Jamestown and Yorktown

We have spent the last couple days learning about the history of the USA.  We visited the Jamestown ruins, where the first colonists settled, and the Yorktown battlefield - the site of the last major battle of the American Revolution.  (It was at Yorktown that General Cornwallis surrendered which set the stage for the Treaty of Paris.)  I was surprisingly more excited about the battlefield - which is very unlike me.  We all especially liked the firing of the cannon - it was awesome and really, really loud.  It seems a bit nuts that English Colonization both began and ended in the same area of the country. 

Did you know that some British troops wore blue during the Revolutionary War?  I didn't!  This volunteer is wearing a reproduction British uniform!  Boy was I confused!

 Historic Jamestown has a lovely glass making demonstration to highlight some of the traditional occupations in Jamestown. 
 The glass blowers are very talented - we watched them for a while.  The furnace is 2400 degrees.  It was a hot visit.

We really needed some relaxation time today - we've been really pushing ourselves to get stuff done and make the most of this vacation.  We finished at Jamestown in the early afternoon, ate lunch and headed off to play on some of the KOA's amenities.  We all jumped on the jumping pillows (and somehow Michael managed to burn the bottoms of his feet - but none of the rest of us did.....) and spent most of the afternoon in the pool.  Isa is working hard on figuring out how to swim - she's made some good progress already this summer.  

 Tomorrow we head for Chincoteague and Assateague Island - where the wild ponies run and swim.  The girls are going to go bananas when they realize there are ponies where we are camping.  I can't wait to see their faces!