July 3-5
sorry it's been so long since I updated this, but I've just been too tired to do much more than get the pictures off of my camera at night. Last night I had some energy, but we didn't have an internet connection at the hotel (no local calling number for our ISP there).
July 3- Colonial Williamsburg
It has been so stinking hot and humid, it has been miserable to be outside and of course most of what we have been doing has been outside. Coming from dry Colorado, we just aren't used to it. It was 95 degrees out and 95% humidity- which made it feel at least 105. We stepped outside the hotel room and started sweating that day. Even the locals in Williamsburg were saying that this was uncomfortably hot and humid. This pic was taken about an hour after we started touring Colonial Williamsburg- barely into the day- and already they look worn out and Brenna was asking to go back to the hotel. The forays into the air-conditioned buildings for tours really helped make the periods outside more bearable.
Some of the 'colonials' asked the kids to come dance with them and Beth and Carissa started to perk up a bit. Bryce didn't want to dance and Brenna decided she was going to be too shy to join in the fun.
Then we moved down to the Courthouse to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence from the balcony and a series of other skits that illustrated other aspects of the war for independance from England.
My favorite stop along Main street this visit (Mark and I, and Bryce when he was about 4 months old, visited Williamsburg a couple of times when we lived in PA and NJ) was the wigmakers shop. She was engaging and fun and stayed in character while still interacting with the people who came in.
Beth with two colonial ladies at the courthouse and listening to the history of the building and how events of the time affected things then and now.
At the end of the day as we were walking back down towards the governor's palace, I heard a bird and I looked up and saw this clay pot on the side of the house with the little bird poking her head out of it. She was chirping away at all of the people going by- probably telling us it was time to go now and leave her and her babies in the nest inside in peace for the rest of the day.
July 4- Yorktown
This morning we got in the van and drove down to historic Yorktown for their "Victory at Yorktown Celebration". We parked on one of the historic battlefields and hoofed it over to the base of the Victory monument to wait for the start of the parade. An AF band warmed up and played a few tunes while we waited and also during the parade as everyone marched by. The Yorktown Fife and Drum Corp was one of the first groups to go by and was our favorite. The kids really enjoyed listening to the drumming and piping every time we heard it.
Sarah waving to the people and cars as they drive by.
A couple of hours later we caught the Yorktown Fife and Drum Corps giving a mini concert on the lawn of one of the town buildings and Beth and Carissa practiced their colonial dancing.
It got to be lunchtime and we had had enough. We decided to head back to the hotel for naps so that we could let everyone stay up late to see the fireworks. We intended to come back to Yorktown later that evening to hear the AF band that was going to play and se the fireworks at 9:15. After we had our naps and ate dinner we headed back down to Yorktown only to find all of the roads blocked off by police barracades; we figured that the area must be full and they had decided to keep more people from entering. We were disappointed, but checked the list of local area events and decided to head to Newport News for their show since it was close enough we might have time to get there and actually figure out where things were going on in time. We actually did very well at guessing where the community activities were taking place and managed to be seated about 9:00 in the middle of the park area. 9 came and went and no fireworks; there was a band playing from Nashville, TN on the huge stage at the front of the park and we had to wait until 10 to discover that they were shooting the firworks off of a barge down on the river and though we could see them from where were sitting, we couldn't see them that well. We picked up our stuff and headed down the block towards the river edge with a good portion of the other people in the park. Mark scouted out a good spot and we were able to watch the rest of the show with an unobstructed view of the fireworks leaving the barge and bursting overhead.
July 5- we packed up our stuff and headed back in a northerly direction. As soon as we hit the outskirts of WADC the traffic started to back up and slow us down; it was about 2P so I think people must still have been returning from the long weekend. And of course it started to rain again too. We were headed towards the WADC zoo so that we could see the giant pandas. We had tickets for 3P to see them if they were in the panda house, and of course we didn't make it on time because of the traffic. Before too long the clouds opened up and started dumping on us. When we finally made it to the top of the zoo where the panda pavillion. We lucked out and the pandas were outside in the yard and the number of people waiting to see them was few so we ended up not needing the tickets. The shot below is of the baby panda who (who will be one year old in a couple of days) through the trees next to our walkway. The way he was positioned limited where I could pictures from. The downopour continued and before too long I had to put the camera away so that it wouldn't get wet.
Isn't he cute? and here are my cuties modeling their oh-so-fashionable rain wear- Walmart shopping bags. We only had one umbrella and all of the coats for the femailes of the family were packed in the clothing bags on top of the van and they weren't coming out. We were all soaked from head to toe by the time we were done, but it was worth it to see the pandas.
I'm having trouble staying awake here, so Im going to have to stop and wait until tomorrow to post the activities we did today. I need to get some sleep as we are heading into Manhattan and the Bronx early in the morning. We are going to the Bronx Zoo and Robin from RAKscraps is meeting us there! I can't wait to meet her in person. After she heads off to work we will head back down through Manhattan in search of some place good to eat and celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary.
July 3- Colonial Williamsburg
It has been so stinking hot and humid, it has been miserable to be outside and of course most of what we have been doing has been outside. Coming from dry Colorado, we just aren't used to it. It was 95 degrees out and 95% humidity- which made it feel at least 105. We stepped outside the hotel room and started sweating that day. Even the locals in Williamsburg were saying that this was uncomfortably hot and humid. This pic was taken about an hour after we started touring Colonial Williamsburg- barely into the day- and already they look worn out and Brenna was asking to go back to the hotel. The forays into the air-conditioned buildings for tours really helped make the periods outside more bearable.
Some of the 'colonials' asked the kids to come dance with them and Beth and Carissa started to perk up a bit. Bryce didn't want to dance and Brenna decided she was going to be too shy to join in the fun.
Then we moved down to the Courthouse to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence from the balcony and a series of other skits that illustrated other aspects of the war for independance from England.
My favorite stop along Main street this visit (Mark and I, and Bryce when he was about 4 months old, visited Williamsburg a couple of times when we lived in PA and NJ) was the wigmakers shop. She was engaging and fun and stayed in character while still interacting with the people who came in.
Beth with two colonial ladies at the courthouse and listening to the history of the building and how events of the time affected things then and now.
At the end of the day as we were walking back down towards the governor's palace, I heard a bird and I looked up and saw this clay pot on the side of the house with the little bird poking her head out of it. She was chirping away at all of the people going by- probably telling us it was time to go now and leave her and her babies in the nest inside in peace for the rest of the day.
July 4- YorktownThis morning we got in the van and drove down to historic Yorktown for their "Victory at Yorktown Celebration". We parked on one of the historic battlefields and hoofed it over to the base of the Victory monument to wait for the start of the parade. An AF band warmed up and played a few tunes while we waited and also during the parade as everyone marched by. The Yorktown Fife and Drum Corp was one of the first groups to go by and was our favorite. The kids really enjoyed listening to the drumming and piping every time we heard it.
Sarah waving to the people and cars as they drive by.A couple of hours later we caught the Yorktown Fife and Drum Corps giving a mini concert on the lawn of one of the town buildings and Beth and Carissa practiced their colonial dancing.
It got to be lunchtime and we had had enough. We decided to head back to the hotel for naps so that we could let everyone stay up late to see the fireworks. We intended to come back to Yorktown later that evening to hear the AF band that was going to play and se the fireworks at 9:15. After we had our naps and ate dinner we headed back down to Yorktown only to find all of the roads blocked off by police barracades; we figured that the area must be full and they had decided to keep more people from entering. We were disappointed, but checked the list of local area events and decided to head to Newport News for their show since it was close enough we might have time to get there and actually figure out where things were going on in time. We actually did very well at guessing where the community activities were taking place and managed to be seated about 9:00 in the middle of the park area. 9 came and went and no fireworks; there was a band playing from Nashville, TN on the huge stage at the front of the park and we had to wait until 10 to discover that they were shooting the firworks off of a barge down on the river and though we could see them from where were sitting, we couldn't see them that well. We picked up our stuff and headed down the block towards the river edge with a good portion of the other people in the park. Mark scouted out a good spot and we were able to watch the rest of the show with an unobstructed view of the fireworks leaving the barge and bursting overhead.
July 5- we packed up our stuff and headed back in a northerly direction. As soon as we hit the outskirts of WADC the traffic started to back up and slow us down; it was about 2P so I think people must still have been returning from the long weekend. And of course it started to rain again too. We were headed towards the WADC zoo so that we could see the giant pandas. We had tickets for 3P to see them if they were in the panda house, and of course we didn't make it on time because of the traffic. Before too long the clouds opened up and started dumping on us. When we finally made it to the top of the zoo where the panda pavillion. We lucked out and the pandas were outside in the yard and the number of people waiting to see them was few so we ended up not needing the tickets. The shot below is of the baby panda who (who will be one year old in a couple of days) through the trees next to our walkway. The way he was positioned limited where I could pictures from. The downopour continued and before too long I had to put the camera away so that it wouldn't get wet.
Isn't he cute? and here are my cuties modeling their oh-so-fashionable rain wear- Walmart shopping bags. We only had one umbrella and all of the coats for the femailes of the family were packed in the clothing bags on top of the van and they weren't coming out. We were all soaked from head to toe by the time we were done, but it was worth it to see the pandas.
I'm having trouble staying awake here, so Im going to have to stop and wait until tomorrow to post the activities we did today. I need to get some sleep as we are heading into Manhattan and the Bronx early in the morning. We are going to the Bronx Zoo and Robin from RAKscraps is meeting us there! I can't wait to meet her in person. After she heads off to work we will head back down through Manhattan in search of some place good to eat and celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary.
posted by Melinda at 9:25 PM
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