Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon Entrance

We had our first field trip of the school year this week with a trip to Mount Vernon. The girls have been studying the life of our first President, George Washington, in all his varying roles as a Surveyor, a Commander in the Army, and a politician.

 

Swearing in of President George Washington

Lea being "Sworn In" as President

 

Trey listening to Washington's Farm Animals

Its hard not to admire a man that willingly took on the role as the first President of the U.S. In a time when Americans of that day knew only what it meant to be ruled by England, it had to take a hefty measure of both courage and imagination to embark on a journey towards independence.

 

George Washington's Home at Mount Vernon

 
The location of the home is in a beautiful spot, nestled right on the Potomac River. We walked the grounds of Washington's Estate with the highlight of the trip being the tour of his home. Whenever I tour the home of a notable person I always find myself imagining what it would've been like to have experienced a day in the life in the home I'm touring. I imagined George and Martha entertaining guests in their fancy dining room, servants running to and fro to wait and serve, and Martha at the President's bedside when he took his last breaths as he passed away after suffering from quinsy (an inflammation of the throat).

What a day in time it must have been in the 17th century. What was it like to establish a new and fresh government? It could not have been easy and I can believe that George had a many sleepless night pondering over in his thoughts what he needed to do to establish America. No one has all the answers to why the events of history happened the way they did. While in the establishment of the U.S. Government there are many injustices that have been experienced since the breaking away from England, what has remained constant from one generational group of leadership to the next is God's sovereignty over it all.  We may not have the answers, but God does.