Washington DC - Sep. 25, 2006

Posted in Geography

Our Geography train has just pulled into Washington D.C. What an amazing city! I have visited D.C. many times before, but it was still fun learning about it with the kids. We learned all about the important stuff, of course, like the incredible architecture of all of the federal buildings. And, we discovered that Washington D.C. was originally 100 square miles but is now only 68 square miles. We learned that pictures of the Capital building do not do its size justice, but I’m going to leave the actual size up to you to find! We learned about war memorials, cherry blossoms and devastating fires. But, most importantly, my teenage daughter discovered a very sad and shocking truth about Washington D.C.: the Mall doesn’t actually have any stores in it! She was heartbroken.

Dinner this week was an all-American affair with grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, potato salad, and Apple Pie. Oh, and we did have Senate Bean Soup, which was pretty yummy. Here is what the U.S. Senate website has to say about their daily dose of bean soup:

“Bean soup is on the menu in the Senate's restaurant every day. There are several stories about the origin of that mandate, but none has been corroborated.  

According to one story, the Senate’s bean soup tradition began early in the 20th-century at the request of Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho.  Another story attributes the request to Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota, who expressed his fondness for the soup in 1903.”

It was an interesting trip through Washington D.C. Here are the kids’ projects for the week. See you in Virginia!

Betty

Numbers 6:24

• Post A Comment!

Comments

Sep. 29, 2006 - Mine would be too!

Posted by tiredmom

My thirteen-year-old daughter would be devastated to discover a mall with no stores as well. I'm not a mall lover and so Beth is very excited when her Aunt comes to visit because they spend at least one day on a shopping frenzy. I'm just grateful she gets some mall time that doesn't require me to be there!

• Permanent Link

Oct. 2, 2006 - Hi

Posted by kindredspirit

I just wanted to say hi and thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope you come visit again soon.

Also, I really like what you are doing for geography. That's a pretty neat idea. Do you have any postcards from Missouri yet?

• Permanent Link

Oct. 18, 2006 - Washingtonian (suburbs in MD anyway) stopping by your blog

Posted by DMalament

Just caught you on a "random blog" visit. Had to chuckle about your "mall" comment. (My 17 year old is currently at the mall shopping -- no, I don't mean that one in DC...)

Fun and interesting reading the perspective of a visitor/tourist. Native homeschoolers tend to slip into the mode of "... I can't do that kind of field trip during the school year, or I won't get my homeschooling done..." Isn't that a hoot! Kinda twisted thinking, isn't it?

When my oldest was in 3rd or 4th grade (she's in college now...), we were studying the Civil War. We watched a scene in the movie of North and South, where the battle of the Civil War at Stone Bridge is depicted, and then we got into the car and drove to Stone Bridge. I thought it was such a cool thing to be able to do. My kids' reaction? ....::yawn!:: ::slap at mosquito:: ::sigh::; "Mom... It's hot. Can we go home now?..." You just have to know these hot, humid DC summers to understand... I think it was late May or early June when we made the trip. Kinda put the dampers on my enthusiasm for field tripping.

I get another chance, though... I have a ten year gap and then a son, and I think he's going to eat up studying about wars and things...

Blessings!

Diana`

• Permanent Link

Oct. 31, 2006 - How are you?

Posted by buffalorock

Haven't seen much and I pray things are well for you. We got 2 states down on our trip around the world.
Practicing His Presence,
M

• Permanent Link

<- Last Page • Next Page ->