Pioneer Days

A few days ago, we travelled to Parker Pioneer Homestead in Whitehall to see how the settlers lived. We are currently studying early American History in My Father's World so the timing was perfect.

The first activity of the day was cross cut sawing.

There were several school groups there and some of the things said by the other children confirmed my decision to homeschool my own. I couldn't believe how disrespectful they were to the volunteers who donated time and skills to give them a glimpse into the past. It really made me very sad. *stepping off soap box*

Griffin needed a little help, but he and Madisyn made a great team.

I think the clothes washing was the highlight of the day. The kids went on and on about how much fun it was! LOL I might hang the clothes on the line to dry but I'm NOT up for handwashing. They would all have to get used to wearing much less in a week if that happened.

In addition to the demonstrations, they also had several furnished cabins the kids could look at. It was really neat to go in different ones and imagine how the families were different based on their homes.

We purchased some homemade suckers and they were very good. They could have been a bit smaller though - Ben made a horrible mess.


In the one-room school house.

The kids were looking for the queen in the bee hive. We had a great time and didn't even get stuck in the mud ;) . The tractor and Kawasaki Mule served as the "Homestead Tow Truck" - two days before we came through, 2 school buses got stuck!