Patriotic kids
Myles and Brigid enjoy celebrating our American-ness in our summer trip. This is partly due, no doubt, to our timing that now always includes the Fourth of July.
This summer, though, we had a few more opportunities outside of fireworks to be happy Americans.
More after the jump.
The 2014 Men's World Cup was certainly part of our excitement. Once again the American men qualified. It took some convincing, but both Myles and Brigid did come around to cheering for the US team first and foremost. They even wore Team USA t-shirts in place of their usual blue-and-white Argentina.
And as the US team advanced, and needed to face Belgium, Brigid made sure even Snowy/Struppi/Milou was on her side rather than his native country.
However, after the Americans' elimination, Brigid and Myles were back to being all in for Argentina. Snowy, too.
Other than that, we had a few opportunities to expose the kids to American history. On the Fourth of July, we once again spent some time at the Fort Pitt Museum. Myles and Brigid participated in colonial era demonstrations.
We also were fortunate this summer to be able to swing a day and a half in Gettysburg.
This was a first visit for me, too. I had been to a few Revolutionary and Civil War sites when I was younger, but I had never been to Gettysburg before. It was as sobering and overwhelming as I thought it would be.
To help the kids feel connected to the Battle of Gettysburg was the Pennsylvania monument, where they sought out the names of Callihan ancestors (on their father's side) and the founder of my hometown.
In addition to impressing upon them the size of the Battle of Gettysburg, I hoped they would also recognize the importance of Lincoln's Gettysburg address.
"It was delivered at this exact spot," I stressed to them so much, possibly to the point of annoyance.
President Lincoln even walked by this tree, I noted the plaque said. This reminded me of something we sometimes see in China, signs describing a specific location upon which some leader, like Mao or Deng, once stood.
In the past few years, our family has had some unique opportunities to travel internationally, but, oddly, not so many inside of the US. Our time in America is very limited, and we prefer to spend our time with family and friends. Someday, we'll have the luxury of time to pursue more American history and sightseeing. In the meantime, we'll cram it in when we can.
This summer, though, we had a few more opportunities outside of fireworks to be happy Americans.
More after the jump.
The 2014 Men's World Cup was certainly part of our excitement. Once again the American men qualified. It took some convincing, but both Myles and Brigid did come around to cheering for the US team first and foremost. They even wore Team USA t-shirts in place of their usual blue-and-white Argentina.
And as the US team advanced, and needed to face Belgium, Brigid made sure even Snowy/Struppi/Milou was on her side rather than his native country.
However, after the Americans' elimination, Brigid and Myles were back to being all in for Argentina. Snowy, too.
Other than that, we had a few opportunities to expose the kids to American history. On the Fourth of July, we once again spent some time at the Fort Pitt Museum. Myles and Brigid participated in colonial era demonstrations.
We also were fortunate this summer to be able to swing a day and a half in Gettysburg.
This was a first visit for me, too. I had been to a few Revolutionary and Civil War sites when I was younger, but I had never been to Gettysburg before. It was as sobering and overwhelming as I thought it would be.
To help the kids feel connected to the Battle of Gettysburg was the Pennsylvania monument, where they sought out the names of Callihan ancestors (on their father's side) and the founder of my hometown.
In addition to impressing upon them the size of the Battle of Gettysburg, I hoped they would also recognize the importance of Lincoln's Gettysburg address.
"It was delivered at this exact spot," I stressed to them so much, possibly to the point of annoyance.
President Lincoln even walked by this tree, I noted the plaque said. This reminded me of something we sometimes see in China, signs describing a specific location upon which some leader, like Mao or Deng, once stood.
In the past few years, our family has had some unique opportunities to travel internationally, but, oddly, not so many inside of the US. Our time in America is very limited, and we prefer to spend our time with family and friends. Someday, we'll have the luxury of time to pursue more American history and sightseeing. In the meantime, we'll cram it in when we can.
Comments