Blue Ridge Parkway

Greetings!! This weekend we took a drive out to the Blue Ridge Parkway... its a little scenic route that connects the Smokey Mountain National Park in Tennessee, to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. We caught up with the route at the North Carolina border and headed north.
Craziness, right when we turned on the parkway, we came into thick fog and could hardly see cars coming at us. I was a little bummed, thinking the whole drive would be that way!! But then we got out and walked around a bit. Thick fog like that is amazing... its so quiet, and still...

(Bye the way, Hi Sara! look we took you with us!)

Right after I resolved that the fog was cool, a little further up the road it cleared up. Praise the Lord!

We stopped at this historical spot called Mabry Mill. It was an old fashioned water powered mill, used back before everything went electric. The kids were entrhalled with the water troughs, the mechanics of the wheel, and the plum old fashionedness of it. "They don't even makem like this anymore...."

You could walk in and talk to any of the historical representatives, (and try not to be totally distracted by their accent.) JJ asked all kinds of questions figuring out how the mill works, and I think he even understood them. I was in pure bliss, I felt like I was in the middle of a movie... the whole day was amazing!! Later that evening, we found another little stop called the Natural Bridge, and then camped out in the Shenandoah National park. So just wait, there's more!! -Hugs

What I've learned about Fall... by Cheryl

Happy Monday friends!!
Before I show you some of our amazing fall pics from the weekend, I want to take you through my little lesson about fall. First of all, we've been traveling from the North so we keep seeing fall start over. In all these environments: New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina- I keep re-learning to appreciate the subtle yet magnificent changes that take place over time.

I learned to appreciate the colour waking up along my commute as I drove to work, and the sunrays shining through in the morning, or the moonlight at night.

But I think the best thing about fall for me has not really been the color, its been the chance to experience it with my kids. Shayna and Josiah have both learned to ride a bike on this trip...and these camp grounds all have lovely little bike paths. I love blazing over bridges with them,
and having the leaves crunch under our wheels.

Now we made up for all these subtleties with a road trip for you last weekend... I have more pics than you might care to see, and I'll post them all, baby! Once we get my blasted little picture reader working on my computer. Til soon. -C

Future marine biologist...

You see, it all started with a frog....

And then she started developing marine sanctuaries...Before we knew it, she fell in love with lobsters...

(this is Bouy). Next thing you know.....

Our new friends are showing us how to catch crab!

And Shayna, on her own....

is catching eel!! (and jellies....)

Now whenever we hit a new campground, its out to the lake we go...

catchin' critters!!!

And now that you've seen these blogs, Mom has a story for y'all. A few days ago Shayna was out with her bucket catching little minnows (pictured above). After much observation and investigative handling, she was very distressed to find that one had gone belly up. All the kids were feeling responsible and pretty sad. "Awwww, that was Coral!!"

After exactly 2 minutes, JJ made an announcement:
"All right, Coral is gone. I'm done being sad. Let's use her as bait!"

We are now camped out near Lexington, North Carolina... the BBQ capital of the world. This is our backyard view from Winnie, we are apparently right in the middle of an old tobacco and cotton plantation. It is a laid back, friendly, sweet tea loving area that we will tell y'all about later, sugar pies....

Sitting on the dock of the Bay.....

In case some of you were wondering why its taking a little longer to get to the blogs, JJ would like to explain.

This is a lake.

This is a lure.

This is a fish on the lure.

Any questions?

George Washington (By Shayna)

George Washington was a great leader in the Revolutionary War. He was able to keep the starving army together during a harsh winter at Valley Forge, he forced the greatest empire on earth to surrender without the "Honors of War" and eventually helped bring independance to the United States.



Washington was the first to sign the Constitution. In 1789, he became the first President of the United States in a unanimous vote of the Electoral College. He didn't even run for office. After his first term as President, he reluctantly served a second term. He died December 14th 1799 at his Mt. Vernon home in Virginia.



The United States Congress built a tomb for him in Washington DC but his family honored his wishes and buried him at Mt. Vernon. His unused tomb now lies beneath the United States Capital building.



This was a project that dad wanted me to do so that I could learn to summarize information.

George Washington (by JJ)

George Washington was born on Feburary 22, 1732 in Popes Creek, Virginia. As a young man he became a Land Surveyor. When his half brother died, Washington inherited his land and home in Mount Vernon, Virginia.





He loved the Army. He eventually became a General for the Continental Army and was one of the most important figures during the Revolutionary War. As General, Washington made most of the decisions, kept his army in high spirits and led them through difficult times. He made a huge difference in the war.





After the war he tried to retire but the colonys needed to form a new government, and he was elected the first President of the United States of America. It was a unanimous vote! Washington was President for eight years and died two years later on December 14th 1799. Just a few days before the start of the 18th century. He was a very important man and a great leader to this country.





An interesting fact: When Washinton left office John Adams, his Vice President, became President. When Adams left office, his Vice President, Thomas Jefferson, became President. The cycle was broken when James Madison became the fourth President of the United States.





Note: This was a writing project that worked on summarizing large chunks of information. If you want more information on George Washington go to:


http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/georgewashington/

Yorktown, VA

Last week we ventured out to Yorktown, which is where one of the last major battles of the Revolutionary War took place. What an incredible way to experience history, actually out on the battle field!! This is where the American and French armies under Washington and LaFayette snuck up and cornered Cornwallis.

This battle was mainly an aritilery battle, and very strategic. The turning point was when the Rhode Island (African American) regiment took "redoubt 10", on a surprise attack that took less than 10 minutes.

The battle went on for 10 days. Redoubt 10 is where Washington then hung out until he got word that Cornwallis was ready to surrender. Then they made England surrender "without honors", a very big deal in the day (and hasn't happened to England since.)

It was another two years before the Treaty of Paris, when Britain declared the states sovereign and the US had its initial borders defined. This is the monument that was erected after the treaty was signed.This battle actually took place in October... so if you'd like to imagine, the field might have looked a lot like this:

(except without the trees, those were planted by the National Park service.)
P.S. Many of you have been asking how Shayna is doing after her surgery. She is doing great!! She is very active outdoors, biking, fishing, discovering. Her appetite and her smile are bigger than ever. We think sabbatical agrees with her, jsut look up to the picture up top and see how much she has grown!! Hugs....