I cannot even begin to express how busy life seems to have been these past few years. But, in my efforts to truly slow down, I finally got around to taking us on a local field trip. I won’t mention how long it had been since our last one. Yeah… I won’t go there.

To help with my efforts in slowing down and being present, once again, I am trying to put my hand to the plough and begin blogging again. This will truly be a renewed developed discipline. In the past, blogging served as a wonderful way to journal … to share struggles, joys, lessons… life. I want that journal to look back on… as I do now with past posts from previous blogs. It’s good food for my soul. 🙂

My goal is to aim for consistency and not perfection. Just to be real and to show up.

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Soooo… This week I planned to go on a field trip AND I followed through with it! Two points (or more) for me! 😉 We visited a local fort that was involved with much of our country’s history… Fort Monroe.

To get to the fort, we had to drive across a moat and go through a shared one-way opening through the fort walls… it was like the things of fairy tales and castles… we didn’t see any alligators, though… or mermaids (which was slightly disappointing)

We started our tour inside the fort, learning much about what the fort was used for and what was going on in our country during those times.

Learning about the cannons & cannon fire

It was interesting to learn that Edgar Allan Poe had spent some time at the fort…

Our Union soldier guide shared how his firearm worked

We entered a jail cell in the fort where Jackson Davis was imprisoned. The original flag was still hanging on the wall…

We, also, visit the chapel on grounds… which is still used today… Some of the stain-glass windows were made by Tiffany & Co.

We, also, toured the grounds and walked atop the fort walls…

Robert E. Lee and his wife stayed in these quarters…

I loved this view of the lighthouse from atop the fort wall…

Afterwards, we played at the park and around the grounds… It was a beautiful day!