Monticello

I recently went on a week-long field trip with my son's fifth grade class to Washington D.C. Our first stop along the way was Monticello...home of Thomas Jefferson. Yes, I know, my first picture is of a creepy spider, but it was one of the first things we saw when we arrived. There was a set of stairs that we had to climb to get to the tour bus that takes you around the grounds of Monticello. On those stairs was a very large and scary looking spider. One of the dads in our group poked it with his telescopic photo lens and when he did, a large egg sack dropped down hanging from the spider. I dare you to click on the photo to enlarge it. This spider was easily the size of Cole's palm. I shudder everytime I look at this photo. Needless to say, I went up the stairs on the other side of the staircase. I was going nowhere near this bad guy.

We arrived at the top. Woohoo, no more freaky spider.

The trees on this plot of land were enormous and great climbing trees. The tour guides wouldn't let the kids climb on the historic trees, which was very difficult for Cole since he would live in trees if we let him.

Read this sign and then look at the next photo.

Pretty cool, huh? I sure thought so.

The scenery was just breathtaking. It was so pretty and green and lush. This is a picture of me and Cole in front of Thomas Jefferson's home. We toured the home but weren't allowed to take pictures of the interior. It was rather beautiful.

Cole outside one of the little gift shops.

This is Michie's Tavern where we ate lunch while at Monticello. Some good ole' colonial-style food. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls and cobbler. Mmm-Mmm.

I have so many more pictures of this place that I wish I could share, but they include photos of some of the other kids on our trip and our principal asked us not to post pictures of children that were not our own for security reasons. We had a wonderful time.