A Short Stay in Williamsburg, Virginia

November 8 - 11, 2020

Photos below

Laura and I decided to take the kids down to Williamsburg back in August, but decided against it because of the pandemic.  We thought it would be less busy in November (it was) but still pleasant weather.  Were we ever right!  We had perfect weather, great accommodations at a Hampton Inn/Hilton (really clean) quite close to Colonial Williamsburg, and the opportunity to visit, if even for  short time, with one of my former fifth graders, Emily Doherty, who now has the dream job of being a docent/writer/presenter at Colonial Williamsburg.

We drove down on Sunday, arriving before dark to check in and find an outdoor venue to eat dinner.  We found the perfect place, a wonderful pizza place at the end of the mile-long central strip of Colonial Williamsburg, Mellow Marshmallow.  We enjoyed it so much that we decided to eat there again on Tuesday night.  Great food, wonderful wait staff, we loved it.

First thing Monday morning, we met up with Emily outside the Governor's Palace.  She hasn't changed one iota, what a sweetheart.  She even gifted us with free tickets for our two-day stay.  She says it's one of the perks of employment, and she hasn't had the opportunity to give many away this year!  

Our first "tour" was of the governor's palace, which was super enjoyable.  I spent a week here on a Teacher Education Opportunity back in 2001, and remembered some of the places here so fondly.  During that week we saw so much behind-the-scenes and gleaned a huge knowledge of how to share this incredible place with kids.  I remembered the entrance to the palace, full of swords, knives, and firearms.  Tristan sure enjoyed it!  

Even though inside touring was limited, small groups got to see a dozen or so of the authentic settings.  Docents were more than happy to answer questions, including those relating to working there.  We learned about blacksmithing, silversmithing, brickmaking, millinery, and the two different courts of law available to the residents of Williamsburg back in "the day."  It was laid-back, engrossing, and so much fun.  Both kids enjoyed it greatly.

We spent Monday morning and Tuesday morning at Williamsburg.

On Monday afternoon we went to Jamestown, one part of the Colonial National Historic Park "triangle."  Unfortunately, the movie and museum were (of course) closed, which lessened the information for the kids greatly.  Next time...

On Tuesday afternoon we headed to Yorktown.  Again, no museum or movie, but interesting.  Kids got to hike around both places, but Williamsburg was the super hit of this trip.

Mellow Mushroom

Just Arrived

We felt like we had the entire place to ourselves!

Fall in Colonial Williamsburg

Inside the courthouse

Masks the whole time, of course

Walkway bridge with benches at Jamestown.

My Very Last Class.....Ever......

37. Where Children Sleep - James Mollison

Chris Boot/London, 2010
120 pages
Rating:  5
$30.00
Shelved 770 in the library

Wow.  Rich children, impoverished children, and children in-between are shown in this book.  55 kids, ages four through seventeen, from one of ** countries including Israel and Palestine, Nepal, China, Thailand, countries in Africa, the U.S., Italy, Brazil....

A two-page spread for each child.  On the left, a photo taken on a neutral background, of the child. Below it, a paragrph telling a little of that child's life, with them filling in some of the blanks like how far away is there school (if they even go to school), what their favorite foods are, what they aspire to be when they "grow up." On the right, a photo of where the child sleeps.  For some it's a bedroom.  For some it's a field.  For some it's an orphanage.  For some it's a dirty floor.

 

"Home for this four-year-old boy and his family is a mattress in a field on the outskirts of Rome, Italy,  The family came from Romania by bus, after begging on the streets for enough money to pay for their tickets.  When they first arrived in Rome, the camped in a tent, but the police threw them off the site because they were trespassing on private land and did not have the correct documents.  Now the family sleep together on the mattress in the open..  When it rains, they hastily erect a tent and use umbrellas for shelter, hoping they will not be spotted by the police.  They left Romania without identity documents or work papers and so are unable to obtain legal employment.  This boy sits by the curbside while his parents clean car windscreens at traffic lights to earn thirty to fifty cents a time.  No one from the boy's family have even been to school.  His parents cnnot read or write."

"Kaya is four years old.  She lives with her parents in a small apartment in Tokyo, Japan.  Most apartments in Japan are small because land is very expensive to buy and there is such a large population to accommodate.  Kaya's bedroom is every little girl's dream.  It is lined from floor to ceiling with clothes and dolls.  Kaya's mother makes all Kaya' dresses - up to three a month, usually.  Now Kaya has thirty dresses and coats, thirty pairs of shoes, sandals and boots, and numerous wigs.  (The pigtails in the picture are made from hairpieces.)  Her friends love to come round to try on her clothes.  When she goes to school, however, she has to wear a school uniform.  Her favorite foods are meat, potatoes, strawberries,and peaches.  She wants to be a cartoonist when she grows up, drawing Japanese 'anime" cartoons."

Thanksgiving 2010

To Pennsylvania and back, a little snow, only one minor disaster (and I didn't consider it a disaster, the stuffing was delicious, yummy, mmm mmm good even though it was, I must admit, a tiny bit mushy). Finally finally, finally finding jeans that aren't too baggy, and look and feel pretty decent (thank you Laura!). Family. Professional photos. Swimming with two of the kids, reading and doing projects with another, feeding and watching the baby laugh and smile and talk and figure out how to use his hands. What could be better?

Day of the Dead 2010

Here's this year's Day of the Dead altar. This is one of my favorite holidays, and the only one I really "decorate" for. I found the little green wooden shelf at Savers for a couple of bucks, and added the skeleton dog and sugar skull candle this year. I enjoy adding to it every year - I'm going to save for a really nice Catarina next fall.

The huge (and I mean huge) All Soul's Procession here in Tucson is next Sunday November 7th. I'm hoping to attend.

Two Weeks in Maine

Two weeks in Maine included swimming, kayaking, a glorious weekend on Abram's Pond, Acadia National Park (where Bren became a Junior ranger), frog hunting at Lake Pond, lobster dinners and clams by the shore, a birthday party at Rosalie's in Bar Harbor with Ashley, a couple of trips to Bangor, one of them to visit the Children's Discovery Museum (really wonderful place),reading picture books at the Ellsworth Library, humidity, huge horseflies, lupine everywhere, green....green....green, Ashley's dance recital and Brendan's preschool graduation, trips into Northeast Harbor to visit family and the cemetery, two of my favorite yarn shops - Shirley's just outside Ellsworth and Grace Robinson in Freeport, lots of time with Fran and the kids, and putting 1500 miles on my rented Subaru going back and forth from Massachusetts and Maine. It also included no time blogging!

One Big Family: Sharing Life in an African Village - Ifeoma Onyefulu

Illustrated by Photographs
Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 1996
28 pages
For: anyone interested in Africa or Nigeria
Rating: topnotch
Endpapers; Brown handmade-looking paper with large black stenciled designs

Of all the reading I've been doing about Africa, this has been one of the most informative and interesting.

Eastern Ethiopian villages have ogbos (or-BOs), which are groups of people of the same five-year age span. They exist as almost a part of the family unit, and members are always a part of that ogbo, no matter how old they become or where they live. Each ogbo has different jobs to help the community, from cleaning and tending and caring to building and ruling the village. In some villages, ogbos ange spans may be just one year, or two, but in Obioma's village of Awkuzu, ogbos have a five year age span.

So we get to see, and visualize (because of Onyefulu's lovely photography) what life in an eastern Ethiopian village looks like. This was a meanignful, helpful glance into a way-of-life that most Americans can only imagine, and it was like a gift. I loved it.

I'm on the way to the library right now to find more of her books. Thank you, Ifeoma Onyefulu!

Stars! Stars! Stars! - Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

Marshall Cavendish, 2009
$17.99
40 pages
For: kids 4 and up
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: deep blue

Packed full of information about the stars, we join a family (who happen to be rabbits) and a few of their friends for an evening of stars - starting with dinner, continuing to the planetarium, then outside for a star-gazing.

The book includes a recipe for soup and ideas for creating sandwiches, cookies, and fruit in the shape of stars. The tour guide at the planetarium is full of easy-to-understand-kid-language that explains much star/solar phenomena - including amazing photos from NASA - and the kids get to participate at hands-on learning centers (therefore writing and art are included). At the end they spread a blanket on top of a hill, away from the town's lights, and gaze up at the wonders of the clear night sky. The story includes a little bit of everything, and is in itself a great lesson plan or curriculum guide. It's cleverly done and informative.

The characters and setting are all hand-cuts (or die cuts) in bright colors. The characters are rabbits. Why that puts me off a bit I don't know, but it did lower my rating from a 5 to a 4.5. I wish the characters had been people. Oh well. I really like the book.

I see that the author has a whole series of interesting-looking titles: Fly, Monarch, Fly! The Kindness Quilt, Apples, Apples, Apples, Recycle Every Day, Look! Look! Look! and Rocks! Rocks! Rocks! Her website is http://www.nancyelizabethwallace.com/.

Country Thunder - and Blake Shelton!

I know every one of the songs on Blake Shelton's five albums by heart. So I've been looking forward to "Country Thunder" in Florence, Arizona, for months. Halfway between Tucson and Phoenix, at the end of a gorgeous ride through the desert
and just behind the prison, is the huge field where Country Thunder "happens." We got there first thing in the morning and staked a claim (or at least put down our chairs) about four or five rows back, a little to the side. The cordonned off area in the front, the "VIP' section cost
$500 per seat! Well, that's for all four days - you can't buy just one day in that section - but still.....
So yes, I saw Blake Shelton perform. But the biggest, most exciting thing to happen in YEARS is that I GOT TO MEET HIM! He's tall, a doll (I knew that) and really, really nice. He called me "sweetie" three times! THREE TIMES! Eye- yi-yi. I'm in heaven.
Shane also got Meet and Greets for Jack Ingram. I've gotten to know him because Shane's interviewed him, had the interview published, and shared the music with me. Another really, really nice guy! It was a swooning kind of day!
THE MUSIC was wonderful. The day ended with Alan Jackson, the big name, but that wasn't the big performance for me. When Blake left for Las Vegas after the show I almost jogged behind....

They were all headed for a big Country Music award show televised from Las Vegas last night. Blake performed. He wasn't supposed to, so everyone that doesn't know him yet had a real treat.
I've got to include the photo of me and Blake again---and I HATE my picture being taken----but this was just way too cool. I'm still way, way up on cloud six or seven, though on my way down. Wow, what an incredible day....and I even got a new straw cowboy hat with some turquoise on the hatband. Yee Haa!

My Family

I can't resist adding this photo. I did NOT want to stand in front, but I love it that Brendan is playing with my earring and Ella's foot is under my arm. We're all together for the very first time, and dressed up to boot! Heather Anne's wedding , which was on the water in Bernard (on Mt. Desert Island) in Maine, was memorable and fun and very special...and practically hurricane-free! Thanks, John, for taking the picture for us!