Year End Trip

We were up and at em bright and early last Friday for our homeschooler group year end trip. Except it was not bright. It was gray and cloudy with chances of rain. But that was home. As we neared our destination, the sun began to shine and we enjoyed a beautiful, sunny day all day long. We made a pit stop at Kate's to drop of Kylie for the day and then we were off - driving through Jonathan's old stompin' ground "Naomi" as Kevin dubbed it. (Actually Wyoming:)

Our first stop was at the Oil Museum in Oil Springs where oil was first discovered (near Petrolia).

Grades 4 and under learned about the Pioneers while the older ones learned about oil. Below the teacher is showing some of the clothing that was worn in this era. She wanted Kevin to model this shirt, but he wanted nothing to do with it. (Perhaps because she was teasing them earlier about liking the aprons and dresses:). So Jordan got to be the model instead. She is holding the collar they would put with the shirt to change it's look.
Following the leader to the next "learning area".
And some of the younger group with their leader.

The kids got to try out some of the toys that that pioneers would have had for their children. They of course thought that they were very cool. I don't think they quite grasped that this was all they had for toys - simple things - and I bet the pioneer children weren't as bored as my kids sometimes get with their mass of toys!

Kevin trying out another toy.
Making a craft - a wooly lamb:)

The finished product!

I love this picture of Kevin!

Luke, Kade and Kevin.

Jordan, Mr.Serious and Kevin.

Our stranger friend didnt' seem to appreciate Kevin's sense of humour (there were about 6 goofy pictures of Kevin)

Kevin and Kade

The second place we visited was Uncle Tom's Cabin, located near Dresden. We began by watching a video about slavery and Josiah Henson. We then had a guided tour. The following pictures were taken on the tour. The first one below shows some of the things slaves had to endure. Their heads were put in that circle in the middle of the "X" when they slept and were not under guard so that if they tried to escape, they would have a difficult time running through the forest (as they would likely get caught on branches etc. )

The next one shows a whip which was also used much too frequently. The kids are very interested in these things, yet I don't think they fully comprehend how terrible things actually were (nor do I, I suppose) . . .

The middle picture is Josiah Henson and his wife (with a bunch of kids heads observing them:).
To the left is the home he lived in which showed his elevated status in the community (I love the look of the house!) To the right is Josiah Henson showing his thankfulness and gratitude as he attains freedom at last. Bottom right is a smoke house which Kevin answered correctly to when asked. He tells me he gained that knowledge from "Little House in the Big Woods". He was pretty proud of himself for getting the answer right, and I was pretty proud that he actually volunteered an answer!

More of the tour . . . Inside the chapel.

The pulpit was extremely popular with the kids. It made me wonder about the difference between a church group going through the tour and a school (non - churched group)?? Somehow I can't see the pulpit being quite the highlight that it was. Perhaps it would go unnoticed . . . .

The Jen(n)'s.

The old cemetary. We were amazed by how young most people buried here were when they died. It seemed that no one lived past sixty.

After our guided tour, the older students did skits about certain characthers and situations that they had learned about. I was very impressed by their impromptu acting. Kevin was especially impressed with Jordan;). That brought us to the end of our day. It was an enjoyable day out. Kevin especially enjoyed it all. He reported to me at the end of the day that that was one of the funnest days ever - and we learned new things too!