United States History--inspiring

Yes, We the people of the United States are fortunate in so many ways. It has been such a great experience to study more deeply some of our country's early history, and the people involved. What an intriguing and awesome group of individuals helped start this nation, and then continued to lead it in the right direction.
We have spent the month of May visiting places from the lives of our founding fathers.

First--Grandpa Von and Bella Nonna came out to visit and we all went up to Boston to walk the Freedom Trail. We had done this years before, but it took on new meaning and life. We visited the gravesites of men such as Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and the victims of the Boston Massacre.


We followed the red brick path that led us passed Paul Revere's home, the Old North Church, and much more.Later on in May, we headed down to Washington, D.C. and Virginia with our good friends, the Treadwells.
We spent one 95 degree, humid day walking through D.C. We mostly wanted to see the Monuments and the National Archives--to see the original Declaration and Constitution. The boys weren't thrilled with the hours of walking in the heat, but it was a cool experience. We ended the day with a trip to the Air and Space museum.
The next day we were off to Mount Vernon--home of President George Washington. Dreamy. I loved the beautiful and organized grounds, and definitely felt a greater adoration for this great man after hanging out in the visitor's center and learning even more about him. (we are currently reading The Real George Washington as a family--so cool)

After swimming in a hotel pool and a good night's rest, we were ready for the awesome experience of seeing Monticello--the home of Thomas Jefferson. He is such a fascinating person, with a creative mind. His house was full of character and cool features. Isaac didn't think the tour was so cool, so David and Rebekah each heard just parts of it, but it was still neat.

The grounds and garden were beautiful. The kids especially loved the pond. It was filled with tadpoles, and the kids spent an hour catching them (one woman walking by told her son not to touch the water--poor kid-hee, hee). There was a great kids zone where the kids could learn about and act like Thomas Jefferson and his household.

More pool swimming (or goodwill shopping if you were a mom) and sleeping, then good-byes as we separated from the Treadwells for the trip home. You would have thought we would never see each other again--from the sad good-byes and carryings-on! We do love the Treadwells! (we started calling the kids a collective "Mosswells")

We found a tangent on our way home. Luray Caverns--ALMOST as cool as the caverns in Italy. I just love this fascinating, thousands-of-years-in-the-making, natural kind of stuff!

And, to continue this vacation's theme of visiting the homes of great men, we made a stop on our way home, to Columbia, Maryland and the home the exemplar David Gee Moss (from 7-15 years of age). It was so fun to see his familiarity and the excitement of childhood memories that poured out! The boys loved it because they have heard many stories about this home, with its very spacious lawn mown by a young man not any older than some of them! :) After a 12 hour day of completely separate traveling and stops, we happened to meet up with the Treadwells in the only place we could have, at the only time we could have, just before turning off to our separate towns--I can't make that sound as crazy and ironic and hystrical as it really was. It ended the trip with a good laugh!

We were home in time to sleep, go to church on Sunday, and be ready for David, Eli and Adam to march in the Bloomfield Memorial Day Parade on Monday, with our scout troop and pack.

I love America!!!