Pioneer Fun

This week the kids and I were able to experience pioneer life for a few hours. I have to say it was one of the best field trips we have ever taken. It was also a bonus that I didn't have to drive very far. We experienced life in a log cabin, the barn and farm equipment, a blacksmith shop, and Dalayna's favorite, a one-room schoolhouse. As we read books she has had many questions about what it was like to go to school in those days, and she got to experience i firsthand. My favorite part of the day was simply watching my children sitting side by side learning together. Here is the windmill in the pioneer garden. I think windmills are neat, so I just had to take a picture. In the garden were tomatoes, peppers, and lots of herbs. They reminded us a lot during our visit that there were no Wal-Marts back then, so the pioneers had to grow and make everything themselves. I know it was all for the benefit of the kids, but if we all admit it, none of us would know what to do without a Wal-Mart nearby!! That was one of my biggest concerns in the past moves!!

There was even a blacksmith shop, and the man actually did things with metal while we were there.
One of the neatest things for the kids was during our lunch break. They provided the kids with toys that would have been played with by pioneer children. Even the parents took part in this, including me. Here is Dalayna with the metal hoops they used to roll down the street. Dalayna and I tried to get ours to roll down the street, but it just didn't work.

These walking blocks were fun.

This is of course the only picture I could get of Colby, since he pretends to be camera shy most of the time. He is playing a mental tug-of-war game. Your opponent stands on one block and you on the other. You tug and pull at the rope until one of you gets too much slack and falls off the block. It looks simple, but playing it really does require some thinking. I wanted to be Colby's opponent, but lunchtime was over much too soon. He is sure he would have beat me. Maybe he would have??????