Dentures, Necessaries, and Horse Poo

We spent our last full day together at Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. Adventure maps in hand, the kids quickly completed clues while we visited George and Martha's tombs, the slave memorial, and the farm. We learned how Washington developed a technique to separate grain from the wheat stalk: the stalks were laid flat over a slatted floor in a circular building and horses walked on top of the stalks, causing the grain to fall through the gaps to be collected below. Emma thoughtfully asked how they prevented the horses from weeing and pooing on the grain, and we learned that horses can't "go" whilst walking! Fascinating stuff.

Moving on...there's so much to see at Mount Vernon that we skipped the house tour in favour of peeking in the "necessary" (points for guessing correctly what this is) as well as the kitchen and slave quarters. We also watched two films on the history of General Washington and the revolution. One film featured special effects including rumble seats, fog, and snow! Following the movie we ventured into the "Hands-on" exhibit where the kids posed as the Washington family members (see adorable pic above) and dressed up in colonial clothing. After that we took a look at George Washington's dentures (made from hippo ivory and human teeth) and reminded the kids to brush their teeth - or else!

We ate dinner at The Cheesecake Factory...worth the 1 hour wait for great food and yummy cheesecake for dessert!