Since Bill was home on Friday, I reduced the boys’ already light workload to just math.

And since Bill was home on Friday, I left him in charge of school and went to the grocery store. Bill sat the boys down, told them to do their work, and walked away. Several minutes later, he returned to check on them and discovered they had accomplished very little. Billy, though, was very proud of his doodle of the Flash that he had made on his math worksheet. Bill was so frustrated that he grabbed an eraser and removed all traces of Billy’s artwork!

The math pages eventually got done. I’m not sure if the boys learned anything new to add to their expanding knowledge of math, but I think they learned one thing: Dad is one substitute teacher you don’t want to have!

Friday afternoon we went to Gunston Hall which had been the home of George Mason. George Mason wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights which is strongly echoed in The Declaration of Independence and was the basis for the U.S. Bill of Rights:

That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

George Mason was one of three delegates to the Constitutional Convention who refused to sign the Constitution because of the lack of a bill of rights (as was later added). Gunston Hall is a much smaller historical site than the nearby Mount Vernon, but the intimacy of the property and it’s lesser fame gives one a greater access to the wealth of knowledge contained therein: in other words, there were no lines.

We didn’t stay long: neither the children nor ourselves were up for a long visit. But we got a good enough flavor of the place to feel it was “done,” and left enough to warrant a future visit the next time we live in the area. As we were driving off the property, Bill slowed the van to a crawl and pointed to two deer – one on each side of the car. Since they were standing perfectly still, it took a bit for the girls to spot them. Finally one started moving, and Katie asked why.

Me: I guess he doesn’t feel we are a threat any more.

Fritz: What’s a “threat?”

Me: A danger.

Katie: Why would a deer think we were a danger?

Fritz: Some people kill deer!

Billy: Yeah, they eat it!

Fritz: They eat the meat!

Billy: That rhymes!

Fritz: Eat…meat! It rhymes!

Me: It’s quite a feat, to eat, the deer’s meat.

Fritz: Sweet!

Bill: What a treat! How neat!

Of course, the backdrop of this rhyming game is the look of horror on Katie’s face now that she knows Bambi could be dinner.