Colonial Williamsburg, part 4, The Gabe Edition

Gabe had fun on this trip too. He would probably say that the 18th century dirt, rocks, sticks, leaves and water were his favorite things. He was very patient with those of us learning and experience the history that was so far above his head. I'm sure he was listening so that he would be familiar with it later. :)

And a few more pictures...

Riding the ferry across the James River.

Being silly in the hotel room.

See, listening to the tour and not being distracting... :)

Definitely needed times to get down and walk. This is the garden maze and he was determined to find his way through. I just love this picture! :)

"eese" :)

(that is his way of asking to have his picture taken)

Ezra on Vacation

Here are some cute pictures we captured of Ezra...

Crossing the James River on the ferry.

If yoou look close, you can see his hair blowin' in the wind. :)

In the hotel chillin' on his tummy.

Riding in the sling.

Colonial Williamsburg, part 3, R. Charlton's Coffeehouse

This was probably Jeremy and I's favorite activity of the day. The kids enjoyed it, too, as you will see. We went into Mr. Charlton's coffeehouse. The tour was interactive. We were taken into the parlor and told about the family and the coffeehouse. I learned that women weren't often patrons of such a place. He told us that beef, mutton and peacock would be on the menu. I was not accustomed to the delicate foods available there as Jeremy was. :) Then were taken into Mr Charlton's office to discuss credit since there was no currency at this time. We were offered credit for a year to allow our crops to grow and be sold. Then we were finally brought into the dining room with Mrs. Charlton so we might sample their imported chocolate. YUM! She was quite the conversationalist. We were served our choice of coffee or chocolate. I took a little chocolate in my coffee. JR had coffee. Olivia had chocolate which she enjoyed but found rather rich after a few sips. Gabe happily finished it off for her. It was all delicious and fun!

Colonial Williamsburg, part 2, Mother Goose Riddles and Rhymes Tour

We did a tour at Colonial Williamsburg called the Mother Goose Riddles and Rhymes Tour. It was part of their homeschool activities. We all got to go on the tour but it was, of course, geared primarily for Olivia. Our guide taught us some of the history behind 3 nursery rhymes as she took us on a walking tour.

Our first stop was to see Mr. Green the gardener (yes that was really his name). He showed us several plants and herbs and talked about how they were used in colonial times. We saw that the paths of the gardens, as well as other walking paths in Colonial Williamsburg, were paved with shells. And the children learned that it might have been their job to help care for the gardens that would help to feed their family.

Mary, Mary quite contrary.

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

Then we headed out to a field and talked about how they used candles to light their way. Then the kids got to jump over a candle stick as they were saying the rhyme. Olivia thought this was great fun. Gabe wanted to try it but didn't quite get it.

Jack be nimble,

Jack be quick,

Jack jump over the candlestick!



Next we went to visit the town Cooper. He makes barrels and pails. The kids each got to pick up the pails full of water and see how heavy it might have been.

Jack and Jill went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water;

Jack fell down and broke his crown

And Jill came tumbling after.

Then we headed into a shady garden area. This was a common place for children to play during colonial days. They played a game called Thread the Needle. Gabe was eager to join in the fun here, too. The garden was surrounded by a brick wall which led to another nursery rhyme.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again

 

The kids were each given a bag with the nursery rhymes, a shell, a burnt candle stick, a wood shaving, and a small brick. Note: These nursery rhymes actually all have conflicting orgins and meanings if you look them up on Wikipedia or other such resource. Here is an interesting resource about kid's books and colonial times: http://www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/volume2/june04/pocketbook.cfm

A visit to Colonial Williamsburg, part 1

We had a great family vacation to the Historical Triangle area in Virginia. We saw Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown Victory Center, and The Jamestown Settlement. We combined lots of family fun with an educational experience for Olivia. It went right along with our current history reading of colonial America and the early years of our country. They were having their biannual homeschool days which meant lots of great programs and extra hands on activities. I will break this up into several blog posts because there are so many pictures to share.

First Olivia got to dress up in a colonial dress and hat.

Then we headed out of the 21st century and into the 18th century of Colonial Williamsburg. We headed down the street to find the printing office. We got to see the Virginia Gazette being printed and hung to dry. This tied in great with our history reading last week on Benjamin Franklin and Poor Richard's Almanac.

On our way there we ran into a gentlemen. It was fun talking to him. He was wearing clothing of the day and acted as though he lived during the Colonial times. He asked Olivia what colony she was from. He asked how she traveled, whether by horse or by sea. He explained that the last time he had been to North Carolina it had taken him 7 or 8 days so therefore we must have had very fast horses to bring us there. Olivia, in her very literal way, said, "no, we came by car and then boat" (she meant the ferry). We then explained that they didn't have cars in those days so that travel took much longer.

We watched the weaver at work.

We visited the Govenor's Palace kitchen and garden maze.

Note: Ezra slept through all the family fun here.

She got to play a hoop game on the Palace Green.

We visited a farm of the middling class just outside of town. There she got to try her hand at candle making. (This was her favorite activity of the day.)

She learned her courtesies (waiting at the door to be invited in, not speaking unless spoken to, and how to curtsy).

And of course was a kid.

Oh, how I love that picture! :)

Homeschool Activities

We started back into our My Father's World curriculum at the end of August. Once again, we are really enjoying it!

Our bible for two weeks was on Jesus, the bread of life. And he is! He is the only thing that will truely satisfy us. All other people, things, and food will only satisfy us for a while but then the hungry will return. But that longing in each of us can be satisfied with a relationship with God! Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35

As usual the science lessons corresponded nicely. We did some science experiments with yeast. We also made our own modeling dough and yeast bread. To add to the fun we got to watch one of the owners of our local bakery make bread from grinding the wheat, all the way through the process to the oven. Then of course we tasted some! Olivia's favorite parts were the huge mixer and how she cut designs into the tops of the bread.

We have been reading more about colonial times. The history stories have been written from the perspective of children during that time. It has been fun and educational. One of our stories was about a boy who helped to take care of the cows that were brought over to the New World. To go with this, we watched a history channel presentation on milk from the cow to the store. We also went with some friends to the Hunter's Farm Factory for a tour. They get milk from Jersey cows off of family farms and produce milk and ice cream. Olivia loved sampling the ice cream at the end of that tour. :) Also, that week we made butter from cream. Olivia thought that shaking the jar for so long was difficult but it sure tasted good on our bread at dinner that night!

We have also been looking at the works of some great American artist from the colonial period. I blogged about one of those projects not too long ago. And of course we continue with reading, writing and math instructions. We are headed to Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown next week. She will get to see some colonial life hands on. We'll post pictures of that for sure!

Gabe is 2 years old!

Sunday, Gabe turned 2. Its hard to believe! Sept 5th, 2 years ago was certainly a memorable day for us. We were blessed with our first little boy. He loves trucks, trains, and tractors! He is generous with smiles, kisses and keeps us laughing. He runs around with such excitement although still somewhat unsteady. He talks "up a storm" and is very serious about what he has to say. While he is gaining new words daily, we still can't understand him when he really gets to talking but you can be sure he knows what he is saying. :) He also loves balloons and cake. Well, he loves food in general! He plays hard and is "all boy" as the saying goes.

This year we celebrated his birthday over 2 days. Daddy, Olivia, and I woke him up with balloons, a couple of presents and singing happy birthday to him. So he started the day smiling for sure. :) Then in the afternoon, we headed down to my parent's house to celebrate. We went swimming, had more balloons, sang, ate cupcakes, opened more presents, went to see a large train set that ran around the top of a living room, and roasted marshmallows around a little "campfire". Monday, we continued the celebration by having dinner, opening more presents, singing and of course more cupcakes with Nana and Pop-pop. (Nana and Pop-pop have the pictures of this celebration) It was a fun birthday for sure! Gabe is exhausted tonight to prove it! :)

Summer is for Swimming

We have enjoyed lots of time at the pool this summer. It has been a great way to spend time this hot summer!


It has been a big year for Olivia. She has been mostly afraid or very dependent on a float for the last couple of years. This year, she took 6 days worth of swim lessons with five other 4 and 5year olds. I was really excited when she was excited to go to swimming, tried to put her face in the water some, and didn’t freak out on the teacher. Well, she exceeded my expectations. On the last day of class, the teacher took the students to the deep end and encouraged them to try and jump off the diving board. This was a long spring board in the 12ft deep end of the pool. Olivia climbed up on the diving board no problem. I was amazed. Then she walked to the end, looked down, and instantly starting shaking all over and crying hard. She was helped back off the diving board. Then a lifeguard went and sat on the end of the board to help give some to the kids more confidence. I talked to her about staying calm (she counts to 10 while taking deep breaths) and just walking out there again. Well, that time she did just that and then jumped off. After that, she was hooked. She has loved the pool and jumping in ever since. This week she was trying to dive off the board. She even jumped off once having forgotten to put her water wings on and managed to swim most of the way across the deep end. Granted, she was rather panicked as were we but she did come back up out of the water after jumping and kept her head up.
 

 

Gabe loves the pool! And watched Jeremy and Olivia jump in from the diving board a few times and then followed suit. He gets very upset when we drive by the pool without stopping or when we have to get out to leave.

We did take Ezra in the pool once a week or so ago but he wasn’t much of a fan--too cold for him I guess.

Portraits

One of our art lessons this week was on the work of Gilbert Stuart. He was a painter from Colonial America and known as one of our foremost portrait artists. His most well known work is a portrait of George Washington--the one we see on the one dollar bill. Olivia and I did portraits of one another. We did them in crayon and then crumpled them and covered them in a thin black paint to make them look aged. It was fun. Don't laugh at my art skills. I mean I was doing it mostly one handed with Ezra in the other hand. Actually, it wouldn't have made much difference if I did have both hands. :) Olivia really enjoyed this activity and her art skills are blooming.