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Marshall's Thoughts on Primary

On Sunday I stayed home from church with Marshall because he had the stomach flu. During that afternoon he asked when he was going to go to nursery. I realized that this would have been his last Sunday in nursery so I explained that he was a big boy and all done with nursery and that soon he would be going to primary. He has since talked to me about primary many times; I get the feeling that he is not looking forward to this.

Marshall quotes:

"Oh, you will take me to primary and I will cry?"

"I am not three! I am not going to primary!"

"I will ruin the primary. I will ruin the chapel." (Should I be concerned about this?!)

"I do not want to play games. I do not want candy. I do not want to go to primary."

Good luck you wonderful primary workers; Marshall Leake is on his way!

Another boring blog post

Marshall and I (Richard) watched Rudy the other day and he said it was a horrible movie, which was a sad day.

Military Transportation Museum

The last day that Richard's parents were with us in Virginia we visited the Military Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis. Before I get to all the pictures I have to tell this little story.

When we arrived at the military base we followed the signs for the visitors. We ended up pulling into a huge white tent with five lanes for cars. We were leading the way so we pulled in first and Richard's parents were behind us. The tent was full of big army men dressed in their camo uniforms. We were told (in gruff and intimidating voices) to get out of the car. (We were allowed to leave Marshall and Bridget in the car because they were sleeping, how kind.) We had to open all the doors, the trunk, and move away from the car while they searched the entire inside and under the car! We also had to show them our driver licenses, car registration and proof of insurance. I was completely caught off guard by all of this so on two occasions I accidentally shut the car doors when I was not supposed to, and let me tell you, I heard about that! I completely understand why they had to do this, it is a huge military base, but still, it was crazy. Once we finally reached the museum and we met up with Richard's parents, I think Bob could tell I was a little in shock at it all. Bob, who was in the military on special forces, told me that he has never seen security like that at any base he has ever been to. That made me feel a little better, but boy oh boy, I was close to tears!

Anyway, after that slightly horrifying ordeal we ended up having a great time at the museum. Marshall was in heaven with all of the helicopters, trucks, planes, etc.

Look at that face! Pure giddiness!

Can you believe they actually used these things?! I read that they ended up having too many accidents with these. Really?! So, they stopped using them pretty quickly. Good idea.

Comforting motto on this truck, "Eve of Destruction".

Kind of a blurry picture, but this is the helicopter that Richard's older brother flies, the Huey.

This next picture is a crazy one. This is an actual door from a vehicle that was hit by a roadside bomb. Fortunately, everyone in the vehicle survived.

Ah! The truck transporter, Marshall's favorite thing!


As I mentioned earlier, my father-in-law was in Special Forces so he did all sorts of crazy things, including jumping out of planes. Here is a plane that he jumped out of, pretty cool. I would never do that!


And just so we don't forget about Bridget. While we were all outside in very cold wind, Bridget and Grandma Becky were hanging out in the warm car eating snacks. She loved it.

So glad you guys could make it Bob and Becky! We had a great week with you! Love you both!

Fife and Drum Parade

We went back into Colonial Williamsburg one evening for the Fife and Drum Parade. I remember watching this parade when I was 17 and thinking that it was pretty awesome. Well, it was just as great, if not better, as I remembered and I would say this was the highlight of the trip for me. One thing that made it so cool was that they did it at night when it was already dark so there were people marching in front of the band carrying torches, pretty sweet! We were also able to march behind the band; Marshall was fascinated. At the end of the route they stopped and performed for quite a while. We all loved it!

A couple of videos. The second one doesn't sound as good as it sounded in person; Richard says its because we were so close to the drums. Oh well, it gives you a taste.

Jamestown

While in Virginia, we spent a morning in Jamestown and Marshall LOVED it! They have an excellent Indian Village, replicas of the ships that came over with John Smith, and the Jamestown Settlement. Here are the pictures from our morning out.

Marshall was fascinated with these faces that were carved into wooden poles.

Grinding the corn.

And now for the ships. Marshall was in heaven on these. We probably spent at least 30 minutes on the first ship.

Marshall loved these little rope things with faces on them. He asked to have his picture taken by almost every one. I will only include a couple of these pictures. :)

As you can tell, it was pretty windy that day. This picture was taken on the biggest ship so we couldn't feel the waves while on the boat; hence, Richard is in the following pictures. I was surprised when Richard joined us on the next ship, which was significantly smaller so there was a fair amount of rocking due to the waves. Richard only lasted about two minutes on that thing before he knew it was time to get off or he would be sorry.

The shooting cannons (as Marshall calls them)!

This tour guide was awesome, and so great with Marshall. He let Marshall hold a cannon ball as well as other things that they would shoot, but I don't remember the names of any of those other things...oops!

Steering the ship.

Another shooting cannon! (I just loves these little cheesy smiles!)

Next stop was the Jamestown Settlement replica. Marshall was able to try on some old fashioned protective gear.

We did a pretty quick walk through of this place. By this time, Marshall was tuckered out and ready for a snack, so was Grandpa Bob. :)

Jamestown really was a very cool place. They also had an excellent museum that we quickly walked through on our way out. It was very well done and I told Richard that I would love to go back there someday without children. :)

Williamsburg

While in Virginia we spent our first two days in Williamsburg. I had been there once before when I was 17, but Richard had never been so it was fun to experience it with him.

We toured the jail, capitol, Wythe home, and the governor's palace. We also visited the shoemaker, blacksmith, silversmith, cabinet maker, wheelwright, cooper, and others that I seem to be forgetting at the moment. Marshall was a trooper through it all, not a vacation that you would typically think of taking a three year old on. But, at the end of the first day as we were getting in the car Marshall exclaimed, "That was so much fun!" Richard and I were both shocked. So, at the end of the second day we asked Marshall if he had fun. His response, "Yes, I had fun with the rocks and the dirt." Perfect.

Here are a slew of pictures...
I just realized that I did not get a single picture of the interior of any building. I guess I was too busy trying to keep an eye on my kids. Oh well. :)

Backyard of the Wythe Home.

Back of the Governor's Palace.

Marshall asked to have his picture taken in front of these two wagons. I couldn't resist his smile.

We pretty much let Marshall dictate the length of time we spent in any one place. The blacksmith won the award for keeping his attention the longest. I think we lasted about ten minutes in that little shop.

The Wythe Home. Lovely. Interesting facts: George Wythe was the first Virginian to sign the Declaration of Independence. He was the first professor in law in America. He is credited with educating 28 men who helped to shape early America; namely, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Marshall.

The shoemaker shop.

Some fancy gingerbread decorations, pretty impressive!

The courthouse.

We all took our turn in the stocks. No fun! Marshall was thrilled.


Cannons! Just what boys like. :)

And lest we forget that Bridget was on this vacation, this sweet little girl spent a lot of time doing this...

and this...

And now for some random pictures...

Every morning USA Today was placed outside our door. Marshall was quite fascinated by the newspaper since we don't get one. He took to sleeping with it most nights and it always joined him for breakfast. :)

And this is how we found Marshall the next night, all the drawers open, crazy kid.