Conner Prairie & Kirk's Crossing

by sarahmfry, June 30, 2014
June 28, 2014

We have been wanting to visit Conner Prairie again.  It was Kayla's summer-fun choice.  This time we went straight to the old prairie village.  The kids spun a wheel on a cart to get their jobs.  They had several assignments on a card.  Once the assignments were completed, they officially received their titles.  


Caiden was a Hunter.  He had to make plans to purchase a gun, talk to local hunters, research how to make or purchase animal traps, etc.
Who even knows what this clown was doing...Oh I remember! He thought the wheel sounded like a motorbike.  So he had to demonstrate.  : )  Never a dull moment with this boy.
Karissa was a scholar.  She had to do things like talk to the townsfolk about their education, find out about the schooling, etc.

Corin was a Craftsman.  He had to measure a pound of nails, etc.


Kayla was a naturalist.  She had to draw a picture of a plant or animal, identify 3 bird calls, 3 wild plants and 3 cultivated plants.

Kayla and Corin were research buddies.  They took off exploring on their own and Kayla helped Corin to fulfill the assignments on his card.


We spent a lot of time in the general store.  We had a lot of assignments that were fulfilled there and the storekeeper's son was a great help (and a great actor!)




Caiden asked for and got a job sweeping floors for the Doctor.  He earned a 1/2 cent.  So we promptly booked it back to the general store to SPEND that half cent!  Caiden bought 2 muddies (handmade marbles).  The storekeeper's son taught him how to play the muddies game.



One of my favorite stops was the Inn.  They had a marvelous innkeeper who was out working in her herb garden.  She spent a lot of time with us, showing us around her garden and letting us pinch and smell the various herbs.  Our favorite was lemon mint.  It was scrumptious.  We ate sweet, ripe mulberries right off the tree.  The kids helped her do the weeding.  And we talked about bleaching whites in the sun.  She taught me that if you lay your linens on the grass in the sun (instead of just hanging them on the line) there is a reaction with the grass and the sun that causes things to get extra white.  Awesome new tip.  I have a ton of white laundry.








Grandma Fry picked off a stalk of rhubarb and ate it raw!  A memory from her childhood.  Yikes!  I can hardly even eat the stuff with sugar in a pie - much less a raw stalk!



After the kids had completed their assignments, turned in their cards, received there celebratory sticker and spent their hard-earned 1/2 cents, we moved on.  Most of the group went to the air conditioned museum.  A few of us went to the Civil War historic area.

An old historic house was taken over by the soldiers as a temporary base



There were cool interactive touch-screen computers built into the "antique" table.  The kids could explore the areas of Indiana that were affected during the Civil War.



Exploring the interactive computer maps....





While mommy captured the late afternoon light.....



The boys were recruited.  The guns were as big as them, but they learned to march and turn.  Corin was hilarious.  Every time the group turned one way or the other, he was half a turn behind, craning his neck to see what in the world he was supposed to be doing.  With his big, blue bewildered eyes....








The indoor pay museum just re-opened after being redesigned





It was time for the adults to chill while the kids played in the air conditioning


It's Blurry - but I was lucky to get this one!

His "I'm-really-tired-but-I-don't-want-to-leave" face


Next - we stopped by Kirkland on the way home to visit "Kirk's Crossing" - a small town festival.  We poked around in some antique shops, bought $1 lemonades, participated in the cake auction (bought garden green beans and homemade apple fritters), jumped in the bouncy castles, ate corn on the cob and chili fries.



Grandma Fry didn't need a wheelchair. : )  We had it to give Karissa's foot a break throughout the day.  She had a huge stack of drywall fall on her foot at the new house and she is very sore.

The big event of the evening was the horse pull.  It was very interesting.  For the first hour.  It was very long.  Next time I want to go for the last 15 minutes. : )








 It was a very very happy summer day - Well spent.





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