Pioneer Farms

Posted on | March 23, 2009 | 2 Comments


2009-03-20 Pioneer Farm

Originally uploaded by Phisch

More pics here but there’s a problem with the hard drive so not all the photos are there yet. You can, however, see NM try walking in stilts.

Last Friday, the kids and enjoyed a field trip to Pioneer Farms here in Austin. It was once a farm and over the years, they’ve added several structures from the 1800s. They also so living history demonstrations and reenactments.

The boys were so excited to get away from the desks so they could see and experience the things we’ve been reading about.

We were also excited to meet friends over there. I finally got to meet my friend MH and her daughter K who I knew from an online forum. We’ve followed each other through our forum posts and blogs for seven or eight years now. That’s a long time!

MH and K drove down from Dallas/Ft. Worth area so they could spend a few days here in Austin and we had the benefit of enjoying some of those hours with them.

When we got there, one of the first things the boys noticed was the fencing. Can you believe it? We were talking about the different ways that pioneers had to build fences. This was difficult considering they didn’t readily have nails or post-hole diggers or ready-mix cement. The boys quickly recognized the zig-zaggy fence that uses simple physics to hold itself up.

At first glance, the facility seemed awfully small because there were maybe six or eight structures around a small “main street.” Once we were there—and I read the all-important map—it got apparent that it was a lot bigger than we thought. The building ran the gamut from teepees (set up to approximate a Tonkawa settlement, one of the many Indian tribes that once lived in the area) to a large, multi-roomed home that had to belong to someone wealthy.

Our first stop was the gift shop. I gave the kids a little bit to spend and J quickly decided on some Jacks and a stone arrowhead. NM and K didn’t find anything right away so we decided to head out and try again later.

In the first home we walked into, NM saw a case full of six shooters, a musket and some other munitions. That got him all excited, of course. I suspect he finally enjoys American History because we’re to the point where we are seeing six shooters and not just flintlock rifles.

We made it into one of the homes that represented a more common frontier dwelling and a reenactor was explaining to us about his family (two parents and thirteen children), how they came from Germany to settle here, a little bit about their chores, how the girls all slept in the loft and the boys slept outdoors on the porch, the sorts of things they did. They were a wealthy family and you could tell because they could afford passage from Germany to America for 15 people and—imagine!—they had FOUR glass windows. If prompted, our reenactor would have been happy to give us his spiel auf Deutsche.

The boys got to see some farm animals—K saw some of these for the first time—and the jury was unanimous: pigs are EW. J, of course, pet the horses and any furry animal that would let him (if he could!). The kids were mostly fascinated by the blacksmith. He explained to us that he was different from a farrier who is responsible for fitting horses with shoes. Our blacksmith was showing us how he made, shaped and sharpened a knife. That was loud, hot and long work!

And, much to my excitement (and a little bit excitement from the kids, too) I had come across some spinning stuff! There was home that had several carders, used to comb wool so that the hairs become parallel, a few spinning wheels, a niddy noddy and a few nostepines and other things used to wind the wool once it was spun. It’s things like that, that make me happy ;)

After another trip to the gift shop we had to go. NM wanted a sling shot but didn’t have enough money for one so he kept his cash instead. We headed out to Wendy’s for lunch and drinks then we all went down to the nature center at Zilker park. The kids enjoyed that, of course, but it wasn’t long before we decided to go. It was hot out and we’re not used to being out in it just yet.

We all had a great time and, again, MH & K, we had such a great time with you and I’m so glad we finally got to meet!

Category: Around Town, Family Stuff, Homeschool
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Comments

2 Responses to “Pioneer Farms”

  1. Mai
    March 26th, 2009 @ 2:43 am

    We had an awesome time with you and your boys! Imagine after all these years.

  2. phisch
    March 26th, 2009 @ 2:59 am

    I know, huh? I hope Ayen sees this comment. Maybe we can get her to drive out here ;)

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