Our theme this week is “Olden Times”, though most of our week will be spent experiencing that rather than crafting things.
We started today by visiting the Genesee Country Village & Museum, where they were having “Laura Ingalls Wilder Days”. We only spent the afternoon, but next year we will definitely plan to spend the whole day! The girls had so much fun!
First, we ran into a friend of mine, Ron, who was demoing dyeing yarn with indigo, cochineal and onion skins, in dye pots over open flames outdoors. This was in the backyard of a house filled with various spinning wheels and looms. I quite possibly could have spent the day exploring just this one house!
Then we went to farmhouse where the girls could make cornhusk dolls. They were thrilled! And they spent the remainder of the day playing with them and making up stories for them.
We walked a bit further on and got to taste ginger water, and see cheese being made. Then, after a quick ice cream break, the rain started in earnest. We ducked under a tent and Carolyn, Denis and Anna all took turns making a tin ornament with a hammer and nail.
We dashed to another house and the girls got to try their hands at kneading bread dough. And then at another they washed some laundry the 19th century way…in the rain, no less!
Finally, we rode the tractor-pulled wagon around the entire village, hit the gift shop, and headed home. Both girls had a wonderful time today, but Carolyn especially loved seeing how Laura and her family would have lived, worked and played. I highly, highly recommend this to any Little House fans!
