Old Sturbridge Village, day 1

Old Sturbridge Village is one of the country’s oldest and largest living history museums, depicting early New England life from 1790-1840 with historians in costume, antique buildings, water-powered mills, and a working farm.  It is also the perfect way to spend a few days in New England.

 While they are cute in their 1800's garb I do prefer them in today's clothing.

 When at Sturbridge you are able to experience life as it was the mid-1800's. You visit homes and shops.  Most of the building are original (some a recreations) and everyone is in period clothing.....even if it is 90* out. I was curious to see what the kids would think of life in this time period.  Would they like it? Think it was boring? Answer: They loved it.  And while I love it too there is no way I want to use an outhouse instead of a flush toilet so I think we are staying  here in 2012.

 Above: The kids exploring The Friends Meetinghouse.  The Friends congregation is now called the Quakers.

Below:  The kids learning how to card and dye wool with different herbs and berries.

 Creating quit blocks:

 And obviously we are from Oregon.  No one else there got the green O thing.

 We have some *ahem* "complainers" when it comes to not having their own rooms.  These "complainers" learned that in the 1800's they wouldn't get their own room, let alone their own bed.  So I guess sharing a room isn't so horrible right?

 A little shopping at the general store.

 

 Kids games:

 Beat the hoop was the biggest winner of the day.  These 3 would have played all day if we let them. Gosh, I think they are fun kids!

 The kids played a friendly game of tug of war with the townsfolk.  It started out with just a few people and end with about 15 people on each side.

 At the Blacksmiths:

 The sawmill:

 The Carding mill:

 The Pottery:

 And then the rain started.  We thought we would wait it out but no such luck.  Like none. The rain just got heavier and louder and wetter.  It was a typical New England summer storm and we enjoyed it.

Fishing with Guy

 We have some family friends that live on a large pond.  The pond has a load of fish and our friend is a HUGE fisherman. HUGE.  He invited the kids over to fish one morning and boy did they fish.  Guy Beacom is one of those people who is hard to describe. He says what he thinks and he means what he says.  He expects everyone to try hard and do their own work. Even if you are 5 years old.  For that I respect him. The patience of Job he demonstrated in helping the kids fish off is dock and in the boat is super commendable.  The kids had a blast with him, even if they didn't know quite how to take him.

The boys took off in the boat first with Uncle Travis and the girls hung out on shore with Guy.

 Even Meadow wanted in on the action.  Look at that baby! Love her to pieces.

 Guy taught the girls to cast out and if it wasn't good enough for him they had to reel in and do it again.

 Meanwhile the boys hung out with Uncle Travis in the boat.

 When the boys made landfall the girls headed out and Guy was in charge of the little boys.  Oh what an experience for him!

 He had the boys casting and reeling ("Reel, reel, POP!) over and over.  And fish kept ending up on the end of the line.  Lucky little boys.

 And then they got a little tired.......

 To combat their tiredness Guy gave them the important job of washing the bait.  They had to make sure all the worms were super clean so that the fish would want to eat them.  They took their job very seriously.

One of the boys asked Guy why his name was Guy. The conversation went like this.

Boy: "Hey why is your name Guy?"

Guy: "I'll tell you little fisherman. When my parents had me they were really poor and they could only afford a short name. So they called me Guy.  What are your names?"

Boy 1: "Ansen."

Boy 2: "Brock."

Guy: "How many letters does your name have in it?"

After both boys counted out....

Boy 1&2: "5!"

Guy: "Wooooooow, your parents are really rich.  They could afford 5 letters."

Leave it to Guy to tell a story like that.

The kids had a great time fishin' and I am sure Guy won't forget the chaos all to soon.