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Prairie Journey – Guess What’s Waiting For Us in DeSmet?
Prairie days are getting closer on the calendar. Last year this adventure seemed so far away as I was hatching it and hoping it would work out. Actually, this trip has been nearly a decade in the making. Yeah – life is moving quickly like that. As we were taking this same basic journey with a bonnet-clad fifth-grader Riley, I knew then we’d do this journey again some day if time and circumstance were on our side. And, so far, it seems they both are. The order of travel is The Big Woods, Walnut Grove, Plum Creek and then Silver Lake in DeSmet, South Dakota. For a large portion of…
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In the Heart of the Country
You know how much I love Virginia. We had this idea to share the love a little. And so we invited some friends to trek it up a few states and experience Virginia with us. Sadly, really truly sadly, not all of our buddies could make the journey up this time for a host of reasons. But one family was able to drive down that gloriously long driveway with us and bask in the beauty that is The Farm. I don’t want to gush too profusely – I love my friends who couldn’t make the journey with us too much for that. But I will say this – it was…
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Keigley Campaign: Pisgah. The Camping Mecca.
When we first came up with our Keigley Campaign two years ago (What? Two years?) we wanted to simply find woods and to sleep there. The end. We all decided to focus on South Carolina state parks the first year. It seemed logical. It was definable. It made sense. It’s the direction we chose to run. Early on we struggled with the campsites not being exactly what we had in mind. We love Lake Jocassee but are always a little disappointed to share its beauty with so many strangers sleeping in plastic coverings so near to our own. But we did it. One full year. One new South Carolina campsite…
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Walnut Grove. Plum Creek. Oh, the Places We’ll See.
Every time we’ve finished another one of the nine Little House books this year I’ve wanted to weep a bit. (Now that I’ve confessed that I’m a crier, why try to disguise it anymore?) For, you know, a myriad of reasons. I. Love. These. Books. I love them for what they are – a treasure of memories from a girl whose life might not have seemed to matter at the time she was living it but whose life, when viewed collectively, is a history and a recollection of an era and a family and a lifestyle fading into our country’s past. I love them for what they have brought to our…
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On The Road: The Bruderhof Community
Until our trip to central New York I had never heard of the Bruderhof Communities. We went north because Kevin was going north. And Kevin was going north to do video work for the New York Maple Producers. Tim had made a connection with a Bruderhof Community that still tapped maple trees the old-fashioned way – using metal taps and not plastic hoses. When we arrived at a picturesque community after a short drive from the Highlights retreat center we were warmly welcomed. We arrived at lunch time and were cordially invited to join the community gathering for a group lunch in the school’s tidy cafeteria. It was a little unnerving…
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Does your home speak of hospitality?
Hospitality: the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. I like hospitality. I think it’s a gift – and an often times overlooked gift in our current world. On our recent excursion north our family was able to be blessed multiple times by shows of incredible hospitality. I tell you, friends, there are still hospitable people out there. Just one of those times found us on the end of receiving a generous reception at a very old farmhouse in central New York state. (Older than our old farm house I’m sure.) Maybe it was the fact that the farmhouse was old that made me feel right at home. Maybe, but it was…
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On the Road: Highlights Retreat Center
Last week our family was on a journey. But you kind of know that already, thanks to several posts about Piper’s funny on the road quotes and a couple of reviews of Gettysburg (thumbs up) and Hershey World (thumbs down). Our ultimate destination was central New York but we stopped here and there on our way north. After our fabulous and relaxing stay at our cousins’ home, our next overnight was a rendezvous with a friend and business partner near Honesdale PA. Tim is a talented illustrator with a prolific portfolio. One of his several claims to fame is as a Hidden Pictures artist with Highlights magazine. He’s created…
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On the Road: Hershey’s Chocolate World: A Public Service Announcement
I like to think this blog is occasionally helpful. Today’s post should certainly qualify as such, potentially saving you time and energy and money. All valuable things, can we agree? After Gettysburg but before our next stop, the highway practically delivered our suburban right to the doorstep of Hershey, Pennsylvania. When Riley was an only child, our itsy bitsy family of three (!) made a business trek to New Hampshire to acquire new equipment for the television studio where Kevin worked. On that journey we had visited this famed town of chocolate. To our recollection it had been a pleasurable stop and we anticipated the same for a second go-round.…
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Taking the Piper Show on the road.
Traveling with kids is generally amusing. It’s always about perspective. Piper Finn has been especially entertaining the last few days. Upon entering the handicap accessible bathroom at one night’s lodging her eyes grew very wide – “What?” she proclaimed with a shout and a pointing finger. “A chair in the shower? You can sit down in the shower? That’s awesome!”
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On the Road: Gettysburg
You could easily spend an entire day there. But we just had an hour or two. And it was snowing. And 30 degrees. But the national park and museum were literally only minutes from the highway and we’ve been studying the Civil War in history this year along with our Prairie Primer so it just seemed irresponsible to not stop for a glimpse. We entered the wide hall area at the museum where you have to decide whether you want to buy tickets, arrange a bus tour, donate blood, watch a movie, take a guided auto tour, purchase museum tickets, adopt a dog. Okay, two of those weren’t real choices…
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They’re worth it
Worth driving for: Cousins enjoying one another’s company. Little girls baking bread together. Laughter. Catching up. Stories of the farm and growing up. Trampoline chaos. Board games. Soccer games. Food served endlessly. It is a lovely bit of magic to be related to such wonderfully fun human beings.
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The Christmas Chain Took Us To Bethlehem
It’s hard to focus on school this month. This Christmas season feels shorter since Thanksgiving landed later in November. The kids and I just want to play and craft and bake and we don’t want to add or memorize or diagram sentences. (And this gloomy cold rain is not helping our (I mean, mine) attitudes either.) But we keep trying to persevere anyway. Only a few days late, we hung up our traditional Christmas chain. And so far we’ve watched a Christmas movie with snacks, decorated our tree (finally!) and this weekend we whipped up those infamous monster cookies and took in a new local event to our family –…
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Field Trip: Native American Festival
Last weekend we attended a Native American Festival at a nearby historic mill. It was a great experience for us to connect a few of the things we’ve been reading about in our Little House series The kids had read that Laura and Mary had received horehound candy as a treat once so when we saw horehound sticks for sale for a quarter we figured it was the perfect opportunity to try this old-fashioned candy. They liked it so much that Bergen spent another quarter of his own money to buy a stick for later. We munched on traditional fry bread, watched dancing and listened to drums playing. We walked…
