Mammoth Caves and yummy food

This morning we drove to the caves and got set up with a historical tour. Our tour guide was Ranger Joel. He was funny and made the tour interesting. The cave itself was amazing. It was had some really big "rooms" that were impressive. (hence the name mammoth caves) It also had a really fun windy, narrow, low ceiling path (one of the few places I had to duck) They called that section "fat man's misery". My favorite part in the cave was this part where you could look up and up without seeing the ceiling it was so high, and then you looked down right next to the path and there was a hole that went down even farther. They built a staircase there and that's how we climbed up out of the caves. I was happy mom and Tait came this time. It's more fun with more people ooing and ahhing. I tried to take some pictures but it was dark In the caves and the camera made it look even darker, so you can't really see the awesomeness.

We drove a little more and got ourselves close to the Bowling Green.

I finished the book I started yesterday while Tait read aloud "Tales of Ancient Egypt". He also read us some poetry during lunch.

For dinner we went to a very busy restaurant and got some Kentucky food. It was all really good. It was funny hearing everyone around us had an accent.

Hanging out in Purcellville

Two days ago: Amy had the day off so we were going to hang out nearby. We planned to go on a little hike, but mom was not feeling very good. She and Dad went to the doctor and they diagnosed mom with Lyme disease and gave her 4 weeks worth of antibiotics. While the parents were at the doctor Drew, Tait and I threw the frisbee around. Tait said that we're a lot better and are actually pretty good now :D

Later, Creighton, Drew, Tait, Amy, and I all went to the park down the road from the Kucks' house and played groundies. We came up with a really cool variation where everyone (besides the one who's "it") has to have a buddy and not let go of your buddy's hand the whole time you're running/climbing away. Tait was very impressive and manly as he swung Amy (and me too) around the play structure with one arm. We also climbed a really tall tree at the park. Then Tait was all sweet and bought us drinks and ice cream. We had a lovely time.

Yesterday, Creighton and Dad left early in the morning to fly home. Mom, Drew and I ran some errands with Tait, and then picked up Amy from work and we went and got some fro yo. We did more errands and then Tait took us to the park where he proposed to Amy. It was very pretty. We got Amy and then went home where Mrs. Kucks made us a yummy dinner. It was so fun being with the Kucks. They are so sweet and it is easy to talk comfortably and familiarly with them. I feel very blessed.

Today, we're on the road again headed for the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. Tait brought a bunch of books and is letting me read one of them right now. It is so happy to have him with us. :)

The Holocaust Museum

Today we went to the Holocaust Museum in downtown DC. It was very disturbing. The power of ideas was made very obvious through everything that happened. Adolph Hitler controlled the media and was able to tell the people whatever he wanted them to believe. The depravity of man was also apparent. Every person had a choice to support or oppose the Nazis. While Hitler made it hard to resist him, many people willingly accepted his lies and acted on them. We heard stories of friends and neighbors who turned each other in. We saw a video of a community publicly humiliating a couple because an "Aryan" married someone from an "inferior race". They shaved their heads, hung a sign around their necks and marched them out of town. The people standing around were just laughing and smiling at the whole thing.

It was horrifying to see the huge pile of shoes from all the people who were killed. You hear stories about the people who survived the camps and people who sheltered or helped the Jews during the Holocaust, but you don't hear about all the people who worked in the death camps or the medical experimentation facilities or everyone else who did nothing. To be a part of the genocide and have those memories would be devastating.

Sorry to leave you with such sobering thoughts. This is what we did today.

Graduation Day and Mother's Day

Today Tait Graduated from Patrick Henry College
We sat together as a family with Tait's fiancé and her Mom Mary Kucks.
it was a wonderful ceremony, the professors including Dr Kucks were all dressed in grounds with their individual colors and degrees displayed. I found the speeches inspiring and they made the weight of the accomplishment evident.
We felt somewhat out of place like we were crashing someone else's party. And yet there were many familiar faces and it was really neat to watch Tait inner act with his friends and professors.

We had Lunch at the Kucks house, Amy's brother Eric and his wife Melody and their two week old son came also. Tatum a roommate was there too.
We sat around the table talking and laughing for so many hours. It was my favorite part of the day to learn so much about Amy's family and I was surprised how many ways our families were similar.
It was a really great day!!


Today Mother's Day we went to the church where Tait has been leading worship :)
We are going to Alexandria and Mt Vernon for the day.

Happy Mothers Day
Carla

The American Museum of art and Portrait Gallery

This morning Mrs. Kucks made us a lovely breakfast :)

We drove closer to DC and then took the Metro I to the city. We only did one of the Smithsonians the whole day. A lot of the portraits were of people we've been learning about the last few days.

The special exhibition was a portrait competition. There were so many different styles, it was really interesting. The ones that were awarded first and second place made mom and I go "what?". First place was a long drawn out video of the artist laying on a blank white canvas as the camera slowly moved from looking at his feet and then all the way up past his head. There was some dramatic music playing in the background. Some of the portraits were really amazing with the amount of detail. There was one portrait that was made by wrapping black thread around and across tiny little metal pegs. It totally looked like a drawing until you got up close. It was so detailed.

I really liked looking at the paintings, especially the landscapes.


Sorry this is so late. I meant to post this two days ago...

Yorktown and Williamsburg

This morning we went to Yorktown where General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington's army. The British might have escaped across the river except for a storm that would have wrecked all their boats. It must have been a really intense storm because the other bank looked so close you could swim across it.

Drew and I got to sit on some cannons :D

Later, we went back to Williamsburg and saw some more shops ect.. The church was really interesting. They had the pews boxed off with gates to keep the warmth in. Usually people would bring a heat source. (for example: a heated brick in a bucket)

We also toured George Withe's house. He taught law to Thomas Jefferson. He had a lot of interesting things in his home. It was obvious he had multiple interests.

But most exciting thing of the day! : We are staying in Purcellville with the Kucks! Virginia is very green and pretty.

Williamsburg Day 2

Right when we got to Williamsburg this morning, we got to walk with Benedict Arnold to the front of the courthouse where we heard a proclamation by Patrick Henry. This was before he switched sides. Later in the day he came riding into the city with the British and gave a big speech about why we should give up and reunite with the British.

Today we also sat and listened to Mrs. Washington speak for quite a while. She talked a lot about the war and what she had experienced thus far, and she appealed to the women asking them to contribute to the war effort by sending money to buy food and clothing for the soldiers. That was very interesting and I learned a lot.

We looked in some shops where they talked about their trade and showed us what they were doing. We saw the shoe maker shop, the wig maker shop, the wheelwright and the tailor shop. The guy who made the paint in the wheelwright was very friendly and we talked with him for a while.

We walked through some really pretty gardens and there also was a bush maze that we looked at. Everything looked so well kept and nice, it was lovely.

We saw some of the Williamsburg museum. The most interesting part, I thought, was the exhibit about the insane asylum. We got to read about how the asylum started out and then how the methods changed. It sounded very much like a prison in the beginning.

We have one more day to see more of Williamsburg. There is so much to see and do there.