Memorial Day Camping

On Sunday, after our Jamestown and Yorktown "field-trips", we went on a much anticipated camping trip to Little Bennett in Clarksburg, MD.

We went with our dear friends, the Glenn family.

We enjoyed hot dogs cooked over the fire, along with chips, salad, fruit,

and even some yummy corn on the cob for our dinner.

We also enjoyed nibbling on Oreo cookies and drinking apple juice fruit boxes (Thanks Naomi)!

Faith brought her Felicity paper dolls to play with her friends while camping too.

Then we all climbed in the back of Mr. Andrew's truck 

and we took a quick ride to the park.

My dad had a truck similar to this (minus the gas tank) when I was growing up and I loved riding in the back of it.

We had swinging time,

twirling time,

and rocking time.

Three of the "big girls".  They have all grown-up so fast.  (3-year old Anna, 5- year old Madeline, and 7- year old Jillian)

Even the dads got into the action of the playground fun.

Back at camp, Jillian got a marshmallow on fire! Whoops! 

Lucy enjoyed some graham crackers with Mr. Brad.

Anna LOVED her s'more!

We had friends from church join us for s'mores too. While we were checking into the camp-site, our friends were checking in too! We had no idea they were going to be there at the same time as us.

There was such a big group of us, I thought it was the perfect opportunity for us to have some campfire singing! I seriously tried my best to get some Kumbayah going but no one would join me. :-(

Brad and I went to bed (our cots with sleeping bags) around 11 PM and slept much better this time around.  We were prepared for the cold. I wore a winter hat on my head and two fleece pants layered on top of one another and we brought LOTS of extra blankets to try to stay snuggly warm.   The one thing that we could not have anticipated was a baby (from our another camping site) crying loudly in the night!  :(

Jillian woke up cheery in the morning at 5:30 AM. She was excited to be in the beautiful woods camping with our family and friends!

Brad, Faith, and Anna were a little slower to wake up and get excited about the morning!

Our home sweet home for one night of the year. My clever outdoorsman husband put our tent diagonally on the site so it would fit!

The cinnamon muffin for breakfast woke Faith up in a jiffy! 

A Happy Memorial day morning.  We enjoyed the fruit for breakfast too (not the cookies- that was a morning snack ;-).

Faith enjoyed riding her bike.

And Jillian did too.

Then we discovered another park on the camping ground. 

We had fun on the see-saw big enough for our family of five! 

Faith loved climbing and "riding" on the big turtle.

Jillian found our home-state of Texas! All three of the girls really consider themselves native-Texans, though not one of them was born there or even ever lived there! 

Jillian also found the state of Maryland on the map.

Jillian and I played hopscotch together.

Then we all ran back to the van to go back to the camping site to see our friends! 

On accident, Brad left his shirt and sweatshirt on top of the van, but incredibly it stayed on there while we made the drive back to camp!  

Happy Memorial Day morning. 

It's time for a special, patriotic cookie! Happy blue teeth day! 

Our friends were awake when we got back and all three of my girls enjoyed doting on little Lucy.

We did some more burning of things....

I got a little messy in the process.

And before you knew it was time for us to go home.

Jillian crashed on the family room floor at 4 PM in the afternoon.

It had been a super exciting Memorial Day weekend.  And it was time to rest up.  

Our Yorktown Experience

"I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states....I can see that the end is more than worth all that."
John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, July 1776

There are three parts to the Yorktown Victory center.

First, we enjoyed a glimpse of life on a typical Virginian farm after the revolution (in the 1780's).

Tobacco drying in the barn

A colonial woman showing us some flax that would traditionally be used to make linen.

The lady told us that all of us girls all had "flaxen hair"! 

The tool shed filled with many tools that look similar to the ones that we have today.

Jillian and I laboring over the fire/ pot to clean our laundry.  

One of our favorite quotes in studying the Revolutionary War was Patrick Henry's, "Give me liberty or give me death."   So we were super excited to find this "Liberty or Death" stitchery.  The girls also admired the adorable colonial dolls.

Another favorite was Nathan Hale's famous quote, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. "

Colonial gamees

Faith tided up the floors of the cabin with a broom. She is such a helper at our home and other people's homes too! 

Jillian was quite perplexed to see that there was no fork in this place setting. (I will leave you in suspense, but there is more to come on this in a picture coming up :-))

A collection of quill pens for writing 

We enjoyed the farm and then moved onto the museum.

There were some fascinating exhibits displaying the hardships that ordinary people endured during our nation's fight for freedom. 

Then, we made our way to the military encampment.  The tents were so tiny and not comfy at all for sleeping. 

However, the officers had it pretty good with a pillow, a cot, and everything!

General Daddy strategized what his next plan of offense will be.

In my humble opinion, Brad makes a super cute general! :-)  I especially like that he's not good at holding his smile for very long!

There's a fork in this place setting!

Here's more information than you ever wanted to know about forks:

FORKS

"The word “fork” comes from the Latin “furca” and the Old English “forca”. Small forks used for eating first appeared in Tuscany in the 11th century, but they were still a rarity in Italy by the 14th century.

Kitchen forks trace their origins back to the time of the Greeks. These forks were fairly large with two tines that aided in the carving and serving of meat. The tines prevented meat from twisting or moving during carving and allowed food to slide off more easily than it would with a knife.

By the 7th Century CE, royal courts of the Middle East began to use forks at the table for dining. From the 10th through the 13th Centuries, forks were fairly common among the wealthy in Byzantium.

In the 11th Century the Venetian Doge, Domenico Selvo, married a Greek princess who brought the practice of eating with forks to his court. This was regarded as a scandalous and heretical affectation, and when she died shortly after it is perceived as a divine punishment.

It was not until the 16th Century that forks were widely adopted in Italy.

During the reign of Charles V of France (1364 to 1380) forks are listed in his inventory of plate, but it is specified that they are only to be used when eating foods that might otherwise stain the fingers.

 In 1533, forks were brought from Italy to France when Catherine de Medici married the future King Henry II.

The French, too, were slow to accept forks, like the Italians, using them was thought to be an affectation.

In 1560, according to a French manners book, different customs evolved in different European countries. For eating soup, Germans are known for using spoons, Italians are known for using forks (presumably the fork assists in eating solid ingredients and the remaining liquid is drunk out of the bowl as it was in the Middle Ages). The Germans and Italians provide a knife for each diner, while the French provide only two or three communal knives for the whole table.

An Englishman named Thomas Coryate brought the first forks to England around 1611 after seeing them in Italy during his travels in 1608.

The English ridiculed forks as being effeminate and unnecessary. Coryate was mocked for promoting the use of forks and called “Furcifer,” meaning fork-bearer.

 Many British clergymen were vehemently opposed to forks; they believed that only human fingers were worthy of touching God’s food. Often, when someone died after having used a fork, these clergymen preached that it was God’s way of showing His displeasure over the use of such a shocking novelty.

Slowly, however, forks came to be adopted by the wealthy. They were prized possessions made of expensive materials intended to impress guests.

Small, slender-handled forks with two tines were generally used for sweet, sticky foods or for foods such as berries which were likely to stain the fingers. By the mid 1600s, eating with forks was considered fashionable among wealthy British. Forks used solely for dining were luxuries and thus markers of social status and sophistication among nobles.

Early table forks were modeled after kitchen forks; two fairly long and widely spaced tines ensured that meat would not twist while being cut. This style of fork was soundly designed, but small pieces of food regularly fell through the tines or slipped off easily.

As forks become more common implements at the table in the early 17th century and were used for holding food steady while cutting and for conveying the food to the mouth, it is less necessary for knives to be made with pointed tips. They begin to be made blunt at the end.

In late 17th Century France, larger forks with four curved tines were developed. The additional tines made diners less likely to drop food, and the curved tines served as a scoop so people did not have to constantly switch to a spoon while eating. By the early 19th Century, multi-tined forks had also been developed in Germany and England and slowly began to spread to America.

In 1630, Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony had the first and only fork in colonial America.

In the early 18th century, the four-tined fork has become the rule in Germany. In England, however, forks still have two tines and are not so helpful for scooping up bites of food.

In Europe at the mid-18^th century, the fork has achieved the form which is now most familiar, four curved tines.

By the beginning of the 19th Century, additional tines were being added to forks in Europe, and the use of forks is starting to become popular in the United States. They are sometimes called “split spoons.”

During Victorian Years specialized utensils proliferated in the West, more in response to the Victorian fondness for bric-a-brac than to any real need. Tomato servers, sardine forks, jelly knives, and cheese scoops are among the many elaborations in silverware."

http://askandyaboutclothes.com/lifestyle/the-history-of-dining-utensils

 
We made it in time for a cannon demonstration! 

Brad was chosen to be a volunteer in the artillery crew (without even raising his hand or anything)!

BOOM!

The cannon was SUPER LOUD.  All of the interpreters had ear plugs in their ears, while we used our hands to cover our ears. 

Wives and children were permitted to travel with their husbands during the war.  All the women/ children slept together in tents and earned money by doing laundry for the soldiers.

We were very perplexed by this mound of dirt. But it turns out this is a big ol' oven. 

This is where the women and children would typically sleep.  

Then, we learned about surgeons on the battlefield. There was some pretty gruesome stuff that happened out there, especially involving teeth.

Colonial girl, Jillian

We returned to the 1780's farm and spent a little more time in the kitchen.

The top of this jar was created using a pig's bladder! Early Americans were really resourceful and knew how to use most every part of the pig for something useful.

I loved looking at the "receipts" (recipes) for food. The spelling was so different and they liked to pickle everything!

If eggs are not washed (all of our store bought eggs are washed), they will stay good for a couple of weeks on the counter.

Faith was my brave one and held an actual dried pig's foot! Yummy!

Brad demonstrated to the girls how you would properly wear a shoulder yoke to transport pails of water. 

We walked through the garden. While there, the girls with great observation skills asked about the shells in the soil.

We learned from this man that stones were extremely expensive, but shells were abundant and FREE.

We had a great experience at the Yorktown Victory Center. It was time to go home!

On our way home, we stopped at Sonic....

for some ice-cream cones.

They were enjoyed by all of us!