This is the Place

In honor of Pioneer Day we decided to take all the kids up to This is the Place Park in Salt Lake.  Living in Colorado, my girls don't get a constant pioneer education like I did growing up in Utah.  I feel like there are a lot of holes in their knowledge and I hoped that this would help.  We met Hannah and Faye, packed some lunches and thought we'd do all we could in a few short hours before the kids wore out.  Little did we know that they kids would last six hours!  Here's a taste of what we did in those six hours.  

We practiced milking cows.

We pet chickens, goats, sheep, and rode ponies.

We toured pioneer cabins and I found myself feeling very grateful for separate bedrooms.

We splashed in the splash pad.

We watched Native American dancers.  Kelton was laughing during the turkey dance, and I was drooling over the donuts I could smell wafting through the windows.  Faye didn't really want her picture taken with the dancers, but here is proof that she was there!

We wandered into the barber shop and McKenzie volunteered for a shave.  Now her face is as smooth as....it was before!

After lunch the pioneer performers came to the bowery and we had an impromptu square dance with the kids.  I think it was the girls' favorite activity of the entire day.

We were able to tour Brigham Young's house.  It was huge compared to pioneer standards and even today I think it would be a comfortable home (with additional bathrooms of course).  In the upstairs room where they would hold dances we found some old wedding dresses.  Cambrie could almost fit in them!  And we thought that maybe Camille could use them as inspiration for her own.

After the tour the kids were able to play porch dag.  Two teams set off in opposite directions and the goal was to see who could get around the porch first.  Truly I have no idea who won but they all had smiles on their faces!

Yes, pink was a manly color.

Up in the Native America village we toured hogans, teepees, and made arrowhead necklaces.  

They girls heard a rumor of panning for gold and they were both very anxious to be rich.  We picked up some pans and started panning.  It would have taken a lot of patience for a miner to find what he was looking for, but I found it strangely relaxing after all of the commotion of the day.  Each girl came away with a handful of nuggets and a muddy bottom.

The last activity we did was a leather stamping activity.  It was my favorite smelling shop of the day and I was a little disappointed that the girls were so pooped and were ready to go home.  They did a great job on their leather squares though.

As we walked out of the park we stumbled across some stilts and everyone had to give them a try.  Hannah's dad used to make some for his kids and she really wanted Faye to master them.  

I can't believe everything we were able to see and do in those six hours.  What a blast!