American History

Veteran's Day fell on a Wednesday this year. What do you do on a cold, rainy day off from school? Visit the Smithsonian Museum of American History!


We were welcomed by a protocol droid named C-3PO. He is fluent in over six million forms of communication, including Potamus. Hippo and C-3PO had a fascinating discussion about lunch etiquette, including where to stuff the napkin when you're not wearing a collar.


Hippo is a member of the V.I.P. (Very Important Puppet) Lounge. So we spent some time schmoozing with his old friend Kermit the Frog.


We like to visit the Room of Things That Are Bright And Noisy. It's fascinating to see all the clever things that people have invented in America. Hippo got a few bright ideas of his own.


No visit to a museum is complete without a pressed penny. Hippo posed with his "America On The Move - Winton Car" coin after the most important stop of the day to see the real, first Star Spangled Banner.

Staunton, Virginia

For Hippo's Memorial Day trip, we traveled to West Virginia. He's gotten very good at packing all the essentials for a few days on the road, in the wilderness, and relaxing at hotels.


Speaking of hotels, there aren't many in West Virginia. So we chose the neat old town of Staunton, Virginia as a base camp.


Downtown Staunton still has a functioning train station and lots of neat shops and restaurants nearby.


Staunton was also home to President Woodrow Wilson.


Grumpie Duckie stayed home for the weekend, but Hippo packed their finger puppets so they could continue to play while he was away.


We went for scenic drives in the mountains of West Virginia, although most of the scenery was clouds and rain. Still, we enjoyed hikes through the soggy outdoors to see bogs and waterfalls.

Four Presidents

One of Hippo's favorite activities is to go on trips and learn about history. So in late September we drove down to three historic sites in southern Virginia: Montpelier, Charlottesville, and Fredericksburg.

Montpelier was the home of President James Madison, Father of the Constitution.

A short, scenic drive away is the University of Virginia which was founded by President Thomas Jefferson.

We spent the night in the city of Fredericksburg. A young George Washington lived nearby and later his mother moved to the city. They even named a school after her – the University of Mary Washington. Today they have pretty horses.

All the touring made Hippo thirsty, so he double-pawed some historic soda.

The sky turned dark and stormy while Hippo was strolling around Fredericksburg looking for old houses and statues. Just as he started skedaddling to dinner to avoid the downpour he heard a massive cheer and a familiar voice in the distance.

It was a campaign rally for Barack Obama at Mary Washington and The Big Picture shared what Hippo was too far away to see. It was very exciting to encounter four presidents on one trip!