Wordless Wednesday: Sunbathing!

At The Lake...

Last week, it snowed.  This week, it's been in the high eighties and low nineties.

Weird.

We spent the majority of the week outside enjoying the summer spring weather!

 After frantically digging through numerous bins of spring/summer clothes, we finally found the bathing suits.  We headed out of the door, stepping over our winter boots, and headed to the lake with friends!

 

Apparently, it is frog mating season!  The girls found a ton of frogs, giving each other piggy back rides!  Yeah, I didn't touch that subject.  I left it at the Mama Frog is giving the baby frog a ride. 

Looking forward to more fun days in the sun!

Hop over to Chestnut Grove Academy to see other fieldtrips from this week! 

And Homeschool Creations to see a lot of fun activities from the week! 

D is for Dancing!

The girls had a fabulous time over the weekend at a very special Tea Party with Ballet Princesses!

Mac was thrilled to wear a princess dress to the tea party!  Unfortunately, Izzie informed me that she was too old to dress-up.  It was a surprise for them, I simply told them to go and put on their favorite princess dress and we were going somewhere special.  After Izzie's comment, I was a little concern that she wasn't going to enjoy the show; however, she had a blast too! 

Each princess danced to their song and at the end, they invited the little princesses up to learn a special dance!  

Afterward, Mac loved meeting all the "real" princesses! 

Dance over to Ben and Me to see other fun Letter D activities, crafts, fieldtrips, etc!

Field-Trip Friday...Montpelier

I absolutely adore that we live in Virgina!  There's so much history here and I love being able take the girls on day trips to explore all of it! 

We headed up Constitution Highway and spent the day at Montpelier, the plantation estate of James Madison, the fourth President of the United States.  We were extremely excited that Montpelier hosted its first ever Homeschool Day this year!   There were many fun, educational, and interactive programs and activities throughout the day, which included a tour of the estate, hikes in the old growth forest, the opportunity to sit in on the Constitutional Convention and to read from James' bookshelf, many colonial games on the back lawn, and much more!

James Madison's Montpelier...Virginia

 Montpelier offers 2,650 acres of rolling hills, spacious horse pastures, and spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The view from the front porch was breathtaking!  I love seeing the gorgeous mountain ranges.

 Exploring Montpelier...

 

 

The Temple where James Madison contemplated democracy is just north of the mansion.

 

 Montpelier was home to five generations of enslaved people.  For more than 100 years African and African-American slaves lived, labored, and died at Montpelier.  Very little is known about the slave community at Montpelier due to the destruction of most of the Madison family papers in the mid-19th century.

 Domestic slaves who worked in the Madison's household lived in this nearby area known as the "South Yard", which included three slave quarters and two smokehouses.  

 

Mac had the best time playing the outdoor games that young James Madison and his siblings would have: hoop racing, the game of graces, sack races, and corn cob dart tossing!

We hiked a very, very small portion of Montpelier's 200 acre old growth forest. 

 

The girls had a great time exploring the stunning 2-acre Annie duPont Garden!  Unfortunately, with our winter weather continuing into spring, there weren't any flowers in bloom.  However, I imagine that it is spectacular in full bloom!  

 

 

 After our educational day at Montpelier, we made a quick stop at the Train Depot down the road.

William duPont, Montpelier's last owner, built a train depot in 1910.  It has been restored as a museum to its segregated appearance. 

 

Ride on over to Chestnut Grove Academy to see other fieldtrips from this week!

And Homeschool Creations to see a lot of fun activities from the week!