Charleston: Historic Heyward-Washington House
The girls hanging out by the kitchen at the Heyward-Washington House. The kitchen house contained all the cooking, washing, and upstairs it has a servants quarters.
The girls and I visited The Heyward-Washington House when we were in Charleston recently. We got there a few moments before the tour so we were able to spend some time walking through the Heyward-Washington House kitchen and gardens. It was nice to take a walk through the gardens first thing in the morning. We were so excited to explore we didn’t get a picture of the front of the house.
Thomas Heyward, Jr was the owner of this house. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and was in the militia during the American Revolution. During President George Washington’s stay in Charleston he stayed at the Heyward-Washington House. In the late 1700’s the house sold to John F. Grimke. Grimke served in the Revolutionary War and the father of Sarah and Angeline Grimke. Sarah and Angeline were known for speaking out against slavery and were asked to leave Charleston. Earlier this year the Brina had done a research project on Angeline Grimke so that was really neat to find out her family lived in this house. It was Charleston’s first historic home that was turned into a museum.
Girls in the kitchen. It must have been a super busy kitchen many years ago.
Touring the gardens of the Heyward-Washington House.
Walking through the gardens checking out all the plants.
Brina in the garden. She is very concerned we are going to miss the tour because we are walking through the gardens! She was good about keeping track of our time!
Beautiful purple flowers in the garden.
Touring the Heyward-Washington House! The girls were the only kids and the tour guide had them do a scavenger hunt looking for various items throughout the house. It made the tour a little more of an adventure for the girls and they earned a free gift at the end!
A neat house to explore! The Heyward-Washington House part of Historic Charleston!
Travel & Vacation – Exploring Colonial Williamsburg
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.
We’ve made it!
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!
Brina and Karlie outside the Governor’s Palace!
Beautiful display of pistols with the family crest in the entry way of the Governor’s Palace!
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.
More weapons displayed on the stairwell. Brina really thought they did a great job hanging the guns!
Touring the gardens at the Governor’s Palace!
Jake with his girls near the palace greens!
George Wythe House and gardens!
Exploring inside George Wythe’s house!
Wow, he was studying some really cool scientific items.
Playing the game of “Pick up Sticks”
Watching him hand-make cedar shingles for a building at Colonial Williamsburg! The fresh wood shavings smelled awesome!
Oh no! Brina and Karlie in the stocks, what did they do?!
Touring the print shop! Wow, there are some BIG books! Karlie loved it!
Brina all smiles!
Grinding up seeds of grain. This is going to take forever if we want to make some homemade bread!
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.
Fall Scavenger Hunt
We recently held a camp out for our Community Group from church at our house. It was great spending some extra time with friends. The kids all had a blast riding their scooters, bikes, drawing with chalk, blowing bubbles, crafts, going on a scavenger hunt and more.
I am thankful for an opportunity to spend extra time with family and friends. It was a wonderful experience for our girls. I am grateful for a big yard where we can host events and pitch seven tents!
The kids did really well hunting down the items on the list. I gave each kid a grocery bag, the list printed on bright orange paper and set the time for 20 minutes. They were off and running in no time. I was quite amazed at the items they were able to come up with in that short amount of time. Some kids worked independently while others stuck more in groups.
If you are looking for a fun, entertaining, and educational activity to do this weekend here’s a great place to start. There is a one page (with two columns) printable link at the bottom of the post so you can print it out as well.
Fall Scavenger Hunt
- Large Red Leaf
- Smallest Yellow Leaf
- Dry Brown Leaf
- Evergreen Leaf
- Jagged Edged Orange Leaf
- Bird Feather
- Rough Bark
- Smooth Bark
- 2 Different Types of Grass
- Smooth Pebble
- 4 Acorns
- Flower
- Most Beautiful Item
- Stick Shaped like a Letter
- Piece of Litter
- Ladybug
- Tiny bit of Moss
- Pine Cone
- Wood Shavings
- Caterpillar
- Coins
- Wiggly Worm
- 3 Leaf Clover
- Seed
- Dog Toy
- Piece of a Thorny Bush
- Animal Fur
- Aluminum Can
- Piece of Plastic
- Bug (any type)
- A Circular Item
- A Square Item
- A Triangular Item
- An Oval Item
- A Heart Shaped Item
- An Octagon Item
- A Soft Item
- A Fluffy Item
- A Fuzzy Item
- A Furry Item
- A Hard Item
- Something Blue
- Something Purple
- Something Black
- Something Gray
- Something Pink
- Something White
- Kids Toy
I have been asked by a number of people for a printable version of the Fall Scavenger Hunt so here it is for your family to enjoy as well:
- Fall Scavenger Hunt – I printed ours out on bright orange paper and let the kids have a blast searching for the various items on the list! 🙂
