Valley Forge.

 My mom came for Thanksgiving, and we were able to take her to Valley Forge. I didn't realize how big it would be (same with Gettysburg), and there were many entrances to choose from. So of course, the one I put in our GPS took us to an empty field. Gwen, who had already grown impatient with the two-hour car ride, "What is there to do here? NOTHING!?!?" 

To which I replied, "Gwen, there are tons of walking trails. We'll go for a walk."

To which she replied, "Walking? Terrible walking?"

I remember similar complaining to my parents about every suggestion they ever had. It's amazing how I've grown this thick skin where I keep insisting on day trips to places where my kids claim complete and utter misery the whole time. It's a gift, really.

Luckily, we found another entrance. You know, one with things and people. And walking, but not just terrible walking. 

I was especially excited to be there because the girls and I have been studying the American Revolutionary War for a couple of months now and just finished up a book about George Washington. It was just a tad chilly while we were there, and I found myself repeatedly saying out loud, "I'm cold!" 

Which, having just studied what the troops went through at Valley Forge, was really a dumb thing to say. 

I love history, but Dan loves and knows history. I feel like I read a lot, but Dan always has me beat on war history. Here he is explaining how a cannon works.

We are buying a used Wii for the kids for Christmas. I have big issues with video games, and this Wii has taken a lot of discussion to find its way into our home. Dan had to convince me that the kids will be using it for Wii Sports more than anything because they need P.E. time, and there's a long winter of inside time ahead. So Dan found a deal on a Wii but it was two hours away. I was all prepared for him to be gone for most of Saturday, and then on my Saturday early morning run, I thought to myself, "I like long car rides with Dan. We finally get to talk." And so I came home and informed him that I wanted us all to go. 

We told the kids that Dad had "business" in a town called Bellefonte and raced to get ready. We made Dan so late. I was embarrassed. I love being prompt and have always been rather prompt but lately I have been late to everything and it kills me. The kids thought the car ride was too long (shocker). Dan had warned me beforehand that he thought it was going to be a middle of nowhere town with nothing to do, and sure enough, the whole drive was nothing after nothing. But then we reached Bellefonte, and it was perfectly cute and quaint.

The first thing I wanted to do while we were there was ask someone how to pronounce the town name. My natural inclination was to say "Bell uh fon tay" but dear reader, let me tell you something about Pennsylvania. Nothing is pronounced how you think. 

Take the following Pennsylvania towns:

Lebanon is pronounced Le buh nin

Reading is pronounced Redding.

Palmyra is pronounced Paul-myra

Schuykill is pronounced School-kull

Avon is pronounced Av-in.

And sure enough, I found out that Bellefonte is pronounced Bell-font. Color me embarrassed!

Dan was supposed to meet with the guy at Dollar General, and the kids had a ball picking out junky items that would break shortly thereafter. 

Also, I found out that not two streets from that Dollar General was a house-turned-museum that had once been part of the Underground Railroad. Which we are going to learn about! I was so excited.

This Quaker family built secret rooms in their attic. They weren't even discovered until several years later. Some people are just courageous, and I love it.

Also, some school updates:

We made brain hats as part of our study of the human body.

Some handicrafts, just for fun.

And finally, today we went to church and we decorated graham cracker houses. Which we built with a hot glue gun because we finally got smart this year.

This picture says it all: Gwen's face and Beck always runs toward me instead of taking the picture.

The End.