Happy 4th of July

What better way to celebrate the birth of our nation, than to spend the afternoon at Valley Forge.  We participated in a variety of carnival like activities - which were appropriate for all ages.  All the planned activities were designed to help prepare us to enlist in the continental army and fight for our freedom.

We started out the morning, by testing out our strength to see if we could ring the liberty bell.

Eliza started us off with her mighty strength. 

I gave it a shot, but I wasn't very good - the mallet is heavier than I expected. 

Zaby desperately wanted to try - he did awesome. 

The he-man of us all still didn't quite make it to the top, but if we add all of our strength together, we rang the liberty bell.  In honor of our efforts, we got to done these patriotic leas.  We were happy to have my sister here visiting with us for an entire month. 

 

After a quick bite to eat, we hurried over to the cavalry where our children enlisted in the continental army.

 After being handed our weapons,  

 and taught how to stand in formation

 how to appropriately salute and stand at attention

 and how to march in a straight line, 

 We were ready for battle!!  Zaby seemed to think that our weapons were best suited for sword fighting.

Unfortunately before we completed our march to victory, Eliza and Zaby deserted the army. Running the opposite direction, they traded their wooden guns in for a fireman's hat.

Zaby was so comfortable in the big firetruck, it was quite a struggle to get him out.

But eventually we succeeded and moved on to the next activity.  

The kids might not have deserted the army if we went through the proper training first. (We were given a list of activities to do to complete our continental army training.  However, we accidentally went through the stations backwards).  We made it to the clothing station which provided us all with the appropriate attire to wear.  First Eliza, dressed and ready, stood at attention. 

                                      Then the handsome soldier stepped up to accept the challenge.

 Soon we were all dressed and ready for battle to defend our country.

 Next step, was to learn how to march to the beat of our own drum.  The kids each took a turn playing a different marching tune.  I was very impressed with Zaby's sense of rhythm.  He took to this drum naturally, while marching in place nonetheless.

 Eliza was next in line to beat her own drum. 

 After our music adventure, we took a small break from our army preparations to make a fingerprint flag.

 With our flags complete, and a patriotic sucker to appease the children, we got right back to work building us some army barracks.  We carefully chose our equipment...

 worked together to build the walls... 

 soon, the barracks were ready for habitation. 

 

 As you can tell from this pictures, both Zaby and Eliza certainly enjoyed their suckers. 

Eliza participated in the bean bag toss using fire cakes.  These were mixtures of flour, water, and baking powder that were cooked at such high temperatures, they were hard as rocks.  Apparently, they were a popular food during the colonial time.  Although she didn't actually get any fire cakes through the hole, she still reaped the benefits of a prized pencil.

 

By this time in the afternoon, the kids were quickly wearing down.  After a quick lesson in water carrying, we ended our visit to Valley Forge with a canon firing demonstration. 

 

 The volunteers at Valley Forge carefully made their preparations.  We watched in anticipation, despite Zaby's readiness for a nap.

 Finally the moment had come...

 Ready, Aim, Fire 

Sorry that the picture is blurry - the blast was louder than expected.  It made my sister, who was taking the picture, jump at just the right moment.

By the end of our time at Valley Forge, I believe I can safely say that my children had a lot of fun. Before the end of the day, Thomas Jefferson read aloud the Declaration of Independence, and then we headed home for a nap.  

Later that evening, we headed up to Quakertown to enjoy the fireworks.

And enjoy them we did.  Eliza loved the BIG red and purple ones.  Zaby loved all of them - he was captivated by every single one.  I've never seen him sit so still.  With each firework, his eyes got wide with excitement, he pointed up at the sky, and exclaimed in his cute little voice, "Boom, Boom Boom!"

I'm grateful for those who risked their lives so that I can enjoy the freedoms that I have, and be able to celebrate this holiday with the family I love.

Happy Independence Day!