Centennial Junior Rangers

Earlier in May, we headed to Shenandoah for a quick photography trip. Rachel had gotten her Junior Ranger badge in Shenandoah last summer. We decided while we were in Shenandoah this trip that we would help Bekah do her Junior Ranger badge. When we got to Big Meadows Visitors Center, we saw all the celebration for the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service in full swing.

We went into the Visitor's Center to pick up Bekah's Junior Ranger Booklet and found out that the National Park Service is doing a Centennial Junior Ranger badge. So both Bekah and Rachel decided to do the Centennial badge instead.
While we were at Big Meadows, they also got their passport books stamped with an AT (Appalachain Trail) stamp, which we hiking a portion of later that day. They also got a Centennial Anniversary stamp for the National Part Service and a Shenandoah National Park stamp too.

The next day we got up as a family to see the sunrise. It was fun to see the beauty of God's creation together as a family on this morning.

To be a Centennial Junior Ranger, you had to complete a certain number of activities in the Junior Ranger booklet and go to an educational program held by one of Shenandoah's Park Rangers. It was pretty rainy a good part of the day while we were in the park, but we did find one ranger program that was being held for the kids inside at Big Meadows. We were inside for most of the program but then found out that the rain had stopped. The park ranger teaching the program then took the group outside to find salamanders in the park itself.

Here are our salamander catchers with the park ranger.

Yes, that little tiny guy in the catcher is a salamander that the park ranger helped Rachel find. Bekah found a salamander and a spider with some help.

We had to leave all the little salamanders and bugs in their habitat, but little sister liked trying out how the catcher worked when her sisters got back from their ranger program.

The girls completed the first step which was attend a ranger-led program. Here they are getting their books signed off by the ranger.

 

The next task was to complete the correct amount of activities in their Centennial Junior Ranger book. Here is Bekah working with her Daddy on her Junior Ranger book.

Rachel worked hard on her booklet also and before we knew it, they were done!

Here they are taking the junior ranger pledge to become Centennial Junior Rangers in Shenandoah.

Here are our happy Centennial Junior Rangers! The ranger was even very kind to give me a badge for Bethany to put away for her. We were excited that  the girls were able to complete this since it is a part of the National Park Service's 100th anniversary events and is special for this year.

Great job, Centennial Junior Park Rangers! We are proud of you!

Journey to Jamestown

Earlier this spring, we ended up being in Williamsburg for a couple of days and while we were there we did a short field trip to Yorktown, Williamsburg and Jamestown.

 Yorktown Battlefield is on our agenda for our next trip, but we enjoyed a fun evening in the town of Yorktown and some really good seafood.

 

The next day was spent between Williamsburg and Jamestown. Here are the girls with Benjamin Franklin in downtown Williamsburg. This big girl enjoyed walking around this trip.

They had fun checking out the gardens in Williamsburg too.

  The gardens were so pretty this time of year.

 
 Thanks to a kind passerby from Michigan we met on the Green we did get a family picture at Williamsburg.

This was one of the highlights of Williamsburg for the girls this trip: the horse-drawn carriages. We couldn't quite talk their Daddy into letting us take a ride this trip, but they sure did stop and watch every carriage that came by! They even got to rub the horses's noses while they were taking a break between trips.

We had fun trying on the Colonial hats

Brent had to have a picture of the girls trying the stocks too. Apparently, this was something he did when he came to Williamsburg as a child.

Bethany gave it a try for a second and Bekah figured out a different way to spend time in the stocks.

We walked down to the Governor's Palace.

Rachel read us most of the signs along the way so we could learn more about Williamsburg's history.

The big girls also got a chance to try grinding corn in Colonial Williamsburg.

After Williamsburg, we headed to Jamestown for the rest of day. Brent had been to Jamestown when he was younger, but the girls and I had never been. It is fascinating to learn about all the history there!
Before we went into the actual historic area, we bought the girls their passports for the year. This was the first year we had done this. Basically, the passports are a small booklet that you can get stamped at every national park or historic area that you visit that year. The girls were thrilled! Here they are getting their first passport stamp in their books from Jamestown.



We headed into Jamestown by the Tercentennial Monument (300th Anniversary). Try saying that 5 times fast!

Brent and Bekah were looking at the archeological site where they are currently excavating what seems to be the original fort site. We also saw the site of the original church in the Jamestown settlement. According to what we read, the circular spots in the ground are actually where the original fence posts for the 1607 fort were located. So neat!

Here are the girls with the statue of Captain John Smith.

We also went to the Archaerium, which is the archeology museum at Jamestown. It was really neat but no pictures allowed inside.

 Bethany had fun checking out the view from the fort toward the river.

 We had a great trip learning all about the first settlement in Virginia at Jamestown and the start of the New World here. We also enjoyed our time in Williamsburg. Thankful for some family time learning about the start of our great state and country!