time proved to be full of field trip opportunities, so off we went!

"I have not yet begun to fight!"

This is the phrase that the kids remember most of all from John Paul Jones.

His body is entombed in the crypt at the Naval Academy Chapel.

God bless the Father of our Navy!

We also enjoyed checking out the sites around the Academy.  

Below are some photos from Ronan's iPod, I love to see what they enjoyed most.

Great family day out!