Some Time to Relax

Stephen has been saying that he wanted to have a relaxing evening just walking around the battlefield - this after a few weeks of a really busy work schedule.

So last night we packed sandwiches and made off for the Manassas Battlefield.  It was a great time for the kids to just run and play while we meandered along behind them, enjoying the beauty of creation.

The scenery around us - very old houses, cannons, and split-rail fences - was a reminder of the hard lives lived by those who occupied Henry Hill 150 years ago.  It made our "problems" seem so small in comparison.

The boys were having a great time climbing the cannons and jumping off...until one of them jumped and bumped his head.  Then we decided that we didn't want to swing by the ER on the way home and put a stop to the high-flying leaps.

So here they are **sitting** on the cannon instead...

They're a little hard to see, but just in front of the trees is a row of Confederate cannons...

Trying to get all three of them to look at the camera is a challenge I have not yet mastered...

 I just discovered with my most recent update to Picasa that #1- picnik will be closing down in just 3 days, and #2- Picasa has added some cool new features!!  Here's one of them called Ortonish...

Same picture, different processing...

And the original picture...

Little girl with a silly face...

 At least here she's trying to smile nicely...

I guess she's done being nice...

 My big boy...

My littler boy...

An uncooperative little girl... (Sheesh, I'm glad the baby won't be mobile for a little while!  Maybe she'll be a more cooperative subject!)

Learning some history of the tavern...

Cute!  She was so scared of the big dog that was making its way toward us (on a leash and well-behaved too) that she climbed up the side of the bridge and wouldn't budge until I pried her off and helped her past the dog...

Reading the history of the 85-year old Mrs. Henry who was bed-ridden in the farm house and was killed there during the battle...

She's holding her prized walnut...

Make that two walnuts...

The man with the plan...good plan, Honey!

This is a totally typical "Cade face"...if you look closely enough, you can almost hear the sound effects...

Here is another totally typical "Cade face"...tongue out!

On the side of the cannon, it showed the manufacturing date - 1853. Elsa really wanted to put the walnuts in and fire them out.  She couldn't understand why we couldn't and wanted to know where the men were who could load the gunpowder.