3rd Stop~Mt. Vernon

George & Martha Washington & their 2 Grandchildren which they adored. Daylan made a quick friend with this little statue boy. He even gave him a big hug. 

~The day we went to Mount Vernon, the weather was absolutely beautiful! Here's some insight to what we saw & learned. George Washington obtained this home from his 1/2 brother Lawrence upon his death. It began as a small humble home and as he became more well off, he added onto it. George Washington married Martha Custis in 1759  and became father to her two children. In 1775  he became General of the Continental Army and the war raged on against England for 6 more years ending in 1781. At the age of 57 he was elected President in 1789 and was so for 8 years. This only gave him 2 years in his final version of his "mansion home" at Mt. Vernon before his death at age 67 in 1799 from a throat infection. We were able to see the room he died in but were not allowed to take pictures inside the home. 

"No estate in United America is more pleasantly situated than this."~George Washington

 They surely loved their home & beautiful property. One thing I learned was that back in that day, anyone traveling by could just knock on someones door and ask to stay the night. Being that this was a "mansion home", the Washington's were hosts to Hundreds of guests in their 5 guest rooms...many times strangers. This made me think about how different we are these days and how often we don't hardly even speak to our next door neighbors just yards away. A view into the front yard

Land as far as you can see

George & Martha Washington's backyard.

They had a great view of the Potomac River.

part of the "side yard"

I believe the Mt. Vernon was up to an unbelievable 8000 acres but about 200 acres have been preserved for us to all see of their estate. Did you know that Pres. Washington, many of his slaves (of which were over 200) & about 25 family members were buried on his property in their very own family graveyard & burial grounds.

Spence & Kaylea meeting "Mrs. Martha Washington."She told us many stories including that her wedding shoes were the color of kaylea's lavender shirt & that she also loved spending time with her Grandchildren and caring for them.

Dude feeding sheep on the Plantation.

This is a cool thing inside the visitor's center there. It's one of those reversed figures that the eyes follow you as you walk back and forth. The kids got a kick out of it.

So we did our trip a little backwards studying Abe Lincoln first, George Washington second, but we did learn that Lincoln's hero was Washington. Spencer is really getting to know his Presidents.