The Capitol

After traveling all around Washington DC, we finally camped out near our nation's capital and spent time visiting the District.

Our first stop was the Capital. Inside the building was absolutely amazing!

We saw the old Supreme Court.

And the old Senate chamber.

And the old House chamber. The House didn't get the respect of having it's area roped off and preserved like the others. Inside were various statues. Each state has 2 statues of famous people from their state.

California's statues were Junipero Serra, and good old Ronald Reagan.

Unfortunately, the Rotunda was having some repairs done. But even despite that, it was stunning.

The murals were stunning.

The paintings were enormous and originals.

We had a great tour and even got to put our feet on the center of Washington DC!

The Capital definitely pumped us up!

Mount Vernon

The last of the estates of our founding fathers that we visited on this trip was George Washington's Mount Vernon.

We tried to have fun with George and Martha.

George was much taller in real life. He came out for a special Father's Day talk as the "father" of our nation.

Martha came out too!

Washington made the grounds very lovely because so many people came to visit him.

He wanted a place where people could enjoy the landscaping while strolling around. We sure did.

He also cleared a large area for grass which had to be done by hand. Back then obviously, there were no backhoes or bulldozers. So trees were cleared and then ground was flattened by hand. What a job.

The back of the house faced the Potomac River. Washington designed it so that guests who boated in would see a grand looking estate from that side as well.

George and Martha are buried here along with something like 30 members of their family behind that little black door.

George Washington was such a respected man that soldiers from both the North and South would come visit his grave during the Civil War. They would put down their weapons and see the tomb. Some of them even inscribed their presence as above. It's 19th century graffiti.

William & Mary

This ended up being a little bit of an impromptu college tour as we visited William & Mary. It's right next to Colonial Williamsburg, so why not?

This might be Andrew's future college. If it was good enough for Thomas Jefferson, surely it's good enough for him, right?

And Emery too.

But definitely not Matt!

Then again, maybe Andrew isn't all that into it.

But the grounds of the school were pretty impressive.

This is how we roll by the way - super cool under the shade of the umbrellas.

Thumbs up for William & Mary!

Colonial Williamsburg

We spent 3 days at Colonial Williamsburg. Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia. The city was re-created to show what life was like in colonial times.

It was like stepping back in time to the days leading up to the Revolutionary War.

We heard the reading of the Declaration of Independence in front of the Capital.

We got to see Benedict Arnold and other red coats! Boo!

We got to experience life as a soldier in the Virginia militia.

Matt would have made a great militia man!

Sandy and I both participated in court-room drama! She was a judge and a witness. I was the prosecutor.

The boys were found guilty of disobedience to their parents!

The boys and girl really loved our time here.

Sandy and I enjoyed it too.

Like most of the places we visited on our trip, we really could have stayed longer.

Monticello

One of our favorite memories of living on the east coast was visiting Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, 15 years ago.

The place has changed quite a bit since then, but some things are still the same.

It was fun to take the boys and girl to a special place in our memories.

I don't think they were quite as impressed with the place as we were!

But they did like other things, like tiny, tiny little frogs.

Emery was totally into Jefferson's polygraph.

Sandy and I loved the gardens.

And the cool tunnels.

It was a great visit but an exhausting day!

Thank you Thomas Jefferson!

The University of Virginia

We have chosen the college for the boys and girl - UVA. Not really, but what a beautiful school!

The school that Thomas Jefferson founded has his imprint all over it.

It really has such a university feel. It inspired me to learn just walking around the campus.

Don't my girls look so cute?

Matt's already trying to figure out where his classes are - if only it wasn't so far away from CA!

Montpelier

Next we visited Montpelier, home of James Madison, our 4th President.

Sandy and I were thinking that we would be visiting the estate that was near Thomas Jefferson's home when we planned the trip which was actually James Monroe's house. But by mistake, we ended up here. Don't tell Madison!

We ended up with the best docent of all our stops. We all learned a lot and the boys and girl thought that Montpelier was one of the best parts of our trip.

The Sage of Montpelier was known as the Father of our Constitution.

The boys and girl were impressed with James and Dolly.

They also learned a little bit about how we are using archaeology to learn more about life on the estate at that time.

It was a lovely time!