George Washington's Mount Vernon

I was super excited for Thursday to come. Two of our good friends from high school, Rick and Kylee Colaw, live in the DC area. Rick is an attorney in the Air Force and they moved up there last summer. As soon as I knew I was going with Randy, I knew we had to see them! Luckily for us, our hotel wasn't too far out of their way and Kylee was planning on taking Kaeden to Mount Vernon which I REALLY wanted to go to!So Kylee came and got me and I was able to spend the day with her and sweet Kaeden! Again, I was blessed with an absolutely beautiful fall day! You couldn't take any pictures inside of the Mansion House Farm, but it was really neat. I was surprised by how original pieces were still in the house, how many fireplaces were in the house, and also by how many bedrooms were in there! It was also cool to see the exterior of the house, which is wood, but made up to look like cement blocks. Washington had carved the wood and used sand in the paint.The back porch is amazing with an absolutely beautiful view of the Potomac River. I can see why he never wanted to leave his farm!This is the view from the back porch. The land across the river has also been preserved so that the view we see is the same view he would have seen so many years ago.Another neat feature was that the kitchen wasn't in the house, it was just off the house connected by an arch walkway. And then after the kitchen, there were lots of little "houses".This was one of the little "houses" known as the wash house. There was also a smoke house, salt house, store house, and others. This was the coach house where the stables and his vehicles were stored.This is a replica of one of his horse-drawn vehicles.Next we headed down the beautiful pathway to the river. I just had to grab this picture so I could remember just how beautiful it all is!It was a nice walk down to the river, lots of stairs to go down. However, going back up was quite the exercise! I didn't realize just how far we had gone down until we were ready to go back up! I believe this dock was created when Queen Elizabeth came to view Mount Vernon, but don't quote me on that!
Next we headed to the burial site. This day was Veteran's Day, so all the veterans were given a red carnation to lay at the foot of the graves. This is of course George and Martha Washington, but behind those doors are I think 20-some other family members.Here is another picture of the Presidents casket.
Mount Vernon is still a working farm, and Kaeden couldn't wait to see the pigs. She had been talking about seeing the pigs before we even arrived. The first animals we saw were sheep.Next we saw the big cows/bulls, which she really wanted to ride.We were still looking for the pigs when I saw this beautiful garden. I hope to grow a garden someday, but I'm sure it will never look like this!

And then finally, we found the pigs! There was even a baby pig that was so cute! We had such a fun day! Afterwards, we met up with Rick and their other daughter Karsen down in Old Town for lunch. Wow, what a historical city that was! It was built before DC was even created! After that we picked up Randy and then they took us to their beautiful home on the base. That was my first time on a base. We had to show our drivers license to get it! We got to meet some of their wonderful neighbors, help get their boys from the bus stop and then we went to dinner back down in Old Town. It was a fun night and a fun week! Friday morning, we left to come back home. It is always great to come back home to the loving arms of your children! I'm so glad I was able to make this trip- a BIG thanks to my brother Jordan and his wife Jen for taking care of our kids so I could do this. I love you guys!!!!