Pioneer Field Trip

This morning, the kids and I planned on going to a local pumpkin patch. We decided to do something else instead. We packed a lunch and headed out to a local museum. I was pleasantly surprised by how interesting and well run the museum was, especially considering the fact that it was so inexpensive. The museum was a miniature log cabin town and was made up of restored buildings from the time of the pioneers. Each cabin had its own little tour guide who was knowledgeable about their particular cabin. I would compare the museum to Colonial Williamsburg, except for on a smaller scale. Each cabin was furnished with antiques from that time period (around the 1850's) and was made to look as it did when the original owners lived there.


Some highlights of our trip were our visit to the the blacksmith, a grist mill, a candle maker and a one room schoolhouse. The kids favorite exhibit was a neat little cabin that had been equipped with all sorts of time period things with which the kids could play. Mary Alice churned butter, cooked over a pretend fire, layed on a feather bed, spun thread on a loom, dressed up in play clothes and cooked a pretend pioneer meal. Thankfully, we chose a day with not only great weather, but no school groups!!! We had the whole place almost entirely to ourselves! The kids had their own personal tour guides at each and every stop. It was like the whole town had been set up for just our family. We were especially appreciative of the super sweet lady in the play-and-pretend cabin who encouraged the kids to touch anything and everything and answered each one of the dozens of questions that they asked her. We had that play cabin (and our sweet tour guide) all to ourselves for about an hour and a half! It was awesome! The kids were genuinely interested and learned so much. They had a nice picnic area where we ate our lunch under the trees. We finished the day with a trip to the general store to buy some stick candy. We will definitely be visiting this museum again. I was advised by our friend in the pretend play area to call ahead and make sure that no school groups were there so that we could have the same wonderful experience.










I had to include this picture. Here is Major with his typical "thumbs up" pose. I have no idea what that is all about.


The kids spied a caterpillar after lunch. Mary Alice saw it first. They both started singing some song about a Fuzzy Caterpillar that they learned in Bible class. They were cracking me up!