Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown

Jamestown Settlement

Our morning started at Jamestown Settlement.  We arrived just before they opened the doors and made our way quickly to the ships.  We learned a lot from the people down there about the earliest settlers!  After we'd taken our time at the ships, we went up to the fort and then to the Indian village!  We spent a lot of time at the fort, but then realized how late it was getting and didn't get to spend quite as long as we would have liked at the Indian village.  The ships and the Indian village were favorites all around!

Early arrival means extra time for pictures:)

The kids were lowering and raising barrels into the bottom of the
ships!

Musket shooting demonstration!

They LOVED trying this armor on... several times:)

It was amazing what this lady was able to cook over the fire!
It looked delicious!!

Indian village games

Teaching us how to make rope... which was used for practically
everything in the village!

This is how the ropes started, as leaves!

There was a bald eagle's nest right in the middle of the Indian
village!  We were able to see one fly from the nest which was SO
COOL!!!!

Shaving the hair off the hide... yuck!

Grinding corn... they actually really enjoyed this too!

American Revolution Museum and Yorktown Battlefield

After leaving Jamestown Settlement, we grabbed lunch and went to Yorktown which is about a 30 minute drive.

Our first stop was the American Revolution Museum.  This is a brand new facility that just opened about two weeks ago!  We toured the exhibits which we waited for the informational video to start.  The video was wonderfully done and the kids dubbed it(along with the cannon firing) as their favorite for the day!!!  After the video, we went out to the Military Encampment and Farm.  The end of our time at the museum was perfectly timed with the shooting of the cannon demonstration!  

Buahaha!!!!

These little tents at the military encampment is where SIX
men would stay!

One of S's favorites of the day was learning to weave!

We had about an hour to kill before it was time for dinner(which we ate on the waterfront at Yorktown, but it was a lot colder than we'd thought it would be so we kinda froze..haha!), so we went to the actual Yorktown Battlefield.  We walked around the grounds of the visitor's center and the kids climbed on every single cannon that was there! It was a great way to spend an hour!

This is the actual battlefield... it's hard to see but there
are berms all in the background!