Reenactment

We went to a reenactment this weekend.  It was a long drive, but so worth the work and money.  We went with some friends and neighbors the "G's".  The reenactment was on our state's history.  Before it started we got to go down and visit the actors.

My southern family members should enjoy this picture of Tim with General Robert E. Lee.  While we didn't get to see a Civil War battle, we did see Lincoln give the Gettysburg Address and Lee's subsequent surrender.

One of the Indian Chiefs.

Nora and a Spanish Belle

Ellie, Nora, Sacagawea and her children.

The Oxen.

Aaron, Nathaniel and Caleb meeting the mountain man.  I really wanted a pic of Nathaniel wearing the fur hat but he didn't want to do it.  And I knew if I made him do it he wouldn't give me a genuine smile.  Glory came to my rescue and bribed him with a stick of gum.

My Nathaniel would give his right arm for a snack.  Food is about all he talks about.  See that smile?  It's all because he was promised a stick of gum.

How does a reenactment civil war soldier come up with a cheap costume?  Yellow duct tape on a pair of jeans.

The reenactment started with the National Anthem.

Can't have a reenactment without a canon, can we?  If only we were a southern state and it was a Civil War reenactment, then could we have some real fun with the cannon!

These flags displayed by the drill team represent the many countries that have "owned" our state.

Indians attacked frequently during our history.

There was a stagecoach robbery.

Then came the cattle drive!

Then the rustlers stampeded the cattle...

...and well, cattle rustling is a hanging offense.

Along came the settlers and the wagon trains...

...that were attacked by the Indians.

This is the final where all the reenactors came out.  We were sitting at the top of a bluff around a natural amphitheater were it was all preformed.  Despite the heat and the dust we had a great time and would love to do it again!

Leo the Lizard

I have been worried this year that I couldn't find a science curriculum that I liked and therefore we haven't been doing it in school.  But lately I have come to realize that science manages to find us quite often and mostly in our backyard.

Nora saw a lizard run into our shed.  Catching reptiles is NOT my department and so Daddy was put to the task of finding the lizard and catching him.  And catch him he did.

Of course, the lizard had to be named, we just can't have an unnamed animal running around can we?

He became Leo the Lizard.

Leo was released to run wild and free once again.

Weekend at Terry's

Over Labor Day weekend the "S's" invited us to join them at Terry's place for a weekend of fun and the local rodeo. As always we had a ton of fun jeeping, shooting, exploring, and hanging out. It also happened to be Terry's birthday and the kids sure didn't mind a birthday party.

The next few posts tell the story of the weekend.

The Village

A friend of Terry's has a little village, for better lack of word. The place is built around a large pond with 12-15 buildings or cabins. The are all small and cute. There are even two playhouses just for the kids. The "cabins" are for rent for the weekends but there is no advertising and so the place is really quiet. It was built for the large family of the owner and each cabin has the name of the family that gets to use it when they visit. It is a lot of fun for the kids to explore and wander through.

One of the playhouses, I really think we need this one in our backyard.

Wyatt, Tim and Titus.

Really, I think we need one of these.

Sandy found some baby frogs down in the pond.

The village even had its own small church. Someday we will have to stay the weekend, but then we have been saying that for a year now.

Exploring in the Jeep

Terry has a jeep that he (very!) kindly allows us to roam the countryside in. It's a great way to explore and the area around him has many abandoned roads. One we found took us past two creeks and out into the middle of nowhere. We latched onto the idea for a hike and picnic. Because there was 12 of us we had to leave the vans parked below and ferry everyone in in the jeep.

The kids making nests in the tall grass before dinner was served.

We took the time for some pictures with the beautiful background.

We had spied from a distance what looked like a mound of rocks and Chad and I hiked off to check it out.

Meanwhile Sandy, Rani and the kids hiked to a creek to hunt for frogs.

This is looking back at the jeep from the rock mound.

It was a rock mound after all. Chad and I had a good time making up stories as to how it came to be there and who built it.

We hiked back and collected some very dirty kids and headed back to Terry's for baths and showers.

The Rodeo

The night we got there was the nearby town rodeo. Terry had already puchaced our tickets and off we went to get some BBQ and enjoy the show. We haven't been to a rodeo since the kids were born and they were really looking forward to it. Nora was excited to see "wild" horses. There was mutton busing during the intermission but by the time we made up our minds and went to enter Nora it was too late. She was devestated. I don't understand because I didn't really think she would like it when it was all over. After all falling off and getting rolled or dragged in the dirt didn't sound like something she would like. Maybe next time.

Then came the calf roping and tying.

At the very end on our way out the girls asked to visit the Rodeo Queen. They were so enamored with her! She seemed like a princess to them and a princess that gets to ride horses at that. If only her horse had glittery hair and sparkly hoves it would have completed their dream!

The Great Armadillo Capture

Somehow it seems that whenever we have free time it always gets eaten up with some surprise or another. A Saturday or two ago Chad and I were puttering around in the backyard when Nora cried out that something scared her. We were across the yard and figured that it was just a bug that landed on her. When she told us it looked like a possum or a rat we came running. She had found an armadillo cornered up against the fence trying to dig his way out. We just can't let a science lesson pass us by and so we captured it. It was really strong and took some time to pull it out of the hole it was digging itself to get away.

One neighbor said it had been digging holes in her yard while rooting for bugs.

We took it down to the river to let it lose far away from our home.