Afternoon Outing

Just because I particularly like this picture of Aliza and I...

 In a spontaneous turn of events, Christie, Karen the children and I toured Belle Grove Plantation near Winchester, VA. It was a most beautiful afternoon to be out and about.

 The home was built in the late 1700s by the brother-in-law and sister of President James Madison.

 Before we found out that we couldn't take pictures in the house...we took a few! Everything was elaborately decorated for Christmas.

 This was a guided tour through the house. Our docent was an older gentleman. He was clearly a historian and very knowledgeable. The only issue was that his knowledge came out slowly and wasn't adaptable for large tour groups or groups with children. So it was very long.

 I have been bragging at every opportunity because my children--every single one of them--behaved in the most admirable way. They listened and were quiet. There was no running around, excessive wiggling or loud talking. I was seriously amazed and very very proud.

 As soon as we were finished I told them how proud I was of them. And Christie bought them bags of potato chips.

Our docent referred to slaves as "enslaved workers." That term didn't sit quite right with us. It felt like it was a politically correct term, but we felt like he was trying to soften the effect of what slavery actually was. I never heard "enslaved workers" used before and I won't be adopting it into my vocabulary!