Today was the day Laney had been waiting for the entire trip - Colonial Williamsburg! We loaded up with some oatmeal for lots of energy that would stick with us and got on our way to history.
After a few stops for games and learning we ended up at the Powell House for chores and activities. The kids took a few minutes to water the garden before they tried their hands at building a water tght roof. It was a good thing it was so hot outside as when they piled underneath they all got soaked! I don't think these three are future roofers.
Next they were supposed to help make the crust for the turkey pot pie. I do believe the kitchen with the fire was warmer than it was outside!
Now I'll have little people to help me make pies during apple, strawberry, and peach season!
Next up was some play time in the courtyard with table games and the stick and hoop game. Once she saw it, Laney remembered playing this game in a village a few years ago in Maine. I'd been trying to remind her but she couldn't imagine what I was describing I suppose. I think they're ready for trials in the field as they ran out of courtyard pretty quick!
The dress up area was next where we spent much of the next hour.
There were dolls and games set up in the parlor and even though there wasn't any air conditioning, it was pleasant enough to be out of the sun for awhile.
We walked to the military encampment and were disappointed to find out it was closed for the season. We did stop by the native american encampment and learned a lot about how they made rope and about how they were treated by the settlers in the 1700s. 
We stopped by the cabinet maker's workshop for a few minutes and had an interesting learning opportunity playing a harpsichord.
By far the stop the kids enjoyed most was the brick maker's area. We briefly learned about the process of making bricks and then were invited to help mix up the clay with water. With our feet! I watched the kids for about two minutes until I couldn't stand it any more and joined them. It was an odd feeling but so much fun squishing around with them. By the time we were finished we had clay all the way up to our knees!
We made one last stop at the basket weaver's patio, then headed to put Brayden in the stocks. We looked around for some rotten tomatoes to throw at him but were unable to find any. Instead we headed back to the visitor's center for shade, water, and a quick trip to the gift shop.
After some swim time and a quick dinner we drove to Trader Joe's to stock up on some groceries before we picked Dave up for the rest of the trip. We'd driven by a gigantic park several times the past few days I'd told the kids we could drop by so that was our next stop. The kids had so much fun we ended up staying until bedtime. Zip lines are always fun!
I started making some room for Dave in the car when we got home then we all went to bed. We had quite a bit of packing up to do in the morning with a five hour drive ahead of us to pick him up so I set my alarm for way too early to make sure I could fit it all in. We were so ready to see him again!
