The kids and I were recently invited to visit Montpelier for Dolley's birthday on May 20.  The afternoon before, I got an e-mail from a friend asking if we'd like to join them for a drive to Montpelier. Her daughters wanted to wear their colonial costumes and they hoped my kids would wear theirs too.  Costumes?  Oh yes!  The kids agreed.  My son deliberated on whether to wear his "farm boy" costume or his General Lafayette costume. I suggested he wear his "farm boy" costume. Lafayette visited Montpelier in 1824, years after he wore his Continental uniform.  Also, I told my son I was a bit hesitant for him to wear the Lafayette costume since I put a lot more work into it, mainly the epaulettes. I told him with the "farm boy" costume he could play all he wanted to,whereas with the Lafayette costume he'd have to be more careful with it.  As I dug the costumes out of the closet, I found my daughter's empire dress.  That would be more appropriate to what Dolley wore at Montpelier, but that is a fancy dress and I'd rather her play in her cotton colonial dress.

     It was a beautiful day and a lovely drive.  I love driving through rolling hills, farm land and old barns. 

     This was the first length of time our kids spent with each other and they got along well!  Once there, my kids couldn't wait to show them a few of their favorite places. (This was my friend's family's first time there.)

     The kids and I got to visit Montpelier last Aug, when the final touches of the renovation were underway for the grand opening in September.  When we were there, a few rooms were shut off, there was no fence and no grass.  This time fence and grass were there. What a difference.

     I wasn't expecting any furnishings, because last August our guide told us it takes a year for the plaster to cure so the house wouldn't be furnished for another year.  Surprisingly, we did find a few furnishings in the rooms and paintings on the walls. 

     We ate our picnic lunches on the patio and enjoyed the lovely view. During lunch we were served birthday cake and lemonade.

     Everyone was impressed with the kids' costumes. When we went to the temple, my friend and I stood there and talked and the kids ran up and down the hill. They were really fun to watch, running around with their costumes on.  My friend's oldest daughter sent me a picture she took of my son and her sister running down the hill.  Doesn't that look like fun?

     At one point, when they ran down the hill, a car stopped and the driver asked them to pose for a picture.  Throughout the day, other tourists took their pictures too.

     While we were there, this sculpture was installed behind the house. We were wondering if it was life sized.  We've always heard that James Madison and his wife Dolley were on the small side and this statue was definitely on the small side.  I checked the web site when we got home and indeed it is life sized.  The only other statue, recently, I have stood next to is of George Washington and he was a big man compared to James Madison.   Nevertheless, Madison was big on ideas and is known as the Father of the Constitution.  In fact, Jean Fritz has written a great children's biography about him, called The Great Little Madison. 

     The kitchen on the Madison's side of the house now has great interactive displays on cooking.  I think that is their best museum display. The kids went to the tent to work with the different tools of the era.  We also went to the archaeology dig which is now on the temple side of the house.  We asked lots of questions and learned a few new things.

     Sadly, one the Cedars of Lebanon on the other side of the house is doing very poorly.  When Lafayette visited during his grand tour of 1824, he gave the Madisons three Cedars of Lebanon. They are now huge.  But one is dying because the archaeology dig was taking place there last summer. The roots do not like to be messed with and it stresses the tree.  One of the other Cedars of Lebanon nearby is doing very well. Surprisingly, we saw some men drilling into the tree and digging around it.  My son asked if they were installing a lightening rod. Yes!  I was thinking that would ultimately be good for the tree, but is the drillling and digging going to stress the tree and cause more trouble? 

     We spent a lot of time in the garden. Turns out I'm not the only one who loves the flowers!  One of my friend's daughters took took lots of pictures.  I wonder if she took more than me?  While walking through, my friend found the other Cedar of Lebanon. We could not find that one last August.  Those trees are huge.  Since my friend was so helpful in identifying the flowers in my garden, I asked her about all the flowers in the Montpelier garden.  Later in the gift shop we found a Mid-Atlantic gardening book. I've been telling my husband since we arrived in Virginia that I had to get a local gardening book.  I had a green thumb in Texas.  However there are a lot of plants in Virginia I am not familiar with. Also the growing seasons are significantly different.  I am now enjoying putting a name to these flowers' petals!