Our 3 Miracles: Williamsburg

Our next stop was Colonial Williamsburg. There was much to do and see there!

Our first stop was the wigmakers. We learned that when people wear wigs, they are shaved bald so that the wig will adhere better to the head. We also learned that George Washington did not wear a wig.

Megan showing a sample of hair.

Some of the different products available.

Sarah really liked this one.

Different hairstyling products.

We then went to the milliners where we learned about making gowns and dresses. The kids each got a sample of cloth.

Megan and Matthew enjoyed playing this colonial game.

We saw a military demonstration on the importance of order.

The kids enjoyed trying on hats. Matthew liked this one.

Megan liked this hat.

Sarah liked this hat.

We went to the weaver where we saw craftswomen working on making cloth and thread. We were also able to try weaving ourselves.

Here U is making some cloth.

Matthew really enjoyed weaving and did it for quite awhile.

We also saw a few other trades including the silversmith, the blacksmith, the tin shop and the shoemaker.

After dinner, the kids enjoyed playing at the splash pad and pool.

Matthew racing down the pirate slide.

Running in circles.

Megan loved getting wet....

....and shooting people.

Sarah loved sliding down the canoe.

Fun with siblings!

Megan liked grabbing onto her dad.

Matthew rediscovered that he can swim and practiced quite a bit. He also decided that he liked jumping in from the edge of the pool.

Sarah enjoyed swimming and even had us time her a few times.

Monday was a busy day at Williamsburg. We toured quite a few buildings, helped with a bucket brigade, cleaned artifacts from an archaeological dig, saw more tradesmen, did some kids' activities like making clay marbles and dice and good smelling sachets and playing some games. The jail was a favorite, as was the gunsmith, who showed us a screwdriver he made that day. We also enjoyed the foundry, where we saw them make and then remelt a spoon.

Matthew and Megan playing graces.

Megan with Liberty, the dog of Colonial Williamsburg. She's quite large and fluffy.

The kids ended up in the stocks.

Family picture in front of the courthouse.

Matthew made sure to clean off his feet before going into buildings.

We toured the Bruton Parish Church which has been around for over three centuries. The kids enjoyed finding the names of people they knew of the pews. This one says "General George Washington."

It's a pretty little church.

Megan and Matthew liked the double row pews with the end doors that locked shut.

Me and Sarah play checkers in the Geddy House.

Some fancy furnishings in the Randolph House. Peyton Randolph was President of the 1st and 2nd Continental Congress until he died in 1775. He was the wealthiest person in town besides the governor.

Matthew tried out one of the mattresses in the Randolph House.

Megan tried her hand at milking a cow.

Matthew helping with a tug of war.

These trees looked like they were growing a bunch of green beans.

Flags such as this were seen all around town and indicated that a building was open to visitors. Our kids called it the "British American flag."

In the gardens around the Wythe home.

Megan found a nice cool bench to sit on.

Some items in the George Wythe home. He was an educator and taught Thomas Jefferson, among others.

Megan enjoyed playing with these blocks.

Megan thought this lemon custard looked yummy. She even asked for the recipe.

Other food that was prepared for the George Wythe home.

We went on a tour of the Governor's Palace. The entry hall was decorated with many swords, sabers and guns.

There are also a few banners above the doors.

Matthew holding one of the games the children used to play. It is similar to badminton.

Megan holding a curling pin.

Fancy stove.

They showed us how to dance in the ballroom of the Governor's Palace.

We helped pass buckets for the bucket brigade. Here are Me and Matthew.

Megan helped out as well.

Once the brigade filled the tank, others pumped the engine to put out the fire.

U, Megan and Matthew with the engine.

We stopped by an archaeological site where the kids were able to help clean off some artifacts that had been dug up on the site over the past few days. They all really enjoyed doing this.

Matthew cleaning.

Sarah showing a few of the artifacts.

Megan showing off the "G" on an artifact she cleaned. The archeologist told her that it is likely from a dish that had King George's seal on it.

Me helped a little too.

We stopped by the apothecary.

This is one of the upper rooms in the Capitol building. It's fancy!

Look who ended up in jail!

Matthew shows off the privy in the jail cell.

We enjoyed a "velvety chocolate" at Charlton's Coffeehouse where we learned all about coffeehouses in the 18th century. The owner told us women that he knew we'd been travelling but that we were all wearing men's knickers and our husbands should take us to the milliners and get us properly outfitted.

Me and Matthew receiving their drink. (Me shared hers with other members of the party.)

Sarah and Megan enjoyed their drink.

U enjoyed sitting at a table for one.

Megan and Matthew enjoying some table games.

In the evening, Sarah and U went on a ghost walk in Colonial Williamsburg, which they really enjoyed. It was a family friendly tour so there were no gruesome stories. Sarah loves all things spooky and when she heard that sometimes people see ghosts in their photos she proceeded to take photos of many windows, 77 to be exact, in the hopes of seeing a ghost in one.

The tour started at a very old oak tree that is sometimes haunted.

This was the only window picture that she saw which she thought had something fishy in it. She says it looks like the outline of a man watching out the window. This was in the Randolph House, purportedly the most haunted building in Colonial Williamsburg.

Meanwhile, Megan, Matthew and Me played mini golf, watched a magician, swam and played a game.

Megan got to help out with the magician show. She was a spy and wore a hat with a bunch of eyeballs on it.

Tuesday morning, the kids helped with the excavation of the archaeological site where they helped clean artifacts Monday. The site was initially dug up in 1947 to find the foundation of an 18th century building without regard for the artifacts. Once they found and documented the foundation, they fill it back in. The kids are helping re-excavate. It was one of the favorite activities of our time in Williamsburg.

Sarah brushing dirt into her dustpan. (You don't want to dig as that could break an artifact.)

Megan searching for artifacts. At this point, they are primarily just getting the dirt into buckets which will be sifted through for artifacts in the next step.

Megan and Matthew working together.

Sarah working some more.

They then dumped the dirt into a sieve where they filtered for artifacts in the dirt.

Matthew and Megan help their group look for artifacts.

Matthew ready to help his group sort through the found artifacts.

Sarah with some of the artifacts her group discovered.

Megan at the artifact table.

We visited some more tradesmen. One thing we noticed as we visited the various tradesmen was how much overlap there was in skill sets. For example, the joiner, carpenter and cabinet maker did similar things. The gunsmith forged metal as well as the blacksmith. The tailor and milliner sewed clothes. The blacksmith could make shoes. However, the application was different between the shops: for example, the cabinet maker focused more on finery/showmanship while the joiner and carpenter focused more on functionality.

First off was the printer. Here, Megan demonstrates how to ink the typesetting. We learned that typesetting is a very laborious process, taking around 12 hours to set up the type for one two-page spread.

One of the papers for us to peruse. The front page contains Thomas Paine's "The American Crisis" which started with "These are the times that try men's souls" and encouraged Americans to not just be "summer soldiers".

The next page contains an account from General Washington on the taking of Trenton, NJ. It was really cool to see this paper with two items of historical significance on adjacent pages.

We visited the carpenter shop.

And the cabinet maker. Matthew really liked the fancy toolbox in the background.

He took a picture of these lanterns that he liked.

Matthew and Me with a fancy writing desk.

We visited the brickmakers where we got to help mix clay and water. We learned that this was an unapprenticed position and generally was done by slaves and convicts. It was gooey, messy, hard work, but fun to do for a little bit.

Matthew and Me working on churning the soil.

Sarah getting messy.

Megan does her part.

U got in on the action as well.

We cleaned off afterwards. (Although we all still had a thin layer of clay on our legs and feet for the rest of the day.)

U and Matthew in front of the courthouse.

View in the opposite direction with the Randolph House in the background.

We went to the magazine where we saw lots of ammunition and gunpowder stored as well as other items needed for war.

Me and Matthew with tents, clothes, drums and other items stored in the magazine.

Matthew and Megan explore some of the items on the Native American's table. He showed us how to start a fire with flint and steel.

Enjoying lunch on the grounds of the Governor's Palace.

This squirrel was very hopeful it could share lunch with us.

View of the maze in the gardens (currently closed to let it regrow) from on top of the ice house.

Cool dragonfly!

We spent some time in the Patriots at Play area again. Sarah and Me having a little chat.

Megan and Matthew playing with the horses.

Matthew loved riding on this horse.

Megan with a bunch of wool.

This rooster loved having Sarah pet him.

Megan and Matthew try out yarn weaving.

Matthew with a very symmetrical tree.

Sarah, Megan and Auri, a boy they helped entertain.

We went to a program where we learned all about the drum and fife corps at Colonial Williamsburg. Children start in the program the year they turn 10, generally start performing a year later and continue in the program until the summer after they graduate from high school.

Matthew tries his hand at fifing.

"Is this how this works?"

Very serious drummer.

Matthew practicing his skills.

We then watched the senior corps practice. We all had in earplugs as it was very loud! Why are their uniforms red with blue trim? We learned that for their uniforms, the musicians wore clothes opposite that of the regimentals (blue with red trim) so that they were easy to spot. This helped the officers be able to easily pick them out in a sea of people and also identified them as young children not to be harmed to the opposing force.

We then got to see the public performance. Here they are marching down Duke of Gloucester Street.

Marching on the green behind the courthouse.

Matthew capturing some of the action.

Sarah and Megan with the Governor's Palace.

We opted to walk back to the hotel (it's a 10-15 minute walk) so we could enjoy the surroundings and also see Great Hopes Plantation. My favorite part of the walk was that Megan didn't complain at all and told me how glad she was we took the shortcut (it probably was faster than taking the shuttle). I think if we were to go back, she'd want to take the shortcut again:)

We ate dinner at Huzzah's Eatery located at our hotel. Matthew was excited to make his own pizza.