Living History Field Trip

Mikayla and Delilah went with the rest of the third graders from their school to McFarland Living History Ranch in Galt, CA.  It was an all-day event and so much fun but was exhausted by the end.  The kids (and chaperones) dressed in clothing from the pioneer days and did seven different stations.

Stopping to take a pic before all the fun begins.

One of the stations - woodworking.  This is where I resided the majority of the day till the kids were done and I could run and take pics of the girls.  Here they made step stools which kids in the pioneer days used as chairs as they sat around the fire.

 Another station was tin punching... the kids punched their initials and the girls are going to use it as a "shade" to put in front of a votive candle and let the light shine through.

The kids also got to make leather bookmarks - they used a metal punching system to spell out their names.

One of the favorite stations was ice cream making combined with gardening.  Half of the "family" was cranking the ice cream maker while the other half was gardening and then they would switch. Ice cream was enjoyed at the end of the day and was delicious!!  

Girls look like they are ready to plow their own fields to plant some purple hull peas.

Candle-making was another station.

The sixth station was making butter, grinding corn to feed the chickens, and laundry

And the last one was making rope - obviously Delilah and her partner were having too much fun.

 Here are all the third graders broken into their two cultural groups

And finally -mommy with her two pioneer girls.

Needless to say, it was tiresome but so much fun.  Mikayla and Delilah couldn't stop talking about it and wanted to go back again.  I have a feeling it won't be my last time there - Caitlin only has four more years and it will be her turn.