Heritage Days

A historical society in our school district puts on a two day event called "Heritage Days" the first weekend of October each year. We went to it once before, but I can't remember exactly which year we went. It's been at least three years as I know it was before we had Oliver. Everyone is in costume, and they re-enact many different things such as making wheels, making bricks, a blacksmith, making candles, making a variety of foods and drinks, etc. Oliver especially loved feeding the goats and eating the food samples. Nadia said her favorite parts were eating the food samples (homemade ice cream, potato candy, homemade bread and butter, apple cider, buttermilk, popcorn, apple butter on crackers, pie, etc.) and making a corn husk doll. Ian said his favorite parts were eating the popcorn and talking to the Indian in the Native American Village. The man made a comment about how many questions my kids asked him. Yep, they ask lots of questions, and I certainly am not going to discourage that! We have been talking about Native Americans lately as I've read them books like Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims, Sign of the Beaver, and Skippack School.

The wagon ride (pulled by two horses; we didn't ride the one pulled by mules) was another highlight, and Ian spent a lot of time playing the violin. They want to return tomorrow. I said we'll come back next year if we don't move next summer. I'm glad they had such a great time! It only cost $7 for the four of us to attend as kids under the age of five are free. In addition to all the free food, they were selling food (funnel cakes, hot dogs, etc.), but the only thing I bought was a quart of apple butter because after sampling some, we really wanted to take some home with us. The jar was still hot as it had only come off the fire an hour before I bought it. It was the best apple butter I've ever had. Nadia and I both love apple butter so that will be a treat for us to enjoy. I took LOTS of pictures, but I haven't gone through them all. The first few pics in this post are from trips to the playground on Thursday and Friday. I'll put a few from the Heritage Days at the bottom and will share more in the coming days. I was very glad the rain stopped this morning so we were able to go.

Ian's soccer game was rained out this morning, but Nadia played her game in the rain. I stayed home with the boys as it's hard enough keeping Oliver out of trouble during a soccer game when it's not raining. Paul was pleased with Nadia's performance today on the field. He told me that she did a better job with running faster to keep up with the other girls and that she came very close to scoring a goal. Yay! I wish I could have seen that, but on Thursday night I had a hard time watching much of her game even though I was there because Oliver wants to run onto the fields, and it's hard to keep him in a stroller for an hour. I was proud of him that night that he announced to me when he had to go to the bathroom. First he tried going in the portapotty (nope) but then he went on the froggy potty in the van. On that same topic, his diaper was only a tiny bit wet when he woke up yesterday morning, and this morning he woke up dry! Wow! This boy used to wake up with a VERY soaked diaper. Maybe we'll have him totally toilet trained sooner than I thought!