Saturday Outing

Saturday we went on a family outing to the Shaker village. We haven't been there since Boo was a month old. I can remember nursing her under a tree on the grounds & Dave being in a tizzy b/c he was afraid someone would see. (As they were driving by at 45mph?) LOL! By the time I was nursing Bugs he was relaxed as could be.

Anyway, I reserved a library pass which gave us all free access to the village. Can't beat that! We had a great time. The children did well until the end & then it was b/c they were tired & hungry. Their favorite place was the Discovery Room where they dressed up, played & got to touch everything. It was fun in there. I also loved that the grounds are extensive allowing the children room to run. There was plenty to see & do so much that we didn't even get to it all in the 3 hours we were there. There's always next time!
As we entered there was a small garden of beautiful flowers. The butterflies were all over flitting from flower to flower.

We watched them for quite awhile.

BEAUTIFUL!

Venturing Forth

We were admiring these walkways & the hours that were put into them.

The Round Barn

The Main House & Store

The Dress-Up Corner in the Discovery Room

Choices Galore!

Sewing

Shaker Boy

Tea For Two

Bugs Loved the Baby Chicks & Turkeys!

Hello Guys & Gals!

They came running over to us when we came over. Little cuties.

E-boy Milks a Cow

I've never seen such a cooperative cow.

*wink*

Sweeping Up the Barn

Boy, if only I could get her to love her chores at home too!

Shaker Toys

This toy was neat. You pulled the strings & the bear climbed up and up.

Memories.....light the corners of my mind...

Dave joined in the fun. It brought back memories of growing up on the farm.

E-boy & The Chickies

(Sound like a rock group?)

For some reason this photo makes me want to do the Chicken Dance.

Your Mission Should You Choose to Accept It.........

Bugs DID NOT want to wear a hat. He doesn't like hats. Period. But Mama & Daddy were determined to get a picture of our toddler as a Shaker boy. Hence the "our mission" began.

The Score?

Bugs 1, Mama & Daddy 0

Almost But Not Quite

The plan was to snap the pic just as Dave was dropping the hat on Bugs' head. We kept failing but we were determined. A distraction of trains & we're almost there!

**Score: Bugs = 5, Mama & Daddy = 0

SUCCESS!

We got our photo! And Bugs was content with the trains. A win-win!

The Loom

The children had a chance to weave on a real loom. Cool!

Concentration

Now It's Sweet Pea's Turn

Look Mama! I Did It!

Shakers

They really enjoyed their costumes & experiences as Shakers.

(E-boy is singing a little diddy he made up. Cracked me up.)

Woodworking Shop

WHEEEEEE!!!!!!!

I asked them to run down the hill for the fun of it. I like how the shot came out.

Silo & Barn

We visited the sheep over in this corner.

Piggy

Piggy & I had a nice little conversation much to Dave's amusement.

The Meeting Room

The men & women each entered & excited through different doors. They also sat on opposite sides of the meeting room.

Franklin Stove

The children were excited to see several Franklin Stoves in the various buildings. They learned about them in their studies last year.

Candy Break

We bought some 10 cent candy & enjoyed a little break.

GORGEOUS

These flowers were gorgous & facinating. They are called 'Angel Trumpets'.

Wow.

I forgot the name of this one, (should have written it down), but it caught my eye.

Learning Something New

This very nice gentleman showed us how to make the infamous Shaker boxes. Very interesting. We were the only ones in the builing at the time & we got to ask many questions, see & touch samples of the wood & even use an old hand-powered drill. We'd never seen one before!

Garden

They had several gardens. One was growing Buckwheat.

Looks Like a Postcard

Hands-on in the Kitchen

The Shakers set things up so their main kitchen was in the basement of the main, brick house. Dave & I thought this was a smart idea. They were right next to the stores of food plus it was a lot cooler in the basement!

Churning Butter

Isn't that the cutest little churn?

Say Cheese!

It's tough to get 4 wiggly & wound up kids to all be ready for a photo at once. LOL.

We had a fun time, learned a bunch of new things & got lots of exercise! We are looking forward to going again soon! Library passes ROCK! Lol.