Day 3
Well...the kids had another great day. Today it was a little longer day. We went to the Randolph House, the Cooper, the Brickyard, the Cabinetmaker, the Milliner and Tailor, the Silversmith and the Bindery. It was a long day, and by the last couple of places, the little guys were "reminding" me that it had been a long day. 
The kids love the Randolph House. One time we went there, they spent 3 1/2 hours churning butter from beginning to end. However, today, no one was churning butter. But as we walked through the house, the kids were able to "role play" a little. Peyton Randolph who owned the house was also the Speaker of Virginia's House of Burgesses, which would make him the 2nd most important/powerful man in Virginia. He was the president of the 1st and 2nd Continental Congress in Philadelphia. We even found out that there are documents that call him "the Father of Our Country" and he was so well respected that he may have been the first president...if he hadn't died in 1775. There were 40+ slaves that lived on the property. Most of the slaves lived where they worked. My 11yos "played the part" of Johnny, Mr. Randolph's manservant, similar to a valet or butler. He packed a bag with clothing and other personal items as if for a short trip. Johnny would have taken care of all Mr. Randolph's personal items, help him dress, run errands, etc. My 12yod "played the part" of Elizabeth, Mrs. Randolph's neice. She had tea with "Mrs. Randolph" and would have been taught how to be a proper lady, running the affairs of the household. In the kitchen, the cook was roasting meat on a spit and making apple dumplings. (Boy was it hot in there by the fire!) The tour took about 45 minutes, and the littlest one was asleep by the time it was over. That was good for the next few stops...the Cooper and the Brickyard.
At the Cooper, the kids learned about making barrels, buckets, butter churns and other similar items. They had bands that were made from metal (iron and copper) or wood...depending on what you were using them for. Barrels were used for shipping items. They were easy to stack and move...Almost like the "little teapot, " Just tip me over and roll me out. 
LOL Each barrel was usually made where the items to be shipped were. It would take about 2-4 hours to make one barrel depending on it's size.
The brickyard is a fun place. Bricks were made from clay (with a small amount of sand). Over the summer they molded the bricks...which sounded like fun. They actually let the visitors get their feet muddy and "tread" out the clay in the clay pit. I just hope they had a good place to clean up afterwards. 
They molded about 18,000 bricks this summer, and they were all going to be baked in a kiln over the next couple of months. While we were there, they were "building" the kiln to bake the bricks. My 11yos was the "example" again. Boys about 11 yo would be the ones to carry the brick molds from the clay pit to the area where the bricks would dry...making about 600 trips a day! I think my son was worn out just thinking about that.
Next we went to the Cabinetmaker. This is were furniture was built. Dressers, chests, desks, chairs, and even harpsichords. There was a harpsichord in the shop that the kids were able to play to see what it sounded like. There was also a very nice man working there who was telling the kids a little about the diferent kinds of wood. He planed off shavings of different kinds of wood so the kids could feel it and smell it. I actually found this very interesting. (Especially since I've been looking into re-doing our kitchen. I was somewhat familiar with the names of the woods, but not their characteristics.) Well...needless to say, we now have about 20 woodshavings per child. I'm hoping that a few find their way into a lapbook and the rest...well, Mommy may have to help them "disappear." 
The we made our way to the Milliner and Tailor's shop, where the kids learned more about how people dressed and how much it would cost to make a dress. One of the dresses they had was a beautiful lavender silk dress. The lady said that it would take about 8 hours to make the dress, and it would cost 2 schillings...Of course, the silk material would be 7 schillings per yard at 7 yards per dress), and the thread would be another schilling, and the lining would be about 1-2 schillings per yard...a grand total of about 60 schillings (and with 20 schillings = 1 pound, that would cost about 3 pounds or approximately $6). Of course, if you chose a lesser expensive fabric, it would only cost about 9 schillings for the same dress. The kids were fascinated by this shop, even though the little guys were starting to get tired of acting like "little gentlemen"...but on to the Silversmith.
The Silversmith was a quick stop. We saw some of the things made in the Silversmith's shop. A silversmith would make items from silver by what I like to call "heating and beating." The items would be shaped by beating the hot silver. (If you're saying "duh!" check back after we've gone to the Foundery and you'll understand. )
The last stop was the Bindery. Here the kids learned about binding books (and the little guys were going VERY stir crazy...and in turn driving mom crazy). The kids learned that books were bound first by poking holes into paper and "threading" string through the "spines." Most books were not bound with hard covers. This made them inexpensive. Most books that were hardbound were blank inside so that the person who bought them could write whatever they wanted inside. And (as we already knew...) the most common book in a Colonial home was...can you guess?...It's probably the same book you find in most homes today too...you're right...the Bible. Although I'm sure those were read and cherished more than today. And by this time, the little guys were swinging from the binding equipment (well, not quite, but they were touching things that probably was not a good idea to touch and neither of them were in the same place for more than 2 seconds).
All in all, it was a good day. We're all exhausted, although not as hot as the past 2 days. And the kids were able to stop and draw in their sketchbooks for about a half-hour again today. They really loved that. Even my 2yos was "drawing" in his book. Now, I'm not sure what he was drawing, but it was very "colorful." LOL 
Right now, the girls are watching the Felicity movie (American Girl) and picking it apart based on what they've learned at Williamsburg so far. It's funny because I've been interrupted about 50 times since I started writing with "Mom, that's not what they said at Williamsburg," and "But I thought that the Governor was Lord Dunmore, not Lord Templeton," and "I thought girls wouldn't be wearing their hair down," and "I thought you'd be hung for stealing a horse," and a million other very good questions. Surprisingly enough, I'm finally finished. Looking forward to tomorrow...
