More on Our Washington D.C. trip

[Part I]

~Mt. Vernon~

As I mentioned on my Christmas post, our family was given the opprotunity to visit Rob's brother's family and mother in Arlington, Virginia 2 weeks ago. Rob's brother is in the Coast Guard and is stationed there in Arlington, but he was able to take the week off and give us a grand tour of some of America's history, monuments, museums and some amazing, breathtaking scenery such as this from Gen. George Washington's home in Mt. Vernon. We're so thankful to them for allowing us to stay in their home, eat from their fridge and just relax and catch up. What blessed time. Thanks JJ, Melissa, Madelynn, baby Alegra and Judy!!!

A doll house that was made of the Mt. Vernon home. I'm pretty sure they said it was "to scale". Madelynn and Avonlea looking on.

Avy and Lincoln found a small pile of snow left and decided to have a snowball fight.


Sweet Grandma and her famous ear muffs. :)

It was really windy.

Lincoln and Uncle JJ racing.

some sheep kept on the grounds

The area where George Washington kept his buggies.

the laundry area (read below)

barn/stables where the Washinton family kept their horses

The Clerk's Quarters

I LOVED this kitchen! It was seperate from the mansion and was located outside. Can you see all the different sizes of spits used for the different sizes of meats that were prepared? (They're above the fireplace.)

Another smaller kitchen, maybe the preparation area adjacent to the main kitchen.

The refridgerator!!! This is where some meats and most canned goods, potatoes, other veggies and fruits were kept to stay cold. There was a main meat house and smokehouse for the meats to be stored.

Isn't it beautiful?

Grandma and Norah

A view from the backyard of the estate. This is the Plotomac River which flows throughout the D.C. area. This river was used for many ships back then to transport many goods such as tobacco, wheat and other things to and from Gen. Washington's home.

Somehow, we managed a family picture

...and a couple's shot. :)

Mr. and Mrs. Washinton's caskets. Martha is on the left and George is on the right. There is a story that George Washinton was to be burried in the center of the 40-column room in the Capitol Building, however after Washington died, Martha doesn't recall ever giving that permission. Hence, he was burried right where he wanted to be, on his farm that he worked, loved and lived on until he died.

The Bible verse above the caskets...
"I am the Resurrection and the Life; sayeth the Lord. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die."

John 11:25,26

I thought it was interesting that Washington chose a Bible verse to be hung over his casket. Out of all the things he could've chose, he chose a Bible verse about eternal life through Jesus Christ. (Don't tell me that our country wasn't founded on Christian principles!)

The burial place from afar. It was such a quiet and scerene place.

the warf

George Washington LOVED farming. That's what he considered himself more than anything else! He kept livestock and grew lots of vegetables, flowers and had many orchards. He practiced organic farming methods since all those nasty chemicals weren't invented quite yet. He loved to compost and perfect his soil using "the husbandry" methods taught in Europe. I bought a book of his farming methods and it's amazing how intelligent he was and how he ran his 8,000 acres of property.

~The Smithsonian Museums~

As we toured, of coarse they took an evolutionary viewpoint. This is a display of human, evolved skulls dated back "MILLIONS of years". (or so they say)

Avonlea observing forest animals.

in the African savannah area, observing a giraffe

Lincoln was very excited about the dinosaur exhibit, especially the T-Rex skeleton.

Another museum we hit...

amazing dollhouse that every little girl would love to spend hours playing with. Forgot to take note of the year it was made, but it did belong to a fortunate little girl at one point.

Some of the original Muppets. :) Gotta love Kermit!

One of Martha Washington's ball gowns. There was a section upstairs that held gowns, jewelry and other accessories of the First Ladies.

In a hands-on science area, putting together a maze of magnetic kitchen utincils.

One of the original, possibly THE original steam locomotive.

another locomotive Lincoln admired

and more to come...