Proverbs Mom of 3, Ginny, has given me the Arte y Pico Award, dedicated to those who nourish and enrich the spirit of creativity. Ginny, herself, is deserving of this award for all the writing prompts and posts she does about homeschooling.  She was also the first to discover my blog and encourage me, as well as giving me wonderful tips on how to use html code to change up the look.  Thank you, Ginny! I am humbled that she is honoring me with this award.  She said that I have "the very best ideas to make history come alive.  Her sharing of the Tapestry of Grace celebrations they have are inspirational."  Thank you for those lovely comments, Ginny! 

Humbly, I must admit, I did not always enjoy history.  Reading textbooks in school was b-o-r-i-n-g. After I received my teaching degree, I found myself with a classroom of fifth graders and I had to think of something to make American History interesting. Struggling for ideas, I saw a glimmer of hope the following summer while on vacation in upstate New York.  (My boyfriend took me there to meet his family and propose.  I accepted!)  While driving around town, I noticed signs that said Loch 7, Erie Canal with directions to get there.  What????  The Erie Canal?  It's real?  We could see it today?  It's more than a little paragraph in my history text about something that was built in the 1800's?????  I had to see it.  DH couldn't see what would be so fascinating about a canal because he was used to them, having paddled his canoe through some on boyscout trips.  LOL To make me happy, he took me to one of the locks and I was fascinated. Ever since, every trip we make to upstate New York, we take a boat ride in a canal lock.  A few years ago we took our dc on a replica of the original barge pulled by mules on the original Erie Canal (Mohawk River) and we even sang about the mule named Sal! LOL  We also took a boat ride on the Champlain Canal (Hudson River) near Saratoga Battlefield.  We got to ride in a turn of the century craft like Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn's in "African Queen."  Ever since first experiencing the canal, I have taken lots of pictures to show my students that history lives on today.

Then the first summer we were married, I got to go to Colonial Williamsburg for the first time!  There is nothing like experiencing history at Colonial Williamsburg!  The costumes.  The food.  The experiences.  The art.  The music.  The geography.  The history.  The people.  The architecture.  The government.  The buildings.  Incredible! I was inspired to become more hands on in the classroom.  Surely only a project here or there would be acceptable.  Anything more would be crazy, wouldn't it?  When we started using Tapestry of Grace a few years ago, I quickly saw that their encouragement of doing unit celebrations brought to life my dream, a Colonial Williamsburg type of homeschool!

I had to smile when I read Ginny's words about bringing history to life. This has been on my mind a lot the last two weeks that we've been on our family vacation to Virginia.  We went to Monticello, Montpelier, Washington DC, Mount Vernon and.....Colonial Williamsburg!!!!!  There is nothing like bringing history to life than going to the original site of history. My dc had been to Colonial Williamsburg at ages 11 and 8.  We mainly focused on all the trades and met Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson.  This left vivid memories in their minds as we studied the American Revolution last spring.  I told them we needed to prepare for our return trip to CW this summer by studying the history and politics of the times.  We would enjoy whatever trades we could, but we all agreed that this time it would be a thrill to actually engage with the events of the 1770's in Revolutionary City and with the re-enactors.  Mission accomplished!  It was incredible!  Their favorite was the Marquis de Lafayette, who nicknamed my son, "the young historian" after getting a unique question from him. We saw the Marquis on 3 more occasions and every time ds had questions.  The Marquis would say in his French accent, "Ah, the young historian has returned!"  Stay tuned for the details!  LOL  In addition, I did a little shopping while I was there, looking for inspirational items in the print shop for hands on interest at the rhetoric level the next time we cover the American Revolution.  The dc peeked to see what I was purchasing and they excitedly exclaimed that I had made excellent choices!  LOL 

I've been going through over 2000 pictures the entire family took, to whittle down and find the best to share here!  It was a truely incredible time! How we wish we were still there!  It's been extremely difficult for me to return to the 21st century after a few incredible days in the 4mph society of Colonial Williamsburg!  I could easily make Colonial Williamsburg my home and a place to work someday, a place where history is alive! 

I would like to pass this award on to  BChsMamaof3 who also blogs at NatureNotesFromAbove.  I enjoy seeing her ideas and pictures of her  wonderful activities, indoors and out, for children!