Richard and I have always felt so grateful to live in the United States of America and we work each day to teach our girls about that blessing!There were amazing people in our US history. Men and women who stood up and did what they knew what right. Even if it was hard.
One of the greatest examples of this is
President Abraham Lincoln. I have always loved learning about him and about the Civil War.
So when we finished up in St. Louis, we headed to the capitol of Illinois, the city of Springfield.
It was interesting to see this city, after visiting Chicago a few times, with it's huge buildings and busy, busy streets. Springfield is a city where a simple, honest man practiced law and went on to become a wonderful and hard-working President of the United States.
So we visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (built in 2005 and beyond fabulous) and Lincoln's beautiful tomb.
They were AMAZING!!! (how can you tell it was amazing? I kept forgetting to take pictures! wow!)
Our family with the figures of Lincoln and his family.There was a wonderful children's section! We spent a lot of time there learning and enjoying a more simple time!
The girls dressed up. Emma, Sarah and Rachel (as Abraham Lincoln)
Emma and Daddy playing what else? Lincoln Logs!
Sarah and her twirly dress
Rachel pulled that duck around and kept coming back to write on the chalk boards. Thinking about doing her homework on it was very interesting to her.~The rest of the museum was amazing! Talking about slavery and the Civil War, interactive maps, photographs. Learning about the great times and the hard and sad time for the Lincoln family. Learning more about John Wilkes Booth and his motivations.
~And finally walking through and seeing one of his tall silk hats, where you can see finger marks on the brim where he kept tipping it to people on the streets he met. The band of the hat was stretched a little because he would often put important papers up in his hat so he didn't forget them. His "office in a hat". Seeing gloves and early copies of the Emancipation Proclamation.
~It was awesome to learn so much more about where Abraham Lincoln came from and what he did in his wonderful, but short life.
Then we drove through the Springfield Cemetary and visited Abraham Lincoln's tomb. It is so beautiful! So humbling to think of how important this man was for the future of our country!!!
Abraham Lincoln~ Thank you for the gift of your life and your sacrifice for our country. We will never forget!!!
