Salt Lake City Cemetery

We had a surprisingly good time a few weeks ago when we did a field trip to the Salt Lake City Cemetery. It was a Relief Society activity. It was a small group of women, but we made it count. The cemetery is right next to downtown in the Avenues and it is the largest municipal cemetery in the country. 

This cemetery is where a lot of pioneers and leaders of the church are buried. If you know church history, this is the place you want to go. It is seeped in church history. I think that most of the prophets are buried here. It is special.

This was a wooden grave site of a handcart pioneer. I thought that was pretty groovy. I also enjoyed the fact that people still care greatly about these grave sites. Many of the markers have been replaced due to weathering. These are beloved people that have been buried here.

The cemetery also has an incredible vista of the city. I was wowed by the view. It was quite astounding.

Here is the grave marker of President David O. McKay. It is just below the grave of Gordon B. Hinckley. I just loved that man so much.

Here are the ladies. Melissa K., Chris K., Sharon F., Landon C., Marlene M., Brady C., and Melissa C. is not pictured because she is behind the camera.

After our tour of the cemetery we went to a nearby park and ate lunch. The kids played on the playground and we were able to visit for a while.

My mom told me that I have relatives buried in this cemetery. I had no idea! I am going to have to go back and visit again, but maybe without the kids.

From Philly to Maine

Saturday was a rode trip day. We headed to the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside to Lancaster County, and then on to Gettysburg. We left pretty early, so it afforded us time to take the long, slow, scenic way. I am glad we did. As we were driving to Lancaster, we saw a yard sale and did a little bit of shopping. I found some darling artwork and Rinar rounded up a couple of pairs of shoes that Raef and Zach could wear. 

Then we went to the Lancaster farmer's market. It is the oldest farmer's market still in existence and the place was happening. Pretty much all of the vendors are Amish or Mennonites. We bought some raw honey and various jelly assortments from this nice Amish gentleman. There were lots of samples and things to see and smell. Rinar also made it a point to a get a little explanation of the difference between Mennonites and Amish from the lady at the candy counter.

 Outside was a Mary Poppins street musician. You know what I am talking about? He had a bass drum stuck to his back, cymbals, ukulele, harmonica, horn, etc. It was fun. There was even a bucket of various improvised percussion instruments so that othes could play along with him. Fun!

From Lancaster, we made our way to Gettysburg. We took our time doing the auto tour and looked at the many details of the battle. I tried to explain it the best that I could to two uninterested kids. Oy! But I got a lot out of it and I think that Rinar learned a few things as well. In this picture the kids are standing on Little Round Top, a critical moment and turning point in the battle and hence, the war. Gettysburg is just a very special place.

Raef was obsessed with the idea of finding bullets and artifacts, even though he knew that it was illegal. He tried to think of umpteen different ways around the laws and all. It was a nice consolation that there was a gift shop where they sold actual bullets. We also made sure to pay our respects to the greatest president ever to live, Abraham Lincoln. We stopped at the cemetery to see where he delivered the Gettysburg Address. Like I said, Gettysburg is just a very special place.

Sunday was definitely a day of rest for us. We all needed a break from all of this larnin'! We went to church in Moorestown, New Jersey. And by the way, that is a beautiful little town. It is absolutely idyllic. After church was over, I thought it would be nice to go and see Valley Forge, but we modified this plan when the bishop invited us to his house for dinner. It was pretty darn cool. We ate random stuff for this impromptu dinner party and then they were incredibly gracious and spent valuable time with my kids playing Apples to Apples. Raef and Zach really had a wonderful time. Thank you Bishop Rigby and Sister Rigby.

To wrap up the Philadelphia portion of the trip, we went to The Franklin Institute. I thought it was a science museum, but it is really just a glorified kids museum. More than half the stuff is broken and the place was a zoo because we landed in the middle of field trip hell. In addition, it is really expensive. Holy cow. Let's just say, I really would not recommend it. But at least there was this sweet statue of Benjamin Franklin, one of my favorite founding fathers.

And Zach got to ride the Sky Bike.

I suppose it was not a total loss. There were a few surprises along the way. The Philadelphia LDS temple is getting built about two blocks away and that was an inspiring site. Plus, the boys were able to run the Rocky steps. This is something Rinar really wanted to do. I waited by the car because I really did not want to get a parking ticket!

We were able to get out to Valley Forge before rush hour traffic and just before the visitor's center closed. Good thing, because it allowed us to get another stamp for our NPS passport. Before we got there, we stopped for lunch at the Shake Shack. Holy moley, that place is delish. I would say it is the eastern equivalent to In'n'Out, only way better. Plus they have a whole bunch of shake flavors, which made the kids pretty darn happy.

I am grateful we could go to Valley Forge. The name is appropriate because it is where farmers were forged into soldiers. To understand Valley Forge is to understand the terrain there. It is on a hill and easily fortified. At the opposite end of the visitor's center several miles away is the house where Washington had his headquarters. There is a park ranger there and you can tour the house, which has reproductions and period pieces. Once again, I was just awed to walk in General Washington's footsteps.

We packed up Wednesday and got on the road early so that we would have some time in New York City before we got to our hotel in the Boston area. We parked in Staten Island and took the free ferry to the city. It was seamless and worry-free. Plus we got a great view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I had originally planned to take them to Ellis Island, but we canceled that plan because most of it is still closed because of Hurricane Sandy. But we still kept the Empire State Building on the agenda. The ticket price it very expensive, so I decided not to go up because we could save some money and I had already been. While they went up, I headed over to the NYC Public Library for the exhibit they had on children's literature. It was an enjoyable solo excursion that I am sure the rest of the crew was happy to miss. But once we reunited, we headed out to the ferry and our car again.

In the afternoon, we went to Coney Island. I had never been there before. We made sure to ride the Cyclone, a brain-rattling wooden roller coaster from 1927. It was fun and I hope to never ride it again. We had eaten pizza in the city and then opted for a hot dog snack at the original Nathan's on the boardwalk. And yes, the hot dog was yummy.

In the evening, we went to my cousin Lindsay's house in Brooklyn. The plan was for our boys to babysit her little ones and then the adults could go to dinner. Mission accomplished. We bought some mac and cheese, blueberries, juice boxes, and got the kids going and then we split.  Since it is their town, we had them choose the dinner location. They did a great job. We went to Giacomo's, an Italian place just around the corner. It was a darling restaurant and a wonderful time with them.

And can I just give a shout out to my cousin. She is the most amazing woman! And she has a blog if you want to check it out. Lindsay just gave birth to her fourth son. She lives in the craziest, busiest city in the world, their apartment is tiny as you would expect, her husband is the bishop, and some how or another she is keeping it all together. I mean, the laundromat is a block away people. She is definitely a tree growing in Brooklyn. And she has the most darling children. My boys were amazed at her oldest son Garrett. They couldn't believe how smart he his. Zach told me that he thought Garrett was a genius. But I was proud of my boys. When we got back, the kids were in bed, the apartment was quiet and Raef was finishing up the dishes. Way to go, boys!!

We actually made great time from Brooklyn to Boston. And on Wednesday, we went to the Plimouth Plantation, a living history center. They have a Wampanoag village and a Puritan village. The Wampanoag are actual Native Americans and a lot of them are descendants of the Wampanoags. They encourage the kids to ask lots of questions and learn stuff.

The Puritan village is fun because the settlers there are reenactors and stay in character faithfully. We came across a man talking to a group and as I listened to him, realized that he was Miles Standish. Man, was he spot on. I thoroughly enjoyed it. He just acted like we were one of them and was a garrulous guy. There were probably about five of them throughout the village and they really look like they live there.

After Plimouth, we made a quick stop at Plymouth Rock and saw the actual rock they landed on. We also ate lunch at a place called the Lobster Hut. Raef ordered lobster mac and cheese. Let's just say, it was not his favorite. But he ate it because that was an expensive lunch. Every. Bite.

We also made sure to visit Cape Cod National Seashore. And like the last time I was there, it was cloudy, misty, and a little bit dreary. But it was still nice and the kids were able to play on the beach for a while and comb for rocks and such. Rinar and I also stopped and talked to a few random couples. One was from Australia and the other was from Connecticut. I tell you, people are so interesting.

It was a downpour Thursday. We made an attempt at the Freedom Trail in Boston and I just was not up for the struggle with the boys. It was clear that they had reach the limit to all things historical.

And just like the esteemed James Otis, I think the history lessons died that day.  We waived the white flag, went back to the hotel, took hot showers and relaxed for the rest of the day.

We drove to the scenery of New Hampshire and Maine on Friday. Rinar wanted to stop at this house for some reason.

Hi Ken! Do you still read my blog?

 We went to the coast and as we were driving towards Portsmouth, New Hampshire, I realized that Maine was just on the other side.  We had never been to Maine and thought, hmmm, why not? We found a lighthouse in York, Maine and took some pretty pictures. We also met the lighthouse keeper and a local artist with a genuine Maine accent.

The kids played at the beach some more and an old-fashioned arcade and then we headed home. There was a lot of packing to do.

 

I would say that the thing I enjoyed the most was talking to the many people along the way in each area we visited. People are so interesting. I learned so much more about where we were by talking to the locals. The trip also reminded me of the beauty and majesty of this great nation. I can really say that I am proud to be an American.

Virginia to Pennsylvania

We have really been packing it in on our blitzkrieg history tour. On Monday we drove to Williamsburg to spend the day in colonial times. You can actually walk around Williamsburg for free, but if you want to go in the buildings and listen to the reenactors, you pay an entrance fee. I am still not sure if it is worth the hefty price tag, but since we were there, I figured we might as well just do it.  I would say it is very similar to This is the Place State Park. 

We were able to go into many buildings , like the governor's mansion, printing press, wig shop, silversmith, and state house.  It was also nice to be there on Memorial Day. They had a parade with a colonial marching band and lots of period costumes. 

 

After we finished our visit to Williamsburg, we headed over to the original Jamestown site, which is now a National Park.  We made it in to the visitor's center with just enough time to get a stamp for our NPS passport and to watch a video about the site. Then we went and looked around. You have to walk on a bridge that goes over wetlands. That was a great experience because we could see a prodigious amount of wildlife: terrapins, snakes, frogs, a muskrat, etc. At Jamestown they have excavated a lot of the original foundations and have several monuments to the big players like Pocahontas, John Smith, and the like. There is also a church there and a cemetery.

We missed the visitor's center at Yorktown, which was kind of a bummer. However, we walked the grounds a little bit and took some pictures. It is quite an honor to be able to walk where George Washington walked. I loved it. 

Yorktown also had some action during the Civil War, so about a half mile down the road was a Civil War cemetery. Every grave was honored with a flag. It is good to know that they are not forgotten.

On Tuesday, it was time to see the Capitol, the perfect place for an American history trip. We first went to the American History Smithsonian Museum. I didn't drag the kids through every exhibit but we did see the highlights like the star-spangled banner, Nauvoo sun stone, military installation, and of course the ruby slippers.

After lunch and as a small mercy to Zach, we then went to the Natural History museum and that is when he could be the tour guide and explain stuff to us. We looked at the rock display mostly, and were able to see the shiny, expensive stuff as well.

We waited in a short line to get into the National Archives, which is next door to the Natural History Museum. The rostrum is where the founding documents are displayed. The room is dark and photography is forbidden. It was kind of sad to see that the Declaration of Independence is severely faded, almost to the point of illegibility. But what an honor it is to be able to see the actual documents that they signed. 

After this, we thought we would try to get a tour of the US Mint. We walked through an interesting sculpture garden, across the Mall, and past many excessively large government buildings to get there. Unfortunately, we would have had to wait another 90 minutes to get in, and decided to bag it. Hence, we went back to the hotel a little early and relaxed a bit. But after dinner, it was time to hit the history trail again. We went back to the Mall to see the monuments. Night time visits are perfect. There are free places to park, it is cool, and not too crowded. They light them all up, so they are easily seen and do stay open quite late. Unfortunately, it decided to rain a lot. 

We pretty much got soaked!

But can I tell you? I loved it! The lightning storm was amazing to witness from the steps of Lincoln Memorial. And then the heavy downpour was a fun experience. You just don't get that kind of thing in Utah, or the west anywhere really. I am glad that my boys could experience it as well.

We saw the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, WWII Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial. We also happened upon a sweet sculpture of Albert Einstein.

Wednesday was the perfect day to finally go see Arlington, which really is a requirement when you visit DC. I have been there many times, but had never gone to see Robert E. Lee's house. I picked the perfect time to go because they had just finished restoring it a few years previously. The park ranger takes you on a tour and they have done a wonderful job with the house. And by the way, I had no idea that his wife was a direct descendant of Martha Washington. Whaaa?

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is such a special place...hallowed ground. I kind of get teary-eyed whenever I am there just thinking about it. The wreath in the picture is from Memorial Day. It is the wreath the President put there. I also learned that the Vietnam grave is empty because they tested the soldier's DNA and now he is not unknown. But it symbolic anyways, so I guess it really doesn't matter.

After lunch, we decided to go to Ford's Theater. I had never been there and was looking forward to it because I had read a book about it when I was in a book club in Reno. It was a worthwhile stop on our itinerary. There is a museum in the basement and they have many artifacts from that horrible moment in history, including the gun used to kill Lincoln. Then we sat in theater seats and listened to a presentation from the park ranger. We could see the president's box, but we couldn't go near it. Darn!

Every night we Facetimed my mom and were able to talk and see the kids. It was such a blessing to be able to do that.  It was a highlight of every day. Noelle would try to eat the iPad and the other three enjoyed making lots of faces.

It was time to move on to our next location. We packed up and headed out after rush hour traffic. Our first stop was Fort McHenry in Baltimore. We spent about an hour at the fort, but it was totally worth it. The visitor's center plays a top-notch movie about Fort McHenry. I am not going to lie, I got a little teary watching it. I am not going to give you the details and ruin it for you. Go someday and see for yourself.

Then we started heading toward Keri and Jeff's house, which was about an hour out of Baltimore. We made an unplanned stop at another National Historic Site called Hampton House. It was on the way and we needed to kill a couple of hours. This was a little treasure we found. The reason it is a historic site is because of the architecture of the house. Hampton was a plantation and the house is early Georgian. Plus, all of the furniture is original from the hundreds of years it was privately owned. There was a lot to see at this estate. And it was raining, so it was good to find a place to kill time that was indoors.

We finally got to Keri P.'s house in the early evening. And it was awesome! Keri and her family, Jen M. and her kids, and Lauren and Nate (way back from our Univ. of Utah days) and all of their kids were all there. It was quite a crowd. Amazingly enough, they all ended up in the same ward in rural Maryland and they all love each other. It was a wonderful visit and I am so grateful I have made the best associations over these past twenty years. These ladies are the cream of the crop. Their husbands aren't too bad either. We ate dinner, visited, had some dessert, and then it was time to hit the road again.

L to R: Lauren, Jen, me, and Keri

This time we were headed for Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. But I really wasn't feeling the love from Maryland to New Jersey because, holy cow, the toll roads! Are you kidding me?!?

I had never been to Philadelphia so I was anxious to put the boots on the ground and check it out. We followed Keri's recommendation and did Once Upon a Nation with our boys. And it was great. They had ten stations where you could sit and a volunteer would tell you a story. I think it helped some of the history to come alive for Raef and Zach. The storytellers were animated and fun. You could tell they loved being there. It also helped us navigate a well-laid path for seeing the most important stuff in the city. I always feel like I never have enough time though!

There was a sign saying that all the tickets to Independence Hall were gone. What!?!?! I was almost gonna be devastated. I really wanted to go in the building. Fortunately, I decided to ask a park ranger and they actually had extra tickets. Never give up...never surrender! 

We made sure to get some real Philly cheese steaks for lunch and to hit all of the story spots. Because if the kids heard all of the stories, they would get a free ride on the carousel. This was the perfect motivation for them. 

And they did it!

On our way back to the car, we saw the Federal Reserve building and it offered tours. We went in and were sad to see that we were ten minutes late for a tour! Grrr... However, the security guard was very nice (and shockingly, a Republican...what???) and he gave the kids souvenir money. It is the shredded stuff that the Reserve gives away at the end of the tour. To pay back that kindness, I gave him my cakey cornbread recipe, courtesy of Our Best Bites.

We also checked out Elfreth Alley and then ate dinner at a Greek booth at the Reading Terminal Market.

Golden Spike Trip Fail

And here is where I got this "brilliant" idea to take my kids on an educational field trip. My garden was all planted, tests were completed, pretty much all of their schoolwork was done. It was time to get out there in the world. I drove the kids up on Thursday to see the Golden Spike National Monument. It is about a two hour drive from our house. 

Everything was going really well here in these pictures. I took them when we arrived at the place. It was just after this that I began to question my sanity. Insert eye roll and excessively long sigh here...

The little kids acted just the way I expected them to. The problem was that Raef and Zach were not interested in this at all, no matter how I tried to engage them. They were so distracted by everything. I had difficult time getting them to read anything or look at anything. You get the picture. It was pretty darn frustrating. We saw some of the demonstration where they actually drive the train down the track a bit. And then I waved the white flag, put the kids in the car, turned the music up, and drove home. 

We are supposed to go out east this Saturday for an American history trip of epic proportions. It ought to be interesting to see how it goes. But I am not holding my breath.

Six Flags Homeschool Day

We did something wacky on Monday. I took the boys and went to Six Flags in Vallejo, California.  We left early in the morning and caravaned with another homeschool family; Christine, Dan, and their kids Nate and Camryn.  They also brought a few of their public school friends who were off on Monday because of Veteran's Day.

It was a blast. We stopped and ate a big meal before we went to the park at Denny's and then went to have some fun. There were absolutely no lines and the weather was beautiful.  

The boys rode a lot of roller coaster and we did take a look at many of the animals there, like the tigers and walruses and a beautiful butterfly garden.

It was a long day.  I had a hard time keeping my eyes open driving home, but we managed to get back safely. I hope we can go again next year.

Architecture Field Trip at UNR

I am so blessed to know amazing people from church. Just a couple of weeks ago I sat next to Lyle, a wonderful teacher in Primary. I happened to ask him what he does for a living and he told me that he is at architect at the University of Nevada Reno.  It got the wheels turning in my brain and I asked if I could set up a field trip to visit a building project on campus.  And oh boy, did he pull through.

Lyle arranged for us to visit the earthquake lab and also see the new lab that they are building, the biggest one in North America.  The lab has these huge shake tables and they build actual structures and then try to destroy them with a horrific "earthquake".  When we toured the facility, they had a two story steel structure they were building for a test that is coming up.  Way cool.

Several homeschool families joined us as well as the lead professor in the engineering department.  He gave us lots of great information.  I sure learned a lot.  I hope everyone else did.

I now need to think of more field trips we can do like this and then make it happen.  All you can do is ask, right? You never know where that will take you.

Nevada Day in Carson

Friday was such a beautiful day. And it was Nevada Day for our state. All the public buildings and schools were closed, so after a short day of academics, we took a little trip down to Carson City and Mill Park to check out the awesome display of aircraft.

 

 

They had helicopters and airplanes and the let you sit in the cockpit on several of them.

 

 

 

 

The kids enjoyed it and it was nice to get out of the house.

 

Later that day, we went to pick apples at Maureen's house. She is this lovely lady that I know from homeschool co-op.  She was so kind to let us come and pick apples and I was able to get several large baskets full of different kinds. I have juiced some of them, and need to preserve the rest. We love apples at our house!

 

Kokanee Salmon Run at Taylor Creek

It has just been too beautiful this week to sit behind a desk.  Bad weather is on the horizon and I didn't want to wastedthe day away studying.  Therefore, we did a field trip yesterday!  I took the boys to the salmon run at Taylor Creek in California, via a stop at the Genoa Courthouse Museum.

Genoa was one of the settlements on the Pony Express.  The town was settled by Mormons and was a trading post on the California Trail.  They have a neat display about the Pony Express.  Riders were between the ages of 11-18.  They preferred orphans, because it was so dangerous. Can you believe that someone would sign up for that? Look at my boys.  They will be old enough for that job in 3 months!

 After a turn around the museum, we hit the road again for Lake Tahoe. It was an ideal time to go.  The leaves are changing colors and it was pristine and beautiful. Taylor Creek has a short trail loop and on the back side is the creek. Once a year, the Kokanee salmon come back to the creek to spawn and then die.  They estimate 70,000 fish make the trek.  The creek is very shallow and you can go right up to them. There are dead fish everywhere and tons of fish just floating there in the creek.  It does attract a good amount of bears, though I didn't get to see one.  Boo.

A funny moment happened when we were standing on the bridge by the main road during our leisurely hike.  The creek was just filled with tons of fish.  Our bodies cast a shadow on the water where they were floating. Raef would do a large wave with a stick he had found, and like a computer game, the fish would move away from him.  Then he would go to where there was another clump of fish and do the same thing.  Then Raef and Zach both got in on the action, making the fish move on command. It was pretty darn funny.

I am so glad I was able to experience this cycle of nature.  I learned a ton and I hope my kids did too. It is one thing to read it in a book.  But to actually be able to see it is priceless.