Presidents Day

To give Adam and Ashley a head start on their history lessons we headed to Portsmouth, NH.  

Wondering about the Portsmouth connection to Presidents Day?  Presidents Day was declared a holiday by Congress in 1800 to honor George Washington.  George Washington once visited Portsmouth, NH on his whistlestop tour of our new nation in 1789.  His 5 day stay was considered a lengthy amount of time.  You can read President Washington's diary entry about Portsmouth here.

history lessons are a snoozer

daddy sleeps through work; i'll sleep through lessons

Portsmouth again enjoyed a brush with Presidential fame when it served as the neutral location for international diplomats to end the Russo-Japanese War in 1905.  Despite never actually visiting Portsmouth, President Roosevelt won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to help bring about the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth that ended the war between Russia and Japan.  The City of Portsmouth strongly believes that their gracious hospitality helped bring about a peaceful settlement between the warring parties. You can read all about that effort here.

enough with the lessons Mom!

in honor of their diplomatic handshake, i'll chew my thumb.

Given Adam and Ashley's early exposure to Russian culture, touring Portsmouth seemed like a very good idea.

Also, Ana has never visited Portsmouth.  And the weather was very nice.

yeah!  they finally let me out of the stroller!

post-bottle smiles

Stay tuned for our next history lesson!