Washington DC trip

The girls and I took another quick trip this summer, this time to the east coast.  I'm 43 years old and had never been to Washington DC!  This was a trip I wanted to do before my girls were grown and gone.  So...we planned it out, as best we could.

One of the first stops was Mt Vernon-George Washington's home.  

The girls were taking a break, looking at the Potomac.

In front of Mt. Vernon

Next we went to the Pentagon and saw the 9/11 Memorial

Our day at Arlington National Cemetery was incredible.  It was such a beautiful, emotional area.  It's also the resting place of a guy who went to high school with me.  

We toured Arlington House and also saw the changing of the guard in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier.  Amazing!

What's a trip to DC without seeing the White House.  It really looks bigger on TV.  lol!

The night before we saw the Lincoln memorial, it was vandalized.  Someone poured paint all over it!  Can you imagine?  Why?  That meant they had it partially closed off because they were trying to remove the paint.  This was as close as we could get.

I'm thankful the guide book I read said to go to the Old Post Office for a spectacular view.  They were right!  Above you can see the Capital building in the distance.

Just as the sun was going down, we made it to the Capital building.  I thought this was the prettiest government building that we saw.

On the way home we stopped at Monticello-Thomas Jefferson's home.  I loved walking through the gardens and enjoying the breathtaking view.

6 history filled days that none of us will ever forget.  I'm so glad we finally made this trip.  God bless our wonderful country!

A New School Year-the old school way

This summer has passed so quickly.  I haven't even posted to my blog!  I've tried, but had issues getting pictures to upload.  If I can't have a picture, I don't want to post.  :)  Anyway, tonight it worked.  Maybe I can play catch up in the near future.
Besides traveling a lot this summer, my mother has had serious health issues.  We've all been stressed and had extra running and things to do.  Last week I realized that I had not even planned our new school year.  Those who know me, know that I'm normally ahead of the game when it comes to planning and scheduling.  I started last week planning out which books we would use (we follow a Charlotte Mason approach with Ambleside Online).  Once the books were ordered-either online or from the library, I started thinking about a schedule.  Wouldn't you know it, our printer is acting up!  I've always, always, typed up and printed out our schedule. Not this year or at least not this term.  I was able to print one blank form and make copies-that's it!  Honestly I'm thankful that I could get that much out of the printer.  I set to work tonight writing out the schedule.  I have the first six weeks done.  That will have to do for now.  Who knows, I may stick with this old school approach.  I'm thankful just to have my girls at home and be able to homeschool them.  I'll gladly hand write the schedule.  Jeremiah 29:11