Tucahoe State Park

We spent this past weekend camping and exploring

 near Tucahoe State Park in Maryland with Jared's parents - 

Paul and Melodie Stanley.

There were thunderstorms in the forecast for the evening,

but Jared constructed a very comfortable, dry setup. 

S'MORES!

The kids had fun looking for creatures at camp...

These two moths were their favorites

And Caleb caught a frog!  These little guys were everywhere ^_^

By Saturday morning, the rain had cleared, 

so we went to the playground.

It was made of recycled tires -

The kids were so excited!

The playground was right next to the lake-

It was such a lovely day,

 that Jared took the kids out in shifts explore.

They saw tons of turtles, fish, and flowers-

and a beaver house!

They even went under a bridge

After all that excitement, we had a picnic in a pine grove.

It was so pretty ^_^

That evening, there was a hot air balloon festival 

only a few minutes down the road. 

Melodie loves hot air balloons, and it was the reason we'd 

gotten together for the weekend.

But, because the venue was at a winery, and we don't drink

(and the ticket prices reflected the free alcohol being offered)

we decided to just drive in that direction

and find our own vantage point to enjoy the mass balloon lift scheduled.

We saw them inflating when we drove past the vineyard,

and found a perfect spot a few miles down the road

We watched each balloon float up above the trees, and right overhead!

We had a clear view of them as the flew out over the farms & fields.

We got back in the van, and followed them to see if we could watch some land.

Melodie recognized one as a balloon from Bridgeton, NJ,

 where she had lived for many years.

In fact, she knew some of the crew.

**They invited us to follow them**

They finally landed at Willow Hill Farm,

in the kind owner, Florence's, yard.  

She was taking pictures alongside us,

and said she'd only ever had one other balloon land there,

about 25 years before.

Jared, Melodie, and Paul helped with walking the balloon to a safe place,

and the initial deflation.

Timber!

Then they invited all of the kids to join and help them wrap and pack it up.

The sun went down as we drove back to camp, 

and we packed up on Sunday morning.

We all agreed that we were happy we didn't go to the festival,

because we would've missed such a unique and fun opportunity.

Here a Year

Summer is here again!

Now that we've been in this area a full year, 

we're able to go back and do some of our favorite things from last summer.

The local splash pad "Our Special Harbor" was on our bucket list.

A 40,000 dollar donation received last year allowed for the addition 

of even more spray structures and water games.

All of our children enjoy their time here, and we can stay for hours!

It's right next door to an amazing playground called "Chessie's Big Backyard".

Again, fun for all ages, with some really impressive equipment.

There are a few pavilions and tables for picnic as well.

Our kids love to play here to dry off before we head home.

2017

2018 (my, they've grown!)

I'm thankful for such a nice, free facility 

which gives me the freedom to take all four kids 

to play and cool off without worrying about safety.

Produce, a Playground and a Pond

We've lived here in Alexandria for over a year now, 

but we hadn't been to a farmers market until this past week.

Just to the west of us, they hold a small Farmers Market,

Thursday from 8-12 at a local park.

I told the kids my plans for spending our morning,

and they were skeptical about it being worth their while.

But, their attitudes changed the minute we arrived.

A veterans group had brought a huge truck to display- 

They had to get a picture with those big tires ^_^

We took our time going from one tent to the next,

seeing what was available to purchase.

Everything was so fresh and pretty to look at and smell.

It was tough to choose, but in the end,

we decided on strawberries, raspberries, some hot house tomatoes, 

and a half gallon of apple cider.

After the shopping, we took a short walk over to play!

I love the instrument section

Toby was a fearless climber

Marigold stuck to the swings - you can see her in the background

The last stop was the lovely pond habitat situated next to the park.

The children were amazed at all the unique plants, animals, and insects

that were out on such a nice warm day.

The viewing deck was the perfect vantage point

We saw box turtles, fish, damsel flies, dragon flies, birds, and...

A HUGE snapping turtle!

It began to swim under the deck before I could get a better shot.

It really was impressive.

The kids said they had such a good time on our adventure,

that they hope to make it a regular day trip.

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.