Let Summer Begin!

The last day of school was an early dismissal and we surprised the kids by taking them to the Kings Dominion. We got there around 4 and the older three kids played in the water park until it closed at 8. Luke stayed for about 2 hours, but he was cold and unhappy, so I took him to the regular park while Thomas stayed with the other kids. After the water park closed, we let each of the kids choose their favorite ride. We ended up leaving just before the park closed at 10. It can be hard having kids in such different age brackets. The older kids are all good swimmers and don't require the same level of attention or supervision as Luke. And, of course, he is kind of stuck by himself. We had the first three in 16 months and then there is a giant, in comparison, 5 year gap. Doing things like Kings Dominion make that gap seem very pronounced.

Sole picture of the day, although I did get a great video of his happy walk :)

On Saturday, our staycation to celebrate the start of summer continued. We let Thomas choose the outing since it was also Father's Day weekend.  He chose Fredericksburg. Everyone slept late and we went to McDonald's for breakfast. From there, it was on to Ferry Farm, the boyhood home of George Washington. We toured the house and explored the grounds. Unfortunately, it was hot and some of the kids, ahem Luke, were not as excited by the visit as others. They had made a lot of changes since we last visited, which was probably around 4 years ago. The house is a re-creation built on the original foundation. Because George's father died while they were living there, they had to do a complete inventory of the house. That record survived and provided a lot of information that has allowed the historians to accurately create a model (well, of course, we don't know it's accurate, but they are pretty confident). After that, we went to the mall, which is only 10ish minutes from Ferry Farm. In fact, in the 90s, Walmart had purchased the land that is now Ferry Farm and was going to build a store on the spot where the house now stands. It is an absolutely beautiful place, right on the Rappahannock and even without the history, it is hard to imagine a Walmart there. But, the good thing about Walmart's purchase is that it kicked the preservationists into high gear and they were able to prevent the store and recreate the farm. 

And, the only picture of this day.

To end the outing, we finally tried out the ice cream stand at Chaptico Market, which definitely ended the day on a high note. Sunday was a more relaxed day. I made a giant frosted cookie. Thomas mowed the lawn and Jack actually assisted! Jack also spent several hours weeding our garden. He was motivated to earn money to buy a toy he saw at Toys R Us. We stopped in for their going out of business sale while we were in Fredericksburg. Despite being 60% off, it was still the same price as on Amazon (maybe that's why they are going out of business, I appreciate some mark-up to support a brick and mortar, but not 60%). Anyway, it was fun to see him behind the lawnmower. The kids are growing so fast! It is easy for me to picture him pushing his toy lawnmower around the yard to "help". Now, he is pushing the real thing. Sunrise, sunset.