After leaving Iowa, we headed to that much-anticipated destination, the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead living museum and DeSmet, the "Little Town on the Prairie." These photos cannot really convey the peaceful, sun and breeze washed day at the living museum, but they will demonstrate some of the delightful hands-on activities that helped bring the "Little House" books alive in our minds.
The recreated homestead, built to the specifications given in the books. We felt quite at home there.
B play cooking on Ma's stove (ok, not the original but one Just Like It.) In the sitting room they also have a real working organ Just Like Mary's, and they do not mind children playing it!
Doing laundry out back of the house.
Everyone piled into a horse-drawn covered wagon for a ride out to a period one-room schoolhouse Just Like the one Laura went to school in, and later taught in. And the young woman in charge of the tour made sure each of the kids in the wagon had a turn driving the team!
In one of the barns you could do all kinds of fun things, like use old-fashioned shucking tools to strip the dried kernels of corn from cobs and then make corn cob doll, Just Like Laura's!
Making rope
What historical re-creation of the Laura Ingalls stories would be complete without taking a hand at grinding wheat in a hand-cranked coffee grinder a la The Long Winter?
The sweetest miniature pony
I highly recommend the experience to anyone who happens to be passing that way.
(Willow, please feel free to comment on your own experience there this Spring, and share pics if that is possible!)
So cool!!! I love it. What a neat place to visit.
ReplyDeleteI have to go there. I wonder if I can convince Adam and the boys to take a family vacation there in a few years?
ReplyDeleteI need to have a daughter soon ;)