One of the nice things about home schooling is being able to go see and experience the things we are learning in school. We have just finished up a unit on the life of George Washington, so a few weeks back we visited Valley Forge, Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, and this past week my sister Kara and her kids joined us on a trip to see Mount Vernon and The National Mall in Washington DC.
General Jack Washington
The cabins that Washington's army built during their hard winter's stay at Valley Forge.
Jack's favorite thing from the trip to Philly was the deer we saw at Valley Forge. We were all amazed at how close they let us get to them.
In front of Independence Hall
Inside the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed
Posing with George and Martha Washington and their kids Jacky and Patsy
The front and back of Mount Vernon. The view of the Potomac River is just amazing from this back porch.
During this time the wheat was usually threshed by slaves beating at it to get the grain to fall away from the stem. To make the process more efficient, George built this treading barn for a place to thresh his wheat crops. It has 2 stories. The wheat was placed on the top floor where horses were made to run in a circle causing the grain to break off. It would then fall through the cracks of the floor into the lower level where the slaves would gather the grain to be taken to the mill. The leftover hay on the top floor was gathered to feed the animals for the winter months.
This is the only picture we got of all the 7 kids together. They are standing in front of one of the slave's houses.
This is known as the ha ha hill. Washington did not want any of his livestock to come into the yard near his house and his guests, so he built a wall in the yard to keep them out. As you stand on the hill you can't see the wall at all and so when kids would run they would suddenly fall over the edge and disappear...thus the name ha ha hill.
Dressed up in colonial garb
And one interesting fact about George Washington: Did you know he had very poor teeth and only had one tooth left at his inauguration? They made a set of dentures for him out of hippo ivory and human teeth.
The next day we set out to the National Mall in DC.
Samuel flying a plane at the Air and Space Museum
Did you know the Capitol Building has 139 chimneys?
Samuel was having a bit of a melt down at the time of this picture.
The Natural History Museum
One last piece of trivia: what is the difference between capitol and capital?
In front of Independence Hall
Inside the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed
My sister Kara then joined us for our DC trip. We had a 3 month old, a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 year old along for the ride! Amazingly they did quite well considering they didn't get to take any naps and were walking all day for 2 straight days.
Mount Vernon was very interesting. They have a scavenger hunt for the kids to do which kept them looking for answers to puzzles.
Posing with George and Martha Washington and their kids Jacky and Patsy
The front and back of Mount Vernon. The view of the Potomac River is just amazing from this back porch.
During this time the wheat was usually threshed by slaves beating at it to get the grain to fall away from the stem. To make the process more efficient, George built this treading barn for a place to thresh his wheat crops. It has 2 stories. The wheat was placed on the top floor where horses were made to run in a circle causing the grain to break off. It would then fall through the cracks of the floor into the lower level where the slaves would gather the grain to be taken to the mill. The leftover hay on the top floor was gathered to feed the animals for the winter months.
This is the only picture we got of all the 7 kids together. They are standing in front of one of the slave's houses.
This is known as the ha ha hill. Washington did not want any of his livestock to come into the yard near his house and his guests, so he built a wall in the yard to keep them out. As you stand on the hill you can't see the wall at all and so when kids would run they would suddenly fall over the edge and disappear...thus the name ha ha hill.
Dressed up in colonial garbAnd one interesting fact about George Washington: Did you know he had very poor teeth and only had one tooth left at his inauguration? They made a set of dentures for him out of hippo ivory and human teeth.
The next day we set out to the National Mall in DC.
Samuel flying a plane at the Air and Space Museum
Did you know the Capitol Building has 139 chimneys?
Samuel was having a bit of a melt down at the time of this picture.
The Natural History Museum
One last piece of trivia: what is the difference between capitol and capital?
5 comments:
Now I know what the rest of the trip was like:). You really did do a lot on Wednesday!
wow, what an awesome field trip! how great that you live so near to so much important history. i hope to be able to take the kids to all those places some day.
Wow Tesha -- great account of your trips. I haven't even looked at my pictures yet! They are on my camera which I left in my purse which I left at church on Sunday. I drove out Mon night to retrieve it and realized when I got there I had taken my church key off my ring! Needless to say it is still there! --Kara
looks like an amazing trip! so great that you got to spend time with kara at the same time.
Homeschooling?! It's so great!
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