Prairie Day

Let the fall festivals begin!! Maybe I am easy to please. Maybe I am a goob (no comment, Jeremy). Either way, fall festivals make me so happy. The Shaw Nature Reserve has a Prairie Day every two years and this was our first time going. It was very Little House on the Prairie-ish - tons of hands on activities for the kids. Below Olivia is grinding coffee. This guy (with the fabulous handle bar mustache - the only kind of mustache, by the way, that I think does not make a guy look shifty) and his wife also owned sheep and she was exhibiting the whole sheering to yarn process. They had big vats of boiling water with pokeberries or golden rod or walnut shells in them dying the yarn. We bought a $2 loop of pokeberry dyed, wool yarn. Who knows what we will do with it.














The kids got to collect wooden nickels at any of the booths where they asked questions or touched something like a turtle shell or skunk pelt or arrow head. Then they could trade in their nickels for various items. Olivia bought a ring of tree identification tags for 10 nickels. It is very cool and I am sad to say that I currently cannot find it. She was playing with it in the backyard with some friends yesterday and...















Here are the "Herps." It's a python.














This is actually at an interactive area on the other side of the reserve from the festival. This area is worth the drive out there if you have kids.

2 comments:

Pam said...

Praire Day sounds like a lot of fun. I like the herps. was he the only one out there?

Michael and Mandy said...

No, they had about six snakes. Two were out for petting and holding, the others were more for looking. Mandy is not a fan of snakes, but we have a picture of her touching one. She chose to not put that on the blog evidently. Mike