Another Field Trip to Old Sturbridge Village

The kids have been begging to go back to Old Sturbridge Village.  A few of them just happen to love the place and the others were saving up their money to revisit the gift shop.

We continue to be ridiculously amused by these boards.

 We especially like seeing Jake as the baby girl in a dress.

And we found a new one at the playground!  I'm biased but I think Katie is one of the cutest little lambs I've ever seen.

Posing in the fake outhouse in the playground area.

We made Jordan participate and he doesn't look too happy about it. In fact it looks like the shirt is choking him.

They played for so long on this part of the playground.

They didn't play here for very long, though.  haha

Kate was the exception.  When all the kids were playing elsewhere, she snuck back in and was singing "The Star Spangled Banner" at the top of her lungs.

You don't even want to know how long it took them to get up there and pose for this (their idea not mine) and I had to snap quickly because they were sliding off.

I pointed out this wholly caterpillar and it was quickly snatched up and fought over.  It was also carried from building to building, much to the dismay of some of the staff.

We stopped by to see this cow lick the fence.  Over and over.  I don't have a clue why.

We went into the Tavern to wait for the stagecoach and the kids played checkers. There is a restaurant in the basement and it smelled soooo good.  We had brought our PB&J, so we were all good. 

After a few hours, we had collected quite a few wholly critters.  And they were very loved.  And played with.  And gross.  Kate's kept pooping on her.

I had promised them that they could either ride the stagecoach or the boat the next time we came and they chose the boat.  Whee.

The captain asked SaraGrace to push the button to sound the horn as we returned to the dock.  Unfortunately, it stuck.  As in BLARING LOUDLY for the last few minutes of our voyage.  She was mortified because she thought it was her fault.

They have a beautiful covered bridge that I love.  I'm somewhat obsessed with covered bridges if you haven't noticed.

Katie runs to check out the sawmill.

Running down the lane to see the cows.

It was a beautiful day and such a pretty setting.  Doesn't this take you back in time?

We spent a lot of time here in the farmhouse kitchen asking questions and enjoying the smell of the food.
But not the flies.
And this time we asked if they ate the food after the flies were swarming it. 
They do.
Blech.

We learned that coffee beans are white when they come off the plant and don't turn dark until roasted.  Not sure why that fact has escaped me until now.

The kids took turns grinding coffee.

Then it was off to see them feed the pigs.  SaraGrace thinks they are cute.
I'm not getting the same loving feeling.
Plus...they were really mean to each other...biting and snapping.  Now I know where the term, 'don't be a pig,' came from.  UGH.  They were fighting over every scrap and snarling at each other.

We wandered over to the barn and found out that they were going to call the cows home.  Cool!  We looked out toward the field and were amazed at how the cows came running when they were called.

Here they come!

This year's baby.  Isn't she cute?

We wandered over to see the sheep while we waited for cow milking time.

There were apples lying all over the ground--in the fence and out--so the kids tried feeding them to the sheep.  None of the kids liked getting their fingers so close to sheep teeth, so Jordan came up with the idea to offer an apple on a stick.
It worked.

Jake got bored and began to use his apple as a hacky sack.

Then the farmer came to call the sheep and they also came running instantly.  So cute!
We headed back to the barn to see the cow get milked, which was quite fun.  Unfortunately, my iphone could not get a decent picture because it was so dark in the barn.

After spending quite a bit of time at the farm, we moved toward the exit but not before stopping at the school yard to jump rope.  Kate had been begging all day.  She had a blast!  Who knew that child would love jump roping so much?  While there, SaraGrace found this wooden bucket and dipper and wanted to pose.  She was QUITE bugged that Katie 'photo bombed' her photo.

Before leaving, they found a water pump which they all tried out.  They were so excited about it.  I tell them frequently about the pump my grandparents had at their cabin when I was a little girl.

Another fun day at the Village!  They are planning their next trip already. 

Field Trip!

Quick update on my dad...he came home from the hospital yesterday.  Hopefully, he will recuperate faster at home and get some much needed sleep at night (without people coming in and out every 20 minutes).

I came home from Ohio on Tuesday and we decided that our very overdue trip to Sturbridge Village needed to happen today.  We have been trying to go for months and something always happens (usually bad weather) to prevent it.

We decided on a family membership since we would have paid that much to get us all in anyway--and now we can go back as many times as we want for a year.  Yay!

We loved it!  Such a neat place.  We knew it was going to be a fun day when we spotted this... (sorry for all the dreadful iPhone pictures.  Maybe next time I will lug my big-girl camera around all day.)

 

bahahahahahaha....

They had sheep there and the kids had a blast feeding them leaves and grass. 

Then it was a visit to a one room school house where a class was taking place.  The teacher was calling kids up to the front to spell, but none of my kids were brave enough to volunteer.  It was interesting to watch though.

We went to the pottery house and watched a very interesting demonstration.  The kids were fascinated by the potters wheel and the small vase he was making.  Outside, was this urn type thing full of water.   There was a patch of clay nearby that you could add to it and then mix.

We then walked to a farm where a woman was demonstrating how to make cheese.  This barrel was full of curds and whey.  She is holding the curds and the yellow liquid is whey.  There were flies swarming all over it.  So gross! The completed cheese actually smelled pretty good, though.  They flies, however, gave me pause. 

To say the least.

Shortly afterwards SaraGrace got stung by a bee and didn't even cry.  What a brave girl!  In fact, she was showing so much courage that no one believed she actually got stung. 

So that made her cry.

Outside the school was a jump rope.  The kids had so much fun with this--it was SaraGrace's favorite part of the day.  Jillian took this great action shot of Zoey in midair. 

I'm sad to say that jumping rope looked so fun that I decided to take a turn, completely forgetting that I had surgery three weeks ago.  Gah!  I paid for that for the rest of the day. 

We would have stayed a lot longer playing with the jump rope if we'd had a bit more time.  

But alas...time was ticking...

They wanted to see the shoe shop so we stopped there for a demonstration.  It was quite interesting to see how they made the soles of the shoes.  At this particular shop, the shoes were straight and did not have a right or left.  We told Jake he could have gotten away with wearing his shoes on the wrong feet back in the old days.  haha

Jake and Zoey model a pair of new leather shoes.

There is a stage coach there that everyone wanted to ride but it was $3 each.  I told the kids that if they earned the money before the next time we go, we can take a ride.

 They decided to try their hand at this old fashioned game.  Jordan and Zoey were the champs of this.  Jake tried to hula with it.

Rides on this wagon were free!  Jake REALLY wanted a ride so we waited in line for our turn to enjoy a 10 minute tour around part of the village.

A different farm, closer to the village center had a small barn and a fake cow that could be milked.  Very fun--and no chance of getting kicked.

One of the houses was 'interactive.'  You could use anything you wanted,  try on the clothing, lie on the beds, play with the toys--everything.  The kids had a blast!  SaraGrace was so excited to get to try on 'old fashun clothes.'

These beds were made of straw and hard as a rock.  UGH!  I don't know how they slept on those things.  SaraGrace thought this one was comfy.  Go figure...

Jake checked out the trundle bed, which SaraGrace pronounced yucky.  She didn't think much of the practically flat 'mattress.'

Me either!

And last but not least...the amazing gift shop at the end of the day.  They have the coolest stuff in there.  Of course the kids were all begging for things.  Some who have birthdays coming up are putting in requests and the rest of them are hoping to do extra chores to make some money for our next visit.