State House Tour

Allee wanted to do a State House tour for co-op on her birthday. The State House is beautiful and there is so much history in the building and on the grounds. 

Allee, Chloe, Gideon, Jalen

On the steps.

The moms - Kristen, me, Beth

It was decorated for Christmas and looked so pretty.

Outside

Inside

Hallway to the governor's office.

On the steps.The building is fireproof so even the stairs are metal.

The inner dome.

Stained glass

Steps to the gallery

Jalen liked this painting because it had a black man in it.

Carolinians that signed the Declaration of Independence.

The man that brought the poinsettia to the U.S. from Mexico.

Upward view

Eating lunch on the lawn

The monument to the history of black Americans is powerful. It's also ironic that it's just a stone's throw from the monument to slave holding Wade Hampton.

Cannon 

Bronze stars mark the spots where Sherman's cannon balls hit and damaged the state house which was being built. (Sherman burned down the original building).

Old oak on the grounds.

I've been to the Texas and South Carolina capitols, but have never been to the Utah one!

While we were touring, David was at USC taking part in a brain study. Check it out!

Souper Saturday

I have always liked Relief Society craft days. We used to do them more often. I was excited this year when one of the items they were making were long porch signs. I decided to change mine up, buy a thinner piece of wood and make a measuring board. I've always wanted one to measure my kids' heights.

Baylie came with me and helped me. Instead of staining the board, we painted it with brown and black paint mixed with water. 

 

When we got home, David put the vinyl numbers on. He's always good at detail work.

Then we marked all the heights on it. I love it! (Look how tall Jalen is!)

They also had craft kits to make free puppets. We're going to do that as a family. Can't wait!

Camden Revolutionary War Reenactment

"The Battle of Camden Revolutionary War Reenactment is the largest Annual Force-on-Force Rev. War reenactment in the nation and Camden has been its home for 50 years" (From their website.) They also offer a free day prior to the reenactment for students, including home schoolers. We decided to take advantage.

We learned that before the Boston Tea Party, Charleston actually dumped tea! They did it three times! So as part of the reenactment, students were invited to bring tea to send to Boston to be dumped in the Boston harbor as part of the 250th anniversary reenactment.

I love these historical experiences and things like these are a favorite.

The kids were drilled as revolutionary volunteers.

There were several demonstrations for students.

The cannon demonstration was LONG and LOUD. But still very cool.

There was a clay oven for baking bread.

Allee found a butterfly that must have been disoriented from cannon smoke because it didn't fly away. She brought it home and set it free after it had recovered.

I helped feed it applesauce on the way home. So cool.

It was a fun and educational day.