Molly and Madelyn's Great Loop

The first night we saw fireworks.  It was really cool.

The next day our grandma and grandpa came that night.  I was really excited to see them.  The next day we played at the pool and went out for dinner.

The next day we went the Naval Academy.  We saw a really big swimming pool with really high diving boards that I wanted to jump off of.  We also saw the wrestling area right across from the big swimming pool.  There was also a little workout area.

We saw the Naval Academy students marching along when we were walking.  We saw a really pretty rotunda inside their dorm and got to see one of their dorm rooms.

The last thing we went to see was a ship museum.  A bunch of the ships were made out of bones.  People that were in jail made the ships by taking the bones out of the meat they ate and using the bones to make the ships.

After the Naval Academy we walked into town.  The next day we went into town and got ice cream.  Then we went to the State House.

Grandma Cathy taught us how to sew.  I sewed my pajama pants that had a hole in them.  I sewed a few holes in daddy’s shirts.

The next day our grandma and grandpa left.  I was sad.

We had a lot of visitors in July!  The girls write about them here.

(Madelyn) Isaac Visits us in St. Michaels

When I woke up Isaac was there.  I built a Lego airplane with him.  It was big.

Then we went into town.  Then we had lunch.

Next we went to the Boat Museum.  Isaac helped me catch oysters with an oyster catcher.  It looked like scissors but you have to open it and put it on the ground and then push it together as hard as you can and then tug it up.

The next day we left and we anchored overnight.  We swam and it was fourth of July.  We jumped off of where the dinghy goes.  I loved it!  It was really fun.  We jumped in with Isaac holding us and we tried to push him in.  We got him in.  And he pushed us in.

(Molly) Grandma Cathy and Jim Visit us in Annapolis

We pulled into Annapolis on a Wednesday night.  Then Thursday night Grandma Cathy and Jim arrived.  Friday morning we celebrated my birthday with Grandma Cathy and Jim.  I got a pop socket and a JoJo bow (a big bow) and a bunch of supplies for my polaroid camera.  We played on the boat and swam and hung out and then we went out for dinner.  It was so good.

The next day we went and just explored Annapolis and looked in some shops.  On Sunday morning, Mommy, Maddy, Grandma and I went to church.  The church was beautiful.  Then we went out for some really yummy brunch.

Next we went to the Naval Academy.  We got to see the swimming pool.  It was HUGE.  The exercise room had big weights.  We also got to see their football trophies.  Lastly we saw their dorm rooms.  They seemed small but Mommy and Daddy said they were big.

On Monday we went to the Maryland State House.  Also the House and Senate of Maryland meet there.  We learned a lot of history.  I got my picture taken with George Washington and I learned his wife was named Martha.

Then we went and got ice cream.  I had the best chocolate ice cream ever.  It was chocolate with roasted marshmallows that were then melted.  On Tuesday we sewed with Grandma and played with her.  Then we went back out to the restaurant we ate dinner at and then had to say goodbye.

(Molly)

I had so much fun in Crisfield, Maryland.  The town was cute.  We took the ferry over to Tangier Island.  I liked it.  There were so many cats and we got to hold a kitten.  We didn’t take our boat over because we were worried it was too shallow.  Then we took the ferry back to Crisfield.

There was a swimming pool at the marina.  It was 9 feet deep.  We swam there almost every day.

We learned how to crab off the dock using a hand line.  We tied a piece of bait to a piece of twine.  We used chicken and turkey necks as our bait.  We had to tie some sort of weight to the end of the line.  We used washers and nuts (“the metal kind” says Maddy).  We tied the twine to cleats on the dock and on the boat and dropped the lines in and waited.  Every few minutes we checked the line.  If we got a crab we put a net in the water and scooped the crab up in the net while the crab was still in the water.  Then daddy took the crab out of the net by its swimmer fins and put it in a bucket.  You hold the crab by the swimmer fins but daddy still managed to get pinched.  We caught over a dozen crabs.

We also go to go out on a boat and catch crabs off a trot line.  The line was already set and I got to take a turn standing on the side of the boat and sweeping the net underneath the trot line to catch the crabs.  I learned that in Maryland crabs have to be 5 inches across and we only kept male crabs.  We didn’t keep the females because they make more crabs.

Then we cooked the crabs and picked them.  To pick the crab you first pull off the apron part of the shell and then pull off the underside and dig in to take out all of the bad stuff, their lungs and stomach.  They have gross yellow stomachs.  Then you pick out the good meat and eat it!

There was a lady at the marina that did arts and crafts with us.  Then we met up with the Davises on Endeavour.  We played with them in the pool, did arts and crafts, had dinner and watched fireworks together.

I had so much fun in Crisfield.

Our best friends decided to come to Washington, D.C. with us.  Our first full day we walked first to the Washington Monument.  It is 555 ft. tall.  I wanted to go up inside but we couldn’t because the elevator was broken when we were there.

Then we walked to the Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool.  The Reflecting Pool was so flat I could see myself in it.  I could also see the Lincoln Memorial in the reflection.

We also did the Bureau of Engraving.  I loved it because I thought it was so cool to see where most of our money is made.  Our coins are made somewhere else and there is one other place that makes dollar bills in Texas.

After that we walked around Washington, D.C. and past the White House.  Later we walked all the way to Georgetown.  We went to Georgetown Cupcakes.  It is a cupcake shop that two sisters opened.  It was their dream to open a bakery.  It started as a small shop and now they have them in other cities as well a another building in Washington, D.C.  They had a show called D.C. Cupcakes that is all about the sisters making the cupcakes that I love.  On the show they make big creations out of cupcakes and one time they even made cupcakes for dogs.  Their signature cupcake is the Red Velvet cupcake.  Livia (my best friend), wanted Red Velvet but they were all out.  I got peanut butter chocolate.  It was really good but the peanut butter frosting is very rich!

The next day we did a tour of the Capitol.  The dome is so pretty with the paintings all the way around.

Then we did the Air and Space Museum.  I really liked learning about the first airplane.  Then we went into the National Art Gallery to see a couple paintings.

The next day we had to say goodbye to our best friends.  Boo hoo.

Then we did the House and Senate tour and went to the Supreme Court.  We went to the National Archives and got to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  We also got to go to a couple of the other galleries.

The next day we met with one of daddy’s old friends.  With her we did the Spy museum which I loved.  We did this thing where you have to hang on to a bar for a minute.  And I won!  I won 20% off at the gift shop for hanging on for the full minute.  The bar shook and vibrated.

Then I went to see the White House.

We also did the National Portrait Gallery.

Then on our last day we had a picnic with one of mommy’s friends and her family.  Her name is also Molly and she has two kids.  Then we did the American History Museum.  I loved that museum.  We got to see the First Ladies’ dresses.  They were all so pretty.  They looked like wedding dresses.  We got to see the Star Spangled Banner.  We got to see some old cars.  We learned about Thomas Edison and saw his old notes.

I loved, loved, loved Washington, D.C.  I am glad we went.

(Madelyn)

Our friends Claudia, Livia and Sabina came with us to Washington D.C.  We went to the Washington Monument.  I thought it was tall and cool.  Next we saw the Reflecting Pool and I got to throw two pennies in.  Then we went to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial.  Abraham Lincoln’s statue was really big.

After lunch we went to the Money Factory (Bureau of Engraving).  You can’t make your own money.  It’s against the law!  We got to see the money being made.  I thought it was interesting to see how the money was made.

Later we went to Georgetown Cupcakes.  We walked the whole way.  It was a LONG walk after a big day of walking and we were super tired.

The next day we went to the US Capitol building.  We saw the Rotunda.  The Rotunda was one of my favorite places in Washington, D.C.  It was really pretty.  Later that day we went to the National Art Gallery and the Air and Space Museum.  Claudia and I did gymnastics and played London Bridge is Falling Down on the National Mall.

Livia, Claudia and Sabina had to leave the next morning.  That day we saw the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and there was a big line to wait for it.

The next day we went to the Spy Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.  The Spy Museum was fun.  We got to hang off of a bar that twisted and wind blew at you like you were hanging off of a building and there was a picture of a building behind you.  The Portrait Gallery was cool.  It had a lot of cool pictures.

Then we walked to the White House and got pictures of it.

I really liked Washington D.C.  It was one of my favorite stops on the loop.

(Molly)

Our best friends arrived 3 days before my birthday.

My birthday was Saturday June 17th.  When I woke up Saturday morning we put candles in donuts and sang Happy Birthday. Then we ate donuts for breakfast.

After breakfast I opened presents.  I got books, a puzzle, games, a fidget spinner, a polaroid camera, a ukulele and a couple more things.

Next we went to the pool.  That’s where we stayed for most of the day.  We swam for a couple hours and then ate lunch.  After lunch there was a storm.  Next we had root beer floats.

Then swam and went back to the boat and got ready for dinner.  We went to the restaurant at the marina.  It was really good.  I got key lime pie from the restaurant for dessert.  The other kids just had vanilla ice cream from the boat.  Then I played my ukulele.

And now I’m 10!!!

Madelyn

Downtown:  We walked around city market and we saw a lady making sweet grass baskets.  We went on a carriage ride.  Their names were Waylon and Willie and they were mules.  Mules are half donkey and half horse.  Mules hooves are stronger than horses’.

Boone Hall Plantation:  We went on a tractor tour and they grow onions, blueberries, peaches, strawberries and grapes.  We saw the Big House and the slave houses. We saw horses and the butterflies.

USS Yorktown:  The USS Yorktown is a big ship that is now a big museum.  It holds 3,500 people and 90 airplanes.  We saw the bakery and they make 10,000 cookies and that’s enough for almost everyone to have 3.  The mixer was taller than me!  The Japanese people gave up their lives by flying their airplanes into the United States’ boats during WWII.

Molly

Downtown:  We went into downtown Charleston a lot.  We walked around city market.  In the city market we saw all the ladies making sweet grass baskets.  Also there is all sorts of little local art work.  Then we did a horse and carriage ride.  We did not have a horse, we had mules.  They are a mix of a donkey and a horse (Daddy donkey, Mommy horse).  Mules are social animals.  A mule has to be paired with another mule.  If one leaves the barn, the barn won’t be quiet until they’re back together.  They at smarter than donkeys.  Their skin is thicker than horses’ skin.

USS Yorktown:  The USS Yorktown is a huge ship.  I mean humongous!  So big it’s a museum.  I said a couple of times that we couldn’t be on a boat!  We got to see their beds.  Some of the beds had notes written on them.  We also got to see the kitchen.  They have the biggest mixer I’ve ever seen.  With that mixer they make 10,000 chocolate chip cookies….enough for  most people to have 3.  That ship holds 3,500 people and 90 planes.  On the top of the ship there is a runway.  The ship is so big you could get lost.  They used this ship to fight in WWII.

Boone Hall Plantation:  We went to Boone Hall Plantation House.  There we saw horses.  We took a tractor tour.  On the tractor tour we got to see all the areas where they grow all their fruit and vegetables.  They grow grapes, onions, strawberries, peaches, and pumpkins.  Also there was cotton just starting to grow.  We went to see the butterfly conservatory.  Maddy and I both touched one. We toured the Big House.  And it turns out our house in Chicago is older than that house!  Then we went to see all the slave houses.  They were tiny little brick houses and a whole family had to live in one.  And on this plantation they had to build their houses.  We saw the mold for the bricks.  All of them were super tiny.  The beds looked very uncomfortable.

Also in Charleston:  Another thing we did was have Kim Russo’s niece babysit us!  She works at a kids’ gymnastics place so we played there.  Then went back to the boat.

We are a bit behind with the girls’ blog posts!  We’ve been too busy seeing all of these wonderful places.  We’re working on getting them caught up now.  To backtrack to Savannah I just asked the girls to write about 3 things we did there.  Any 3 things – fun things, things they enjoyed, and it didn’t have to be about something they learned.

(Molly)

In Savannah we did a lot more things than what I am going to write about.  First thing I am going to write about is the train museum.  They used to use the train cars for the Georgia State Railroad to carry rice and cotton.

We got to tour the Executive Car which is one of the cars the owners of the railroad would travel in.

Maddy and I got to do a hand car.  Then in the gift shop we got blue and white conductor hats.

We went to a couple of squares including one with a huge fountain.  That square is called Forsyth Square.  I learned that Savannah is made out of all of these squares.  I liked seeing what was in the center of the square and all of the statues.

We also got to see salt water taffy be made and how it is stretched out and how it gets wrapped.  We got to taste a just made piece of salt water taffy.

We also toured the Girl Scout house.  Her name is Juliet Lowe.  Her nickname is Daisy.  That is how the Daisies got their name.  She has a three story house.  And they would slide down the banister from the highest floor down to the ground level.  Daisy was also born in that house.

At the marina we got fresh Krispy Kremes.  I thought Savannah was cool.

(Madelyn)

We got fresh salt water taffy.

We went to Get Air and we did trampolines into block pits.

Every morning we got Krispy Kremes.

We did a Girl Scout house tour.  Her nickname is Daisy and that is how they called the troop Daisies.

(Molly)

When we arrived in St. Augustine we walked on the pedestrian street.  The next day we met up with Michael and Cathy from Trawler Life and met their grandson Collin.  We went to the Alligator Farm.  I really liked it.  The sizes of the alligators were amazing.  Then we went out for lunch with them.

On Thursday our grandparents on Daddy’s side of the family arrived.  Then we just hung out.  We went into town and ate dinner.

On Friday we did the trolley tour and went to the Old Jail.

On Saturday it was Maddy’s birthday!!  In the morning she opened her presents and I opened mine because we weren’t going to see Mema and Popop for my birthday.

Then we went to mini golfing and up the lighthouse.  All Maddy’s choice.

On Sunday Mommy, Maddy and I went to church.  Then we went out for brunch and to the Castillo de San Marcos fort.

On Monday we went to the Lightner café for lunch and got ice cream.  Then we went to the Fountain of Youth.

On Tuesday our grandparents left, boo!  And then we pulled out and headed to Fernandina.

The girls did a lesson on what they learned in St. Augustine.  Molly wants to do a two part blog though because she also wants to blog about everything else we did in St. Augustine – so this is strictly a school blog!  I asked them to write two or three things they learned at a few places we visited.  I wanted to see what stood out to them.

(Molly)

Old Jail

1. In the back of the two women’s cells, you didn’t have a window to empty your waste bucket.
2. The women had to wake up at 4 AM to start working in the kitchen.  Then the men had to work all day in the field.
3. If you do something bad enough that you have to be killed, you have to build your own gallows you are going to be hung from.

 

 

Castillo de San Marcos

1.  A six pound cannon ball can go 1.5 miles.  The biggest cannonball can go 3 miles.
2. The walls of the fort are made out of coquina.  It is soft but strong so a cannon ball will either get stuck in the wall or bounce off.
3. The whole town could live in the fort because they could keep all of their animals and goods in the dry moat.  Until they were under attack, then they would move it all into the fort.

Fountain of Youth

1. Historians remodeled the whole park to make it look like the village when Ponce de Leon settled there.
2. The water had a lot of minerals in it so Ponce de Leon thought that is why the Indians living in Florida were so healthy and tall.

(Madelyn)

Old Jail

1. The solitary room was so dark you cannot see your hand.
2. The girls got 2 cells.
3. They only get 1 bath a month and they have to share the same water.

 

 

Castillo de San Marcos

1. Some of the cannons can shoot to the lighthouse.
2. The dry moat helps because if they see someone attacking the people can go to the fort and go inside.  The soldiers can attack from the dry moat.
3. We saw them fire a cannon.  I think they just put in the powder.

Fountain of Youth

1. The minerals in the water are good for you.
2. Ponce de Leon found the Fountain of Youth.