Civil War Weekend - Fort Ward

This Summer we're taking advantage of our current location,

by doing a Civil War unit with our children.

Our first field trip was to a park only a few miles from our home-

Ft. Ward park has a museum and preserved trenches from

the Civil War, when it was manned as a defense of the Nation's Capital.

While no battle was fought there, they do yearly "reenactment days"

where local groups come together to share their knowledge.

This man explained Civil War artillery.

The kids got to hold & examine all kinds of period ball & shot.

Ft Ward was flat, so they had to design & build their own defenses.

These include artillery storage built right into the hillsides.

We met the Field surgeon-

He was a wealth of knowledge, and had a very interactive set up.

He explained the false idea of "biting the bullet",

the real reason there were so many amputations,

and how medicinal knowledge of the time (or lack thereof)

played a huge role in the massive loss of live during the Civil War.

Here is his authentic Civil War era prosthetic leg - 

or as he termed it, his "Pride and Joy".

He explained the medications given out for pain, 

and other ailments, and how, again because of the lack

of knowledge, they caused alcoholism, madness,

and even death over a long period of use.

There were only Union Soldiers practicing, 

since the confederacy never attempted a fight at Fort Ward. 

There was a group representing the Black members of the Union Army.

They spoke the most patriotic words, 

and even got misty eyed when they spoke of the chance these men had

to fight for a cause the they believed so much in.

I was happy that they answered questions that our children had 

about why the Confederacy did not allow blacks to fight in their army.

They also touched on the idea of slavery, 

and had many good ideas for books and movies we could watch to learn more.

I was happy that there were many women represented as well-

They showed off their period clothing,

talked about what women would have been doing during the war,

and showed examples of the types of skills that women 

typically developed during the Civil War era.

(knitting, quilting, weaving. etc...)

Here we saw the typical tent and gear used by Union Soldiers

Caleb got to try it all on!

What a cutie ^_^

We ended our tour with another exciting display.

They had a real Civil War Era Telegraph machine.

This gentleman is 93 years old, nearly 94.  

He was a telegrapher for the railroad from the time he was 17.

He and his partner explained the importance of the telegraph to the war.

They showed how the machine worked, 

and explained how they would have used different cans 

to differentiate the sound of the machines if more than one was at a location.

The amount of skill required to send & receive information is astounding.

I am so thankful for the people who are involved in maintaining 

our country's history through reenactment groups.

There is really no better way for our children to learn, 

than by hands on, visual display, 

and insightful words from such knowledgable folks.  

We are so looking forward to learning even more 

as we study and visit other sites this Summer.

Friday Fun - Giant Bubbles

We've been wanting to try this actvitiy for a while,

I had picked up a giant bubble wand a few months back,

so we didn't have to fashion our own.

So this week, I finally got around to doing research 

and mixing up a reputable giant bubble solution.

The weather was calm and mostly cloudy,

so even the weather was ideal- 

I was amazed at the results!

The kids quickly got the hang of how to open and close the wand

 to close off their humongous bubbles.  

I took a ridiculous amount of pictures,

but my favorites are the ones that capture kids' reactions

Even Tobias, who was too small to operate the large wand,

had fun using a smaller one, and chasing the big bubbles.

Everyone agrees that it was a huge success,

and we'll absolutely do it again this summer.

The Pirates of Anacostia

This morning I felt a call for adventure,

so we took a drive to a playground I'd been longing to take our kids.

How cool is this place?!

I kept our destination a surprise.

I also secretly packed a bag of pirate dress ups,

and even had them listen to our 

Jake and the Neverland Pirates CD on our drive over.

Our little scalawags had the whole play area to themselves,

and played for a very long time.

This park is located right off the river, 

so we took a walk by the water to enjoy the breeze and see the sights.

Then we found a shady spot for our picnic, 

which was the Summer Bucket List item we accomplished today.

After filling their bellies, our crew headed back to their ship

and played for a while longer before we went home.

---

The rest of our day was filled with the usual - 

appointments, chores, pizza night, etc...

I'm thankful for the somewhat impulsive explorer spirit

that surfaces once in a while to rescue us from the mundane-

I know, I get it from you, Dad.

Today's great adventures began with an art project...

Bubble painting!

Simple to set up, and easy for kids of all ages to do on their own.

That's a win in my book

It's almost addictive -

choosing the color and placement,

but never quite knowing what the bubbles will end up doing on the paper.

We really loved how intricate the layers of bubbles ended up looking.

The children thoroughly enjoyed it, 

and Ashlynn even asked when we'd be doing it again.

---

In the afternoon, we continued the fun

by going to a small park and nature trail with some friends.

I love the large trees and river...

it's a real escape from the built up area in which we live.

The kids played to their hearts' content.

Running, laughing, splashing, and leaving tired & muddy

 - it was everything a woodsy summer playdate should be.

Snakes, Starships, and Surfing Monsters

What a busy, fun summer day we had.

It seemed cool, despite going up to the 80s.

Perhaps the cloud cover, low humidity, and glorious breeze helped. 

Whatever the case,

Today was a day to be outdoors.

And we spent as much time out of doors as possible, 

even sitting on the deck for scripture study and reading.

A quick trip to the library, 

and we decided which Summer bucket list item we'd check off...

Snake bubbles!

It was a first for our kids, 

but  I knew it would be just the right way to play on such a nice day.

After a while, we tried adding color to the mix,

that was really fun, but messy

It wasn't all Pinterest perfect,

as Toby inhaled rather than exhaled,

swallowed bubbles, and then threw-up a number of times

while trying to get the taste of Dawn out of his mouth.

But hey, he ended up having a great time chopping up everyone else's snakes.

-----

In the afternoon, Caleb, Ashlynn, and I had a date at the Lego store.

(Marigold is the BEST, and babysat Tobias so we could go sans toddler)

We had a blast in store, 

building starships and "flying" them along a space chute.

We had signed up for the build of the month, 

which was an awesome monster/dragon of some sort with a surf board.

Yay for free fun and free legos!

After dinner we finished our day with a bike ride to the park, 

and stayed much longer than anticipated, why?

Because I just couldn't seem to give that five minute warning while

the kids were so incredibly happy racing bicycles down the hill & blacktop, 

and monkeying around on the playground.

I purposely left my phone at the house, so there are no pictures.

But, I'm grateful I took the time to really be in the moment with them,

and I can assure you, it looked exactly like my own childhood out there.

-George, Sheri, and CJ, I'm taking to you :)

Children's Book of the week - The Moon's Revenge

This week's book was a Goodwill find- Yay for cheap books!

For only one dollar, we brought this hard back beauty home-

Just look at the illustration *swoon*

Another plus was that I had actually never heard of this book before 

(I just love finding new children's stories...they're wonderful)

Happily, this story did not disappoint.  

I read aloud, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the original tale.

The story was captivating, and descriptions were vivid, 

but the illustrations really brought it to life.

I personally wanted to see more of what the author might have to offer,

so I naturally spent far too much time researching Joan Aiken.

What an interesting array of literature - 

supernatural, fantasy, historical fiction - 

all available because she was willing to share her talent with the world.  

Next I looked up Alan Lee, and discovered another amazing talent that I didn't know I knew...

I've seen his work, and probably. so have you, though perhaps you'd never put a name to it.

I'll link his Wiki page for those who want to know more.

Enough rambling - I'll end by asking:

Have you ever read this book?  What were your thoughts?

What is your favorite lesser known children's book?  

(We're always looking for more!)

The kids and I agree that we'd all suggest this book for all ages.

I don't believe in spoiling books, so I won't share story content-

but I will share a couple more peeks of the amazing artwork - Enjoy!