History Lessons

There is a lot of pressure being a parent -- you know, planning the perfect summer vacation where the kids have fun AND get some education as well! When we begin planning for a new destination, I take it as if I am studying for a major exam. For instance, before going to DisneyWorld last year, I bought a great guidebook. I sat down with a highlighter and pen and a clean notebook. I would highlight the guidebook first and then do an outline in the notebook. It was much easier taking the outline with us in our backpack rather than that big, chunky guidebook! We were SO ready for whatever DisneyWorld threw at us. And, I would have to say that we had an awesome vacation! I did somewhat the same for England when Chris and I went. These guidebooks are huge helps in finding little hidden treasures.

Yesterday, Chris and I finalized our reservations for hotels for our trip to Yellowstone. (I could not bring myself to camp out even though, supposedly, that is a great way to see Yellowstone! Sometimes those guidebooks don't know who they are writing to!!). We are going to try to cram Yellowstone AND Mount Rushmore into a 10 day trip. I have been diligently highlighting my guidebook and will soon break out the clean notebook to start my outline.

There are so many places we want to take our boys before they grow up. We have this sort of mental checklist: Hawaii - check; the Alamo - check; DisneyWorld - check. We still have Washington, D.C., parts of Europe, maybe even Africa. But, there are many nuggets close by that we want to take them to as well - such as Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands -- places Chris and I went to as kids.

Obviously, DisneyWorld isn't going to be in the boys' history books. However, there is something awesome about visually seeing a piece of history that makes it exciting to learn more about in school. That is why we are going to Mount Rushmore. Connor is very excited about this jaunt in particular -- of course, maybe it is because the treasure was found there in "National Treasure"!?! However, I will be honest when I say that I can't even tell you which Presidents are carved in that stone!

To understand the importance I am feeling in teaching my kids some history this year, I have a funny story...On our way back to Houston from Dallas a couple of weekends ago, we had my sister's oldest son, Jed. We are riding quietly in the car, coming upon Huntsville. For those of you who have driven I-45, you will remember that a VERY tall, stone carving of Sam Houston stands looking over the interstate. My 7-year-old nephew screams out, "It's Abe Lincoln!"

I'm not sure, but I believe Abe is actually at Mount Rushmore! I'll let you know!!!