A Break From Packing

Back a few months ago, I bought 5 tickets to Mt.Vernon, the home of George Washington.  We hadn't  used them, and since we are moving next Saturday, it was use it or lose it time.

Atticus and I were raring to go, but Dash, Elias, and Wade were tired and wanted to stay home.

I was talked into postponing the trip from Saturday to Sunday, 

but when they still didn't want to go on Sunday, I got a little ticked, and threw a tantrum, 

and Wade jumped up and got everyone in the car.

Turned out, it was pretty cool.

They had christmas trees in the first building, and I like this one because it was decorated with

books.  Atticus pulled a feather off, and asked why there were feathers on the book tree.

Um, your guess is as good as mine.

The temperature was at freezing, and the children and I were cold.  It was warm in this tent though, where they were making chocolate!  We got to taste a chocolate stick.  It was like very dark chocolate with cocoa a powder coating.  ummmm. They told us how long it took the slaves to make chocolate, and then how it was used to make hot chocolate.  Martha Washington loved her morning hot chocolate.  BUT, they never gave it to children because it was too stimulating! All that caffein and sugar...

The day was beautiful, and so was the land.

The sun shone through the arches 

After touring the mansion, we went out back to see the view of the Potomac.  The boys were so happy to run around here, after standing an listening to all the talk about old stuff in the mansion.

We walked around the grounds, and they were just beautiful.

Lots of paths and secret little places.  I was moved to think about Washington and his family and the slaves that walked around these same parts.

This is where Washington had his fields of wheat and his garden.  Of course, the slaves probably tended it, not him.  He was passionate about the land though, and still they keep the crop rotation he created, and plough lots of fertilizer made from manure into the ground.  You can smell that they do that.  At the end of the field is a house where the wheat was separated from the shaft.

A long walk in the woods

Animals like sheep

A camel!

a hog

The mansion