Thursday, May 29, 2014

At the St . George Temple


Brigham Young Home in St . George


Brigham Young's bed in his winter home. Anna and Roman are kneeling by his step stool. He had arthritis in his knees and used this step stool to kneel on for his prayers and to get into bed.

Philadelphia- Independence Hall and such

Plenty to see in Philadelphia: Independence Hall is smaller than I expected and I imagine it was very hot, the Liberty Bell was rung on the day the Declaration was read from the grass in front of the hall. Benjiman Franklin was the youngest of 15 and was able to make so many discoveries and study because he did well in his printing business. The city was a mess because of the lack of cleanliness and thousands died of tuberculosis and yellow fever. Gerrymander is a term which came about when Elbridge Gerry wanted to win an election and realigned district boundaries so he could win.

We also visited a printing press like Ben Franklin would have used and the US Mint, which makes coins and not paper money.




Wednesday, May 28, 2014

NYC

We walked a ton, and took the subway some too! The boys made friends with a squirrel in Central Park, we raced through the Natural History Museum, saw Time Square and played in the Toys-R-Us store. We took a tour of the financial district that included American history too. We saw the Statue of Liberty and the 9/11 memorials. We saw the temple and chapel.

We ended the night by seeing the Broadway play Newsies. 







Valley Forge Pennsylvania

We has a guided 3 hour tour of Valley Forge. It was surprising to learn about 'The Secret Battle of George Washington'; his battle among his officers and the congress, to keep his post and maintain control/cooperation among the soldiers. 

I learned about Anthony Wayne who always voted with Washington to go to battle and was a strict disciplinarian in the war. He believed that the limit of 100 stripes should be raised to 500, like the British.

I also learned about VonStroyben, a Prussian general and strategist who was instrumental in writing the military handbook and training what was left of the ragtag army at Valley Forge. When he showed up at Valley Forge, General Washington didn't know what to do with him so he told him to go observe the troops and make a recommendation about what should be done. Vonstroyben found that the army was working of of 4 different military handbooks and had totally different ways of fighting. Knowing 4 languages, none of them being English, he wrote the military trakning manual in French and trained the officers and two sdiers from each regiment. His actions likely have the patriots the advantage they needed to win the war.

Princeton University, New Jersey

I was impressed with Princeton University  for many reasons. First, most of the students graduate with no debt; most students get financial aid and grants to pay for the education. Second, they encourage students to participate in religious and service activities. Third, there is 1 professor to every 6 students. Fourth, there is a set curriculum, where students take 4 classes a semester and are essentially in class 8  hours in class the rest of the time spent with preceptorship, mentors... Fifth, you can still live in same sex dorms and bathrooms on campus, there is an advisor for every 15 students and the professors are often found having lunch with the students and mentoring them.

This seems like the education I would like for my kids. 





NYC Temple


Saturday, May 24, 2014

The Music Making Museum in Carlsbad, CA

The kids loved playing on the instruments at the museum. It was worth an hour of time and kept the kids busy. Good history of instruments through the ages. 




Boyet & Costard

Xander and his friend Steven Parker performed in Shakespeare's Love's Labors Lost with their homeschool Commonwealth, Noble Youth Commonwealth.

They were fantastic and had a blast! 

A group of us from church went to see him on Friday night.

Along the Freedom Trail!

Amy, Xander, Niko, and I -- along w/ my parents and brother -- took a tour on the freedom trail in Boston this weekend!

Sites included the Boston Common; Park Street Church; the graves of Paul Revere, John Hancock, and others; Old South Meeting House; Faneuil Hall; Old North Church; USS Constitution; Bunker Hill; etc.