Announcing the New Snapshots Across America

Announcing the New Snapshots Across America

It's finally here! The New Edition of Snapshots Across America.

Whats New?

More Cards: now with 124 cards compared to 110 in the previous edition.

New Tri-Fold game-board map of the United States, that is 13" x 22".

New compact size box, 13.5" x 7.5" by 2.25".

Newly redesigned instructions.

New larger and updated photos of favorite attractions form before, on a slightly larger card.

Many new attractions

New Color-Coded specialty cards to better identify them.

Transportation Cards have a Blue Border:

Bad Weather Cards have a Red Border

And Travel Cancel Cards have an Orange Border.

And much more.

Ask for for the New Snapshots Across America game.

Where to buy (keep checking back for new stores and online educational websites):

Official Online Store for Snapshots Across America 

http://snapshotsusagame.com

Toy House, 400 N. Mechanic St. Jackson, MI 49201

Love To Learn homeschool resources

http://www.lovetolearn.net/Snapshots-Across-America

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Honoring the Pilgrims this Thanksgiving

Snapshots Spotlight:

Honoring the Pilgrims this Thanksgiving 

The First Thanksgiving 1621
by American Painter, Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
Source: U.S. Library of Congress

As we gather together with our families this Thanksgiving we honor the Pilgrims who traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to establish a Colony in the New World and to be free from religious oppression in England.

In trying to learn more about the Pilgrims, my mother-in-law, Laura Byers, told me about how her 11th Great Grandfather who was one of the 102 passengers who arrived in America aboard the Mayflower. Her ancestor, William Brewster, along with his wife Mary and 2 of their sons, at around 9 & 6 years old, made the long voyage to America, arriving in November of 1620. Strong winds drove the ship far off course, and rather than their original target of the Virginia Colony, they landed over 400 miles to the Northeast, in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts.

That first winter was very harsh on the newly arrived Pilgrims, of which almost half died in the first year. But William, Mary, and their 2 young sons named Love and Wrestling, all survived that first harsh winter. 

That First Thanksgiving was a harvest celebration in which the surviving 53 Pilgrims along with Chief Massasoit and around 90 Native American Indians celebrated for 3 days the bounteous harvest that they had reaped during that first year in a new home. 1

Shortly after that First Thanksgiving celebration, the Brewster's oldest son, Jonathan later joined them in 1621 aboard the ship, The Fortune. Their 2 older daughters, Patience and Fear, also arrived at Plymouth in 1623. William Brewster, having served as an assistant pastor while the Pilgrims were in Holland, became Plymouth Colony's religious leader until 1629, and also an adviser to Governor William Bradford.

The Mayflower II, a replica of the original ship that brought the Pilgrims to America.
Source: Paul Keleher CC BY-2.0

The Mayflower II, which is a replica of the original ship that brought the Pilgrims to America, is docked in Plymouth. Tours are conducted by guides dressed in period clothes, which teach visitors about the historic ship and its famous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

The Mayflower II is one of the  Historical Attractions featured in
the educational board-game Snapshots Across America.

Sources:
1. The Pilgrim Hall Museum. Plymouth, MA. 
http://www.pilgrimhallmuseum.org/thanksgiving.htm

2. The Plimouth Plantation. Plymouth, MA.
http://www.plimoth.org/what-see-do/mayflower-ii

Honoring Our Veterans

Snapshots Spotlight: Honoring Our Veterans

As we honor the many Veterans who have fought for our Great Nation, we owe much to those who have gone before us in making sacrifices to preserve our freedom.

The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia

U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Adrian R. Rowan

In reflecting this Veterans Day, I ponder over the fact that there have been many great soldiers who have gone before us in preserving our freedom.  In doing so, I think about my wife’s uncle who was one of the U.S. Marines that fought in the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima. He was one of the luckier ones… he only lost a leg.

Willard A. Cross: PFC. U.S. MarinesPhoto courtesy of Millie Bartlett

Willard A. Cross, “Uncle Bill” to us, was a Private First Class in the U.S. Marines when he landed on Iwo Jima. He made it through that first day, but witnessed events that haunted him his whole life, including holding an 18 year old fellow Marine that died in his arms. On Feb. 20, 1945, the second day of operations on Iwo Jima, he was hit by enemy fire and received major injuries to his leg as well as other shrapnel wounds. His injuries were so bad that he wasn’t expected to live. But he survived the trip to a medical hospital in Germany. From there he was transferred to the Philadelphia Naval Hospital, where he spent around 18 months healing from his wounds and learning to get around with an artificial leg. (Source: Millie Bartlett, Norville, Michigan).Uncle Bill passed away at the age of 90 on February 16, 2013, just 3 days shy of the 68th Anniversary of the D-Day on Iwo Jima. It was a memorable experience witnessing the military gun salute at his gravesite in Napoleon, Michigan. I recall the ceremonious folding of the Stars and Stripes that covered his casket that was then presented to his widow.

The Official Flag Raising on Iwo Jima photo taken by Joe Rosenthal on Feb 23, 1945,
from which the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial Statue was based upon.
Photo Credit: United States Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections

According to Robert S. Burrell, Author of “The Ghosts of Iwo Jima”, 6,821 American Soldiers gave their life in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Another 19,217 were wounded.1 It was a costly victory in the Pacific during World War II, but allowed the U.S. to establish a key strategic Air Base there within a week after capturing it. In seeing the U.S. Marines Corps War Memorial Statue that honors the brave men who fought and defeated the enemy at Iwo Jima makes me think of Uncle Bill. Knowing this great man that was there, helps me to appreciate even more, those Veterans who have gone before us, in protecting and preserving our freedom and liberty. 

This Veterans Day, ask your relatives if you have any ancestors that have been Veterans, and make a special effort to remember them, and if they are still alive, thank them for their sacrifices they have made to their Country.

The Snapshots Across America card for the
U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial
 (also known as the Iwo Jima Statue)

The Snapshots are Coming!

#TBT
"The Snapshots Are Coming!"

The Paul Revere Statue with the Old North Churchin the background. Photo by Alan Kotok CC-BY-2.0

Throw Back Thursday: "The Snapshots are Coming?"

Yes, for this Throw Back Thursday, we are loosely borrowing from the infamous words often attributed to Paul Revere, "The British are Coming." However,  Revere likely never actually uttered that most infamous quote during his infamous ride made popular in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1961 poem,  "Paul Revere's Ride." 

Historians at the The Paul Revere House Museum, state that he most likely warned that "The regulars are coming out!" With the tensions that were building between the British and the Colonies at that time, "regulars" was the code term for British Soldiers. 

Paul Revere did indeed make the midnight ride on April 18, 1775 from Boston to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams, John Hancock and others about the impending offensive attack by the British. The American Patriots took heed of the warning, and word spread through the area so that they were prepared for the coming British attack on the very next day. Then on April 19, 1775 the Battle of Lexington between the British Soldiers and Colonial Minutemen ensued and the "Shot Heard Round the World" marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War, and the rest is... History....

But indeed, we are happy to say that "YES. The Snapshots Are Coming!" After not being on the market for nearly 2 years, the new edition of Snapshots Across America has gone to press and should be available by the end of November.

Actual Card from the New Edition of Snapshots Across America

The Paul Revere Statue and Old North Church Tower, are 2 of the 16 featured historical sites along Boston's two and a half mile long "Freedom Trail". This is one of the many new attractions featured in the updated edition of Snapshots Across America, the educational game where families can travel across a game-board map of the United States to "visit" popular tourist attractions from all 50 States. 

Snapshots Spotlight: Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite from Andrew Julian on Vimeo.

Snapshots Spotlight:

Yosemite National Park

I wanted to share a video I came across that really shows the “Heart and Soul” of one of America’s Greatest National Parks. Yosemite Valley was designated by Congress in 1864 as a protected land area under the control of California as the World’s first official State Park. Yosemite National Park was later established in 1890, and was the third most popular National Park in America with 3,882,642 visitors during 2014.



While I have visited several of America’s great National Parks, I still haven't been to Yosemite. But after seeing the grandeur of this magnificent video by Andrew Julian, it is definitely now on my "bucket list" to do some day.

There is no naration. Just the power of images of some of the greatest scenery in the United States... set to music. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but a video like this is worth many more. I love the fact that not only does this story show amazing landscapes, mountains, lakes and waterfalls, but people enjoying nature. I think it is summed up by a quote from John Muir, one of the greatest proponents of Yosemite National Park, and a co-founder of the Sierra Club.

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people
are beginning to find out that going to the mountains
 is going home; that wildness is a necessity;
and that mountain parks and reservations are useful
 not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers,
but as fountains of life.”

John Muir, "Our National Parks", 1901

If you love the beauty of nature and the outdoors, hopefully this will be one of the most soul inspiring stories, lasting only 3 minutes and 19 seconds you will ever see on the internet.

Yosemite National Park is one of the many popular tourist attractions featured in the educational geography game, "Snapshots Across America".

Follow our blog for more Snapshots Spotlights about the many great tourist attractions featured in the educational boardgame, Snapshots Across America. 

For more information about Snapshots Across America, and the new updated edition to be release this coming Summer 2015, follow us on Twitter or Facebook

We had a blast last night at the Chippewa River District Library Lego Contest here in Mount Pleasant. There were over 100 entries, including one that my family created that we called "Scooby Doo and the Castle Maze Mystery".

It is a 3 dimensional maze that starts at the Mystery Machine, and travels through every castle, reaching the tall castle on the back.

It was a lot of fun putting it together over the past few weeks. My son and wife built a lot of the castles as well as the lego version of the Mystery Machine. I worked on the engineering and getting the path to travel throughout.

Oh, and yes that is the Blue Ribbon for winning the People's Choice award. Cool!

Also there is an article about it in the CM-Life newspaper today where we were mentioned.

It was a fun and exciting event. Our "hat's off" to the great people at the CRDL for putting together such a fun and popular event.

Snapshots Spotlight: Blizzard buries New England

Piled up snow along the street and sidewalk in the Boston, Massachusetts area
after yet another snow storm hits New England. February 15, 2015.
Source: Peter Enyeart, Flickr. CC-BY-2.0.

Snapshots Spotlight:
Blizzard Buries New England

Another week goes by and New England gets dumped on by another big snow storm. According to the Weather Channel website, as of February 18, Boston has had 98.7 inches of snow so far this Winter. That’s over double the average annual snowfall of 43.5. February 2015 is already the snowiest month ever in Boston at 61.5 inches of snow, and it still isn’t over yet. That’s compared to 2^nd place January 2005 with 43.3 inches.

So why has this year been so snowy in New England? Hmmmmm. My “theory” is that Mother Nature is punishing New England for the Patriot's football #DeflateGate, with its own version of a “low pressure system”.  

;>P

Along those lines, I like the editorial cartoon that appeared a few weeks ago in the Boston Globe by Dan Wasserman:

Source: Dan Wasserman, Boston Globe

But after all, weather happens. It’s been happening for thousands or even millions of years, and depending upon the physical geography of where you are, sooner or later you are going to experience some type of severe bad weather. Whether that weather (pun intended) is a brutal blizzard in New England, upper Midwest or Rocky Mountains, a hurricane along the Gulf or Atlantic coast, a tornado in the Great Plains, flooding along the Mississippi River, a heatwave in the South, or a draught in the West leading to devastating forest fires: weather happens. Yes, WEATHER HAPPENS! And so far all we can do about it is try to predict it, be prepared for it, respond to it and basically just deal with it.

So here is an opportunity for you to think about what types of severe weather can affect where you and your family live. Blizzards? Polar Vortex? Tornadoes? Hurricanes? Floods? Etc.? What can you do to be better prepared for when severe storms hits?

When my wife and I were creating the educational board game Snapshots Across America, we wanted to have a “gotcha” factor to create interactive competition with players. Since players are “traveling” across a game board map of the United States to visit tourist attractions from all 50 States, we thought what if your “vacation” got ruined by “bad weather”.

So we introduced “bad weather” cards like this one that would cancel another players vacation to any of the States shown on the card.

Snapshots Across America features other different “Weather Alerts” for different regions around the United States that can be played to “spoil” another player’s vacation to one of the States affected by that bad weather. According to some of our reviews, players like being able to “spoil” a sibling’s, parent’s or friend’s “vacation” by hitting them with bad weather. 

The Curriculum Choice

Fat Brain Toys

Christian Books

But one of the real benefits of this aspect in our game is it also gives families an opportunity to start talking about what happens if you experience bad weather. How do you protect yourself in the storm? Do you have an emergency plan? Do you have backup power, heat or water? Do you have an emergency kit with flashlights, food, water and other necessities that might be needed?

A good source of information for what you may need in an the event of an emergency or severe weather is:
 http://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit. 

For more information about Snapshots Across America, and the new updated edition to be release this coming Summer 2015, follow our blog or like us on Facebook

Copyright 2015, Sandell Games.