Jamestown and Yorktown

February 28, 2015

Carl and I decided to take the kids to Jamestown and Yorktown today. We did not want to pay all the money to go to the settlements so we just went to the National Park section of each one. Since we have the military national park pass we got in free both places.

Before we went to Jamestown, we decided to treat the kids to a nice breakfast. When we pulled into town last night we laughed at a restaurant called The Astronomical Pancake House. We all expressed a desire to see if the pancakes were really big or not. We packed lunch before we left this morning and then we went out to breakfast. The pancakes definitely lived up to their name. They were HUGE! Alex and William split something called the Chocolate Insanity. Imagine chocolate chip pancakes topped with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and covered in chocolate syrup and pecans. Wow! I did not get to try any. I had the blueberry pancakes with Carl. Esther spilt regular chocolate chip pancakes with Tirzah. Tirzah ate almost a whole pancake. The three little boys had eggs and home fries. It was delicious and very family friendly.

Blueberry Pancake!!!!

The whole crew!

The aftermath- not a morsel in sight.

 

After rolling ourselves out of the restaurant, we had to stop by the camper to get our National Park Passport. The kids are very excited to get the cancellations at each site. Jamestown was first and the movie was… interesting. The sound was broken but the subtitles were on. I was elected to be the narrator until Tirzah decided to fuss and I had to take her out. We picked up our Junior Ranger activity sheets from the gift shop and spent about 30 minutes inside the visitor center filling out some of the activities. If you are not familiar with the Junior Ranger Program, it a program for kids 12 and under at each National Park. They have to go on guided tours, watch the educational movies, and then do activities throughout the park. When they are done they turn their sheets into the ranger and receive a patch.

We walked outside in the freezing cold with snow and ice on the ground. We sought out the things the kids needed for their activity sheets and then went back inside. We spent just about an hour out in the cold until the kids started mutinying. We saw the monument, Captain John Smith statue, Pocahontas statue, and the old church. The kids had a good time despite being FREEZING. A lot of the paths and trails were closed due to the weather. The kids had a blast earning their patches and the ranger was really great about being all “official” with their patches. They were so excited to go to Yorktown to earn another badge.



Working on the Junior Ranger book.

Esther hard at work,

For my Dad- a flag that flown on the space shuttle.

Sam is proud of his patch.



Daniel was so excited!!!

Caleb had a little help from Daddy!

Esther girl with her hard earned badge.

 

Yorktown was about 30 minutes away so we ate our picnic lunch in the van with the heat blasting. It was a very nice drive down the Colonial Parkway to Yorktown. We arrived at Yorktown about 3 and were able to get in to see a presentation right away. A very talented man portrayed a soldier from the Rhode Island Regiment that was unique as it was filled with mostly Negro and Indian soldiers. He gave a riveting presentation that had all 8 kids glued to their seats for 20 minutes. He gave a great overview of the battle at Yorktown.

Once he finished we watched the short video and then went and got the Junior Ranger Program sheets for Yorktown. We knew we did not have much time but we started anyway. These sheets were a lot different from Jamestown. They were a lot harder. I mean, I was getting so frustrated trying to help the kids that I had to walk away. Some of the stuff they were requiring the kids to do was just too hard. Esther ended up crying and I decided that we just had to put them away for a while. We decided to go out to the battlefield for a while. The auto tour was closed due to the weather. They really had not cleared anything. The only thing we could get to was the monument and that was ½ mile away and the kids were too cold. We ended up trudging through the snow to see a couple cannons and then piled into the car to drive to the monument. The kids were so disappointed to not be able to get their badges but they enjoyed themselves anyway. The monument was beautiful and very majestic looking. We ended up enjoying a lovely drive through historic Yorktown and fell in love. We are kicking ourselves for not coming to visit before. We plan to come back another time when the weather is a little bit more cooperative. The kids are also eager to try their hands again at the Junior Ranger sheets but this time we will give ourselves plenty of time to complete them.

A soldier from Rhode Isalnd

And yes, the snowman looks like George Washington. Only in Yorktown!!!!

 

All in all it was a good day. The only surprising things were the amount of people that illegally passed us on the parkway. We were going the speed limit but people were just flying around us, even with snow and ice on the side of the road. I guess they were just in a hurry. The only other issue we had, or I had, was with two ladies who decided I was not being a good enough mother and decided to interfere with one of the kids. The church at Jamestown has a glass floor around the perimeter of the building so you can see the original foundation that still exists. There were signs everywhere asking people to keep off the glass. I had told all the children not to step on the glass but one of my children, being a normal, typical child, wanted to know why. Before I could even open my mouth in response these two ladies responded with a very snide “Because the sign says so.” I had to bite my tongue not to whip around and tell them to mind their own business and that I was quite capable of parenting my own children but the Lord laid it on my heart to just say a simple “Thank You” and go on with our tour. I felt fury rise in me and I almost let it ruin my day. The Lord had to gently remind me that we live in a fallen world and not everyone is trying to raise their kids with a Biblical worldview like Carl and I are. There are parents who will harm their children and not care for them the way they should be cared for. These two women who responded badly to the curiousness of a child today do not know me or Carl and know the way we are raising our children. The Lord had to remind that when I stand before Him that I am not going to have to answer for those two women. I only will have to answer for what I did as a child of God.

Carl and I are trying very hard to raise our children to love and to follow the Lord. We know that we cannot force our children to follow the Lord but we are working hard to train them in the truth. We are doing what the Lord requires of us as parents and our children are responsible for their part in accepting it and living in the truth.

As long as Carl and I are being obedient to the Lord and doing what he calls us to then it does not matter what anyone else thinks. Carl and I have followed the Lord in answering his call to go on this adventure. We are right where the Lord wants us right now. I cannot allow the actions of two people affect my day and cause me to sin because of anger. Sorry to spend so much time on this but the Lord just reminded me that on this journey we are going to meet people who are directly against God and how we are raising our children. We need to be ready to give an answer to why we believe what we do and why we are doing all of this. We have only met people so far who are very encouraging to what we are doing but that will not always be the case. I think I had gotten complacent that we are just going to meet people who believe what we do along our travels. Today, between the law breaking passers and the two women who could not mind their own business I was reminded that I need to be ready always to live my life in such a way that everyone, even those who might not agree with me, knows that I am a servant of the King and Kings and Most High God. I believe God sent those people in my path today to teach me a lesson on humility and preparedness.