Our final day in Williamsburg was spent procuring souvenirs with which to remember our trip.

The boys chose muskets.

With caps. Caps that nearly caused two boys (and their father) to go blind the first time they fired off. We’ve since learned to hold the gun away from the face when shooting with caps.

They practiced guerrilla warfare – the American colonial style of fighting during the Revolutionary War – on the way to the hotel.

They were instructed to hold their weapons vertically when near other people.

While the boys ran around shooting one another, Ruthie donned her souvenir.

We enjoyed one last tour, this time of the Williamsburg Governor’s palace.

And by we enjoyed, I really mean they enjoyed the tour, since Miss Wiggly Toddler was in no mood to walk quietly through room after room on a guided tour. So we walked the grounds.

Her favorite part was running through the Governor’s kids’ maze garden. FREEDOM.

After this, we returned to the hotel and packed for our stop in Washington DC.

It was the first permanent settlement in America. And as with the battlefield at Yorktown, the area has been remarkably well-preserved.

We embarked on our journey here by completing some Jr. Ranger activities.

As we walked around the visitor center, we enjoyed reading and learning about those brave and determined settlers. Have I mentioned how much Jake LOVES having his picture taken lately?

Even Ruthie got into it.

Who knew learning could be so much fun?

Here, Derek is reading about John Smith, one of the key figures at the Jamestown Settlement.

If there was a cannon within a half-mile radius, the boys were all over it. Sometimes literally.

Ruthie is exploring the same structure Queen Elizabeth walked through during her visit here in 2007.

We also explored the church. Derek preached…

…and Jeremy prayed.

One of the best parts of our trip was discovering firsthand the very things we are reading about in history class.

Ruthie made friends with Pocahontas.

Jr. Ranger badges earned.

Then back to the hotel for lunch.

We could have used another half day in Williamsburg, as there were a few parts that we left uncovered. But the things we saw and did helped history come alive.

We toured the capital building, where men like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson sat and legislated colonial Virginia. One room we entered was famous for Patrick Henry’s passionate speech against Britain’s imposition of the Stamp Act.

This colonial man was our tour guide.

Williamsburg consists of several buildings that house tradespeople, all of whom still produce goods used today. For instance, there was the wigmaker’s house where a person sat making wigs, and the cobbler’s house where shoes were made.

I’ll give you one guess as to which house we chose to visit.

The gunsmith. If you happen to have an extra $20K laying around, you could order a custom-made colonial musket, made using the technology of the 18th century. These guys are serious about their guns! They love answering questions.

And also love sharing their creations.

This is an actual bullet.

I managed to learn something new that day: the origin and meaning of the word ‘smith,’ as in gunsmith and blacksmith and silversmith. It comes from the word ‘smite,’ meaning a heavy blow or strike, as with a hammer.

I got a kick out of Ruthie wherever we went. As soon as we’d walk into a building–any building–she would immediately sit down and take off her shoes and coat. She would then proceed to make herself at home by freely running around.

After the visit at the gunsmith’s house, we sat and listened to George Washington give his famous farewell address then answer questions from the audience.

At six feet, two inches, George Washington was considerably taller than his peers. Jake, now a half inch shy of six feet, posed next to the life-size picture of the famous general-turned-president.

As for Jeremy, he never misses a chance to pose next to a picture or statue. (Unless it’s a female statue–today he refused to have his picture taken next to Pocahontas.)

Here he is chumming it up with Thomas Jefferson.

It was nice of Mr. Jefferson to take a break from writing the Declaration of Independence to pose with the boys.

After reading through the document, Derek pointed out some grammatical errors.

This is kind of an ironic picture, since one thing we learned after reading about the drafting of the Declaration is that so many people edited and changed Jefferson’s first draft, that Jefferson ended up regretting his decision to allow the ‘public’ have a say in it. We’ll keep our editing suggestions to ourselves.

Let’s take a break from the historical perspective of the trip and now focus on the amusing.

Jeremy can now read, so whenever we’re walking somewhere, he announces what the signs say. Our hotel offers a free continental breakfast, which is set up in the lobby.

Every morning now, Jeremy announces that we are going to eat breakfast at Lobby’s, believing that it’s the name of the restaurant.

Yesterday, the family drove 11 miles away from Williamsburg to the Yorktown Battlefield, largely regarded as the last major battle of the Revolutionary War.  Here on October 19, 1781, General Cornwallis of the British Army surrendered to General George Washington.  We stood where Alexander Hamilton stood when he was a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army tasked with leading a storming of a British defensive position (called a “redoubt”).  His act proved to be a decisive move that allowed the American and French artillery to fire upon the British from a mere 400 yards away.

The Park Ranger explained that, while a matter of opinion, many historians regard Yorktown as the single greatest combined army and naval battle that changed the course of human history. From this single result, a new free nation was born and the world’s strongest tyrannical, imperial nation bent on strict colonization transformed into a more responsible, compassionate global nation-bulder. I can think of the several African nations who have benefitted from English colonization (just compare their stability today with those colonized by the French!)

Regardless of what one thinks, we were standing in the midst of this great battlefield and could see both sides of the battle lines. It was a humbling feeling.

The trip was more meaningful because Derek, Peter and Jeremy chose to participate in the Junior Ranger Program, a gem of an offering from the National Park Service that guides participants on a fairly intensive learning quest where certain requirements must be met before they are award the coveted badge, or patch in this case. Here are the boys completing their worksheet, which took a good two and a half hours.

Ruth was helping her brothers out by pointing out the difference between a cannon and a mortar.

Jeremy is striking a pose as a ship’s captain in the museum. He has proven to be quite an actor in his young age.

Here is Redoubt 10, the one Alexander Hamilton’s platoon stormed.  Behind it is the mouth of the York River which pours out into Chesapeake Bay.  The British tried to escape to the other side of the river, but a huge squall arrived at that exact moment and sunk several of the British escape ships.  Sounds like a bit of Divine intervention to me.

Here we are touring the siege lines.

We ended up at the Moore house.  This was the home where the terms of surrender were negotiated between Washington(American)/Rochambeau (French) and Cornwallis(English).  Supposedly Cornwallis fell ill after this meeting and required his lieutenant to perform the actual surrender ceremony while he remained in bed.

I have to say, there’s nothing like eventually touching and feeling where history was made after reading it from a book.  We’re learning a lot about our country and it only makes us appreciate it all the more.

…ok, so we’re catching up with posts here.

Here’s a picture recap of day 2.  The highlight was being witness to a colonial court proceeding in the town’s courthouse.  We learned that the jurors (or Justices of the Peace) were 12 townspeople who had to fit the following criteria: 1. caucasian 2.  land-owners 3. Protestant 4. male.  So…if you were to be tried and judged by your peers, your peers were wealthy slave owners who owned land.  It helped your cause tremendously if you were a wealthy slave and land owner yourself.

After this, we visited the Magazine.  That’s a fancy name for where all the weapons and gunpowder are stored.  Here we learned all about the weapons of the day. We also learned that the day someone turned 16 years of age, they were required to own a gun, a knife, 4 pounds of lead shot and gunpowder.  Why? Because it was a requirement for all men aged 16 to 60 to be a member of the colony’s militia.  Failure to have these items resulted in penalty – corporal punishment!

Notice the pick blur in front? N-o-n-s-t-o-p movement from the girl…

…No matter where she was.

After this, we made our way to the art museum where we all could try our hand at colonial canvas painting – with markers!

After this we checked out some grazing horses at the farm.

And if that wasn’t enough – how about a round of mini-golf? The course is free for hotel guests and we made the most of it during Ruthie’s nap.  The teams were Mom-Jake-Jeremy vs. Dad-Derek-Peter.

This is Derek’s yellow ball in the cup on his first shot. He tallied 3 holes in one!

Jeremy used his hockey shot putt style to his advantage. (It worked too!)

The Victors! By one stroke.  (The losers’ picture was taken, but we are barred from showing it by a certain 5 year old who was not at all happy.)

So here we are in Colonial Virginia – the year is 1774. Because the entire area has been restored to what it was like over 225 years ago, it’s not too difficult to envision yourself in the midst of early Americana.

We’re really having a blast here. First of all, it’s great family time.  We had to remind ourselves that we don’t have to schlep the kids around to see every exhibit or demonstration. It’s been a God-given blessing to just be away from the routines of home.

On the first day, we checked in to the hotel after over 13 hours of driving from Chicago. Ruthie, the wildcard on the trip, was an absolute gem.  As long as we fed movies into the truck’s DVD player, she was fine. When the movie she was watching was ending, she was already making her request for the next one.

After check-in, we took the shuttle bus to the historical town area to catch the “Retreat”.  This was performed at the end of every day by the British regulars and the Virginia militia to signify a day’s end for a soldier.  It started with a fife and drum march to the barracks and closed with an inspection of the militia –  ragged farm boys (aged 16 and up) and men called to be soldiers to protect the colony. Eventually these boys would turn allegiance from England to form the Continental Army under George Washington. For now, they are loyal subjects of the King.

Here’s the boys waiting for the march:

Here’s the march!

And the Capital building – when Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia.

We split the long drive to Virginia in two and spent the night Thursday night in Pittsburgh. Seven people crammed in a hotel room made for one fun slumber party! (Thanks to hotwire.com we scored a $300 room for $100…the hotel staff was thrilled to see our army parade into a single room)

The bathroom was fine as a room…until you closed the door.

I’m not sure who designed the place, but I’ve never in my life seen glass doors on a hotel bathroom door. We learned quickly to keep the lights turned off while visiting the restroom.

Ruthie is now very conscious of keeping her hands clean at all times, so as soon as we arrived she made a beeline for the famed glass-door bathroom.

When we awoke the next morning, she looked out the window and asked to see Grandma and Grandpa. She equates big city with grandparents.

After a quick game of Stragego, we were on the road again, headed for Williamsburg.

It was Molly’s third birthday at the end of last month. What better way to celebrate than to take a trip to Petsmart? We told her she could pick out any toy she wanted.

It wasn’t easy for her to decide, as the selection was…abundant.

Thankfully, she had help.

Ruthie wanted to bring home a fish for Molly, but we explained that pets don’t have pets. Besides, we have enough living things in the house to care for.

Molly happily returned home with her new toy.

Happy birthday, doggy.