• Travel & Vacation – Exploring Colonial Williamsburg

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    Our wild crew at Colonial Williamsburg in front of the Governor’s Palace!

    We had a chance to explore Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia on our recent road trip up the East Coast!  It was our first big stop an our road trip.  After driving to the area the day before we spent the night at a local hotel and were up early the next morning with our picnic lunch packed and ready to explore the area.

    Jake had to work on Friday so for the most part it was just the girls and I exploring  Colonial Williamsburg.  He did get to join us for a little bit over his lunch break though which was really nice.  It was a lot of fun seeing so many neat historical places.  The girls did the quest exploration and scavenger hunt.  My phone didn’t work in all the areas so we didn’t finish all the quest activities, but we did get our prize for completing the scavenger hunt.

    Last year in school the girls studied a lot of about the American Revolution, Civil War and more in Social Studies so this adventure really ties into some of the items they have been learning about in school.  Colonial Williamsburg is like taking a step back into America’s past during the time of the American Revolution.  There are hundreds of restored buildings, exhibits, homes, government offices, trade shops, museums and more to explore.

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    We’ve made it!

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    Hiking along the path to the next location to explore!  This was a neat bridge with a stream and path running underneath it, nice and cool on a hot summer day!

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    Brina and Karlie outside the Governor’s Palace!

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    Beautiful display of pistols with the family crest in the entry way of the Governor’s Palace!

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    Standing in front of the fire palace with a small portion of the weapons on display in the palace.  The Governor’s Palace had impressive displays of muskets, pistols, swords, curve-blade sabers and more!  The hundreds of weapons visible once stepping into the house was meant to both wow and intimidate you.

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    More weapons displayed on the stairwell.  Brina really thought they did a great job hanging the guns!

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    Touring the gardens at the Governor’s Palace!

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    Jake with his girls near the palace greens!

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    George Wythe House and gardens!

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    Exploring inside George Wythe’s house!

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    Wow, he was studying some really cool scientific items.

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    Playing the game of “Pick up Sticks”

    Travel & Vacation - Colonial Williamsburg

    Watching him hand-make cedar shingles for a building at Colonial Williamsburg!  The fresh wood shavings smelled awesome!

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    Oh no! Brina and Karlie in the stocks, what did they do?!

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    Touring the print shop!  Wow, there are some BIG books!  Karlie loved it!

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    Brina all smiles!

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    Grinding up seeds of grain.  This is going to take forever if we want to make some homemade bread!

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    Outside the capital building!

    We had a blast exploring Colonial Williamsburg!  The girls were ready to stay for a week and explore even more.  We only had the one day at Colonial Williamsburg along our road trip, but we packed in a ton of activities into that one day.  Thankfully, we started early and were able to get through a large portion of the items that the girls wanted to do.  It was really neat learning what it would be like to live there during the time of the American Revolution.  All the people were very friendly, helpful, and it was a great day with the kids.  We were all exhausted by the time we got back into the car later that day and headed back onto the road towards our next destination.

  • Book: “Very Charleston” by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler

    Our family loves traveling together and whenever Jake goes to Charleston for work we try to tag along (works better when schools out).  We have a lot of great memories in Charleston, South Carolina.  Over a year ago we got the book Very Charleston: A Celebration of History, Culture, and Lowcountry Charm by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler.   This book has been a huge hit especially with the kids.  It is packed full of great information about Charleston.  The illustrations are detailed in beautiful watercolors.

    • Historical facts – Civil War, Citadel, Slavery, Crafts and more
    • Places of Interest – Forts, Beaches, Churches, Museums, Plantations, Shopping and more
    • Popular Local Festivals
    • Interesting People from Charleston
    • Famous Places to Eat & Traditional Charleston Recipes
    • PACKED full of great tidbits of information about the Charleston area

    This is an excellent book if you are planning on traveling (or moving) to Charleston.  It’s enjoyable to read and you’ll learn pieces of history too.  Every time we go to Charleston we bring this book along to read together.   Our kids LOVE it!