Father's Day~

 Saturday morning, after breakfast, I asked Bill what he'd like to do for Father's Day.  And he mentioned wanting to go back to Appomattox at some point down the road.

You may remember that our visit there back in Feb. was not to be, due to  inclement weather.

"Well, why not THIS weekend?" I asked.

And so, within the hour, we had the car packed, kids loaded, picnic lunch prepared and we were pulling out of our driveway and on our way to Virginia.  Because, that's the way we roll around here.  And sometimes it's just fun to be spur of the moment!

We stopped along the way for lunch.

  

 And we arrived in Lynchburg about 4 hours later.

We checked in to our hotel and let the kids swim for a couple of hours, and then headed into the historic area of the town to find a dinner spot.

We came upon the Depot Grille, an old train depot turned into an eatery, and decided to give it a try. 

We sat outside to enjoy the beautiful weather and the good food, and the kids were delighted when a train came rumbling by!

Afterwards we took a walk along the tracks

and then along the James river, crossing over a bridge to a nature preserve area.  We watched the sun set and let the kids catch lightening bugs.  Such a fun evening!

Sunday morning, we headed to Appomattox.

 

 

 On our February visit

and

and at the same spot on our Father's Day visit!

 

  The kids enjoyed seeing a mobile printing press demonstration.

We listened to a Corporal tell about his time with the Union Army and his eye witness account of the events that occurred at Appomattox.

About mid way through our visit, we left the site and headed into town for some lunch.  A ranger recommended this spot for a homey, southern lunch.

  This was definitely the spot for the over 70, local, after church, Sunday dinner crowd.  And when we walked in, everyone stopped their eating and STARED.  It was rather awkward, I must say. And the food was, eh. You win some and lose some when trying to eat "local."

Back at the site, Daddy and kids at the McLean House, where General Robert E. Lee surrendered and the papers were signed. 

And we visited the county jail and locked up some unruly citizens. 

We visited the other buildings on the property, turned in completed booklets for Ranger Badges, and headed back home with a deeper understanding of the men who fought on both sides of the war. Often brother against brother. Each fighting for what they believed was right.

 

I still need to finish posting from our graduation trip, but I want to keep current, too, otherwise it seems like I'm never caught up.  Do y'all ever feel that way?

  

Flag Day~

  Well, being Flag Day, this is a good day to post some of the photos from our DC area site seeing while we were in town for my nephew's graduation last month.

Day 1

The rain we had experienced on graduation day had moved through, and our day was sunny, cool and very breezy.  Our hotel was not far from Ft. McHenry, so we began our day there!

And of course, this being a National Park, it goes without saying that the kids earned their Jr. Ranger badges!

 AnnaClaire and Grace had studied about the writing of the Star Spangled Banner in history this year, so it was very exciting to see the flag (replica of course) flying over Ft. McHenry, and having this part of the history they had learned  come alive.

 Of course the cannons were very exciting for everyone to see!

  And beautiful Kate!  Who takes after her biggest sister (hi, Emily) and isn't the least bit interested in "history!"

After several hours at Ft. McHenry, it was time to find a spot for lunch.  We ALWAYS opt for "local" when given the chance, and we happened upon Big Matty's Diner in the historic part of Baltimore not far from Ft. McHenry.

  We spoke with the owner, and the diner had been there for 50 years, though he'd owned it for just a few months.

   The inside was quite retro and included a cute soda bar and the food did not disappoint!

After lunch we decided to visit Arlington National Cemetery.  Being the Memorial Day Weekend, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity for our kids to have a first visit. We and EVERYONE else in the DC area had the same idea, evidently.  It took us forever to get in and parked.  But it was SO worth the effort.

Bill and I had last visited Arlington on our 8th grade class trip.  Notice I didn't say trips~ and that's because we were in the same 8th grade class in middle school in Houston.

Perhaps it was because we were just at a military graduation and most definitely because we are no longer middle schoolers, but this time our visit was so very meaningful and profound.

   

It was breathtaking to see all of the veterans' graves decorated with the flags for Memorial Day.  I'd seen photos of course, but it's hard to describe actually seeing it in person.  The magnitude of Arlington, and the sheer

number of graves really hit me on this trip. 

Although we arrived later in the day, we were able to visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (in the background) and we happened to get there right at the changing of the guard. Grace, in particular, enjoyed that.

  We also visited Kennedy's grave and saw the Eternal Flame.  Pictured at the top of the hill is the Lee House, which sadly we did not have time to tour.

After our time at Arlington, we drove to our hotel in Mt. Vernon.  And now you know where our next day of touring was, and what you'll see in my next post!

I hope you all are not weary of all of our history road trip photos.  I do hope it serves as an encouragement to you to pack up your family and go and SEE the historic sites in our land.  It will make history come alive for your children and for YOU! I can almost guarantee it will give you new appreciation our great country and all we have been given. And it really is our job to pass this down to our children. 

A Friend~

A rough start to my day

A vent to a friend

A couple of hours later....

A warm hug

A listening ear

A cheerful bouquet

A little bit of sweet and caffeine (my daily habit)

Just what I needed

Wrapped in the love of

A good friend!

  

Our Heros~

 My nephew, Michael, graduated from the Naval Academy last weekend, and our family road tripped up to MD for the occasion!

Michael is flanked by his Uncle Peter, on the left side of the photo, who graduated from West Point and is now a retired General, and his  father, pictured on the right, who also was  a West Point grad, and is now a retired Lt. Colonel.  And here they are showing off their class rings!

Graduation day dawned COLD and windy and rainy.  Not the best for the outdoor ceremony, but it was made more exciting by the fact that  President Obama was in attendance. The children loved seeing the presidential helicopter flying in above us, flanked by 2 other helicopters.  While not in agreement with our current president's policies, we respect the office of the President, and remember that it is GOD who sets our leaders above us. Incidentally, this was the first graduation that did NOT have a military fly over~ due to the sequestration. :) 

 Each year, the president alternates between attending one of the service academy graduations,  and this was the year for him to be at the Naval Academy graduation.  Custom is for the president to hand out the diplomas to the top 100 students and shake their hands. (President Obama, though, did request that he be able to shake each graduate's hand.) Michael, having a class rank of #51 out of roughly 1400 graduates was one to receive this honor.  Interestingly enough, all 3 of the men pictured above had a president in attendance the year of their graduation, and each graduated in the top 100.  Peter, was handed his diploma by Gerald Ford, and Bill (Michael's dad) received his diploma from President Reagan. 

I came across this quote by Ronald Reagan this week, and thought I'd share:

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We did not pass it to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was ONCE like in the United States were men were free. ~ Ronald Reagan

A sobering thought, isn't it, as we currently watch our freedoms erode.

Peter, Bill, and now Micheal, our family thanks you and the countless others who serve and give their lives every day to defend our freedoms. We do not take it for granted. 

We were able to do some additional touring while in the area, so stay tuned for another post on that!  

 

Choir Concerts and Piano Recitals, Oh My!

  Well, it's that time of year....

AnnaClaire has been singing in a city wide home school choir this year.  There are 300+ children from grades 1-12 that sing in the choir.  They are broken up into smaller choirs by age.  AnnaClaire has been singing with the Music Makers, who are boys and girls from 6-8 years old.  They perform 2 concerts each year~ in the spring and fall, as well as sing at a local nursing home twice a year.  Here are photos from the spring concert.

   

AnnaClaire has learned SO much about music and composers, and more this year through her participation.  We are looking forward to next year, when Kate will be old enough to join the  Music Makers!

 

And on to the piano recital, which was held earlier this week~

AnnaClaire was the first to play.  Here she is anxiously walking to the piano.

 She played America the Beautiful and performed perfectly!

Next up was Grace

Our girls had a patriotic theme going, as Grace played The Stars and Stripes Forever. She also played her song through perfectly.

 Both girls worked hard, and we couldn't be prouder of them!

And here they are with their piano teacher.  She is SO patient and encouraging.  AND she comes to our house!  We couldn't love her more!

Nice job, girls!

Tiny Dancer~

  Saturday was Kate's dance recital.  It's just so happened that each year her class has done a ballet dance as opposed to a tap routine. Which suits Kate just fine!  This year she danced to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from Lion King. 

Kate's class is such a sweet group of girls.

 It's such a joy to watch Kate dance.  She's SO graceful and expressive, and she always has a smile on her face.  She LOVES to be on stage.  And of course, she loves wearing tutus!

 

 

Afterwards, she received flowers from her Daddy!

Next year, Kate will be moving to a new level in dance.  She'll have separate classes  for both tap/jazz and ballet instead of one combined class.  At first Kate said she just wanted to do ballet.  UNTIL she learned that if she took 2 classes, she'd be in TWO recital dances and wear TWO recital costumes.  And that sealed the deal for her.  Ballet AND tap it will be!

I am not a "dance mom" type at all.  But this is something Kate LOVES (and does WELL with) so we're allowing her to do it.  We're very blessed to have found a God honoring dance studio where costumes are modest and the music (a mix of Christian and other) and dance routines bring glory to Christ.  Before the performance, prayers were said that the dancers would use their gifts and talents for the glory of God and to bless others. There are no competitive teams in our studio, and the owner works classes around her homeschooling schedule.  LOVE that! It's just perfect for us!

      

Mother's Day~

Oh, how blessed I am!

 

 

We spent Mother's Day at the Carl Sandburg home, which just so happens to be a National Park! And you know what that means....more Jr. Ranger badges!

 

Since Emily was with, I've got plenty of pictures to post! 

We arrived at lunch time and enjoyed a picnic  by the creek.  The kids enjoyed playing by the creek a little bit, while Emily took some photos. We also saw 3 water snakes, which the children LOVED watching!



 

Mrs. Sandburg kept goats and had a thriving goat milk business, and ancestors of her goats are still on the farm.  There were quite a few baby goats, too, which was fun for the kids, though we didn't end up with any photos of them.

The kids loved the goats (all except for Ellie) and they were very tame, so we stayed for quite a while.  The children were able to help feed the goats in the barn and also watch a goat being milked.

I had to include this because I LOVE old barns~  and the sky was so blue!

 

Bill, working with AnnaClaire on her ranger badge requirements.

 



And I LOVE stone walls....especially with cute little girls walking on them!

 

So happy to have spent such a beautiful day with my youngest 6!  And the boys both happened to call while we were there, so I felt like we were all together for part of the time.

The kids showing off their ranger badges in front of the house.

It's hard to tell from this photo, but the house sits up high on a hill, overlooking 245 acres of beautiful property, including a small lake. We toured the home, and the inside has all the original furnishings and household items left in place as they were on the day of Sandburg's death. The home inside is very lived in and unpretentious and of course it is just FILLED with books.  Every single room had floor to ceiling bookshelves.  And I just LOVE a book filled home!



Littlest girl is such a trooper~ she was happy all day!  She wasn't a fan of the goats, though, hence no goat photos of Ellie!
 

 

If you look closely toward the right, you can see a glimpse of the house on the hill, overlooking this beautiful lake.
   



 It's so much more  fun to ride on Gracie than in the stroller at the end of the day! 

As you can see from the photos, the weather was beautiful, and this was the perfect place to spend Mother's Day TOGETHER, which is just what I had wanted! 

 

Of course Carl Sandburg is best known for his books on Lincoln, but here's a shout out to this silly story, which is a favorite of my kids and also by Sandburg. We had checked it out from the library so often, that we now own our own copy. 

Yep, that "one click" button again!