Little Town on the Prairie Trip

When Madeline started kindergarten in 2006, I read the entire Little House on the Prairie series out loud to her.  It is one of my dearest memories.  Cuddling together on the couch, we shared the excitement and heartbreak of pioneering with the Ingalls family together.  That started our love affair.

 Ever since then, we have been big fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  We have watched the TV series on DVD.  (Beware, after the first season hardly any of the TV series is close to accurate.)  Madeline and Lydia have both read the whole series on their own.  And now I am reading them aloud once again to our little girls.  It is a joy.

We can identify with a family of girls.  We love Pa's need to forge ahead, and sympathize with Ma's selflessness in moving her family for her man.  We can't believe how hard they have to work just to survive.  We feel ashamed for our own complaining about modern hardships.  And of course, we admire Laura's writing.  Every word counts.  You feel like you are part of their family, and we feel like they are part of ours.

Thus, we have been thinking about this trip for quite some time.  This was the summer to do it.

We left for DeSmet the morning of Saturday, July 20.  It was an easy 5 and a half hour drive to De Smet.  With a short lunch break in Sioux Falls, we got there in time for the 2:00 tour of the Ingalls' homes in town. While we were waiting for the tour to begin, the girls played in the Discovery Center across the street.  The tour brought us through the Surveyor's House, replica of the DeSmet school, replica of the Brewster school, and the house that Ma and Pa lived their final years in.  This tour took about 2 hours.  We then drove out to the cemetery to see where Ma and Pa are buried.

Then we went to our Bed and Breakfast to check in and relax for a while.  We stayed at Heritage House Bed and Breakfast.  We had a suite with plenty of room for our family.  For supper, we ate across the street in the bakery, which was serving supper on pageant weekends.

We went out to the pageant a little before 7:00 for the 8:00 show of Little Town on the Prairie.  We had plenty of time to find a seat, ride in the wagon, get treats from the concession stand, and look through the program.  It was an absolutely beautiful night out on the prairie.

The next morning we ate breakfast at our B and B, then let Julia take a much needed nap while we watched the British Open.  Once everyone was revived, we went to the homestead.  This was the actual land that Pa bought.  There, we were able to climb on a covered wagon, go in a dug out home, a claim shanty, a replica of the home Pa built on their homestead, a barn, and a school house.  There were many hands on activities such as washing clothes, playing Mary's organ, pumping the well, riding a pony, riding in a covered wagon, and making corncob dolls.  We spent about 3 hours there.

I went to DeSmet with low expectations.  Although I knew we would enjoy the trip, I wasn't sure how much time we would need to spend on the tours or how much there would actually be able to "do."  My expectations were surpassed.  DeSmet is a small, sleepy South Dakota town.  It is not commercialized or crawling with people.  Yet all the Little House places and activities were well done. I thought I had an accurate picture in my head of what the Ingalls family encountered in their adventures before visiting.  But when you walk in to that small dugout you simply cannot imagine the hope that they had to have to live in such circumstances.  When you look around the Surveyor's House and remember Laura's inflated perception of how spacious it was, gaze across the prairie and imagine no trees or people anywhere, or ride in a covered wagon and listen to the slow clomping of the horses, you are astounded by their courage.  I had tears in my eyes as I stood in the replicated house that Pa built for his family, thinking of the hard work he put in to provide for his family and pursue freedom.

We had a late lunch at the Subway in town, then left DeSmet.  We made a quick stop in Brookings to run in to the South Dakota Art Museum where we were able to view the stunning Harvey Dunn painting "The Prairie is My Garden."  Then we traveled on to Sioux Falls to stay the night.  We arrived at the Staybridge Suites, let Julia crawl around the hotel room unecumbered while the big girls went swimming with Daddy, then went out for supper.  The night was complete by piling in to beds and watching HGTV.  (Another reason to not pay for cable at home, it is a treat when you go to a hotel.)  The next day we had breakfast at the hotel then drove to Falls Park.  We explored the water and rocks for about an hour.  Then we went to the noon church service at the beautiful St. Joseph Cathedral.  After church, we went to Phillips Avenue to eat at the Phillips Avenue Diner.  We walked along the street looking at the sculptures, played in a great toy store for a while, grabbed an iced latte, and piled in the van for home.  We were home by about 7:00.

Little Activities

What do I do with the littles while I work with the older kids?  

I set them up with a "special" activity that is reserved only for school time.  These are things the girls can do independently, and they don't make too big of a mess.  Here is what is in my bag of tricks for this year...

• big coloring book with markers
• decorate foam door hangers
• play with beans and measuring cups
• Leap Frog Letter Factory video
• Create a House game
• pattern blocks
• sort teddy bear counters in an egg carton
• Discovery Toys farm game
• Playful Shapes
• cut out pictures from magazine and paste on to construction paper
• Play Doh
• puzzles
• Bendaroos
• linking cubes

Read Alouds for 2012-1013

Little Women

Twenty-One Balloons

The Singing Tree

The Bread Winner

Anne Frank:  Life In Hiding

Rosa Parks:  My Story

Wind In The Willows

Railway Children

2012-2013 Schedule

I think I have our schedule ironed out for the next school year.  Take all of this with a grain of salt.  Right now it looks pretty tight and kind of makes my heart beat extra fast with excitement and trepidation at the same time.  I know that I will have a new baby to nurse, as well as everyone else to take care of.  A lot of the nursing will be while teaching/guiding also.  

I try to stick to the schedule pretty well for the first month until the girls really learn what is expected of them.  Then, we loosen up and our days become more of a routine rather than a schedule.  This just gives us something to start from.  All that to say....

6:30     Mommy up, feed baby, shower

7:00     Kids up, eat breakfast

            Listen to composer of the month music during breakfast

7:30     Prayer and Bible time with Daddy

7:45     Get dressed

            Brush teeth

            Brush hair

            Make bed

            Chores

            Madeline practice piano

9:00     Circle Time:  Heroes of the Faith, CC memory work, AWANA memory work

9:45     Math Hour

10:45   Language Arts Hour

11:45   Lunch Prep, Outside time for girls

12:00   Lunch

12:30   Read aloud to Anna and Cora

            Lydia practice piano

1:00    Anna and Cora down for "nap time"

           For Madeline and Lydia

              Monday:  Science

              Tuesday:  History

              Wednesday:  Artist study

              Thursday:  History

1:30    Madeline, Lydia, Mommy "nap time"

2:30    Everyone up from naps for free time or heading out to run errands

              Monday:  shots

              Tuesday:  library

              Wednesday:  tea party at home

              Thursday:  choir

I hope to do our family read aloud in the evenings after supper.  

Math Hour

Cora	Anna	Lydia	Madeline
Play alone	Mommy Lesson	Xtra Math Worksheet	Lesson
Play with Anna	Play with Cora	Mommy Lesson	Problems Xtra Math
Play with Anna	Play with Cora	Play	Mommy Lesson check Questions

Language Arts Hour

Cora	Anna	Lydia	Madeline
Play	Mommy Handwriting OPGTR Presentation prep	Spelling Handwriting	IEW M,W: Handwriting Spelling T, Th:Typing Spanish
Activity	Activity	Mommy WWE Presentation prep	Grammar copywork CC copywork Presentation Prep
Activity	Activity	Activity	Mommy Grammar IEW check

Swimming Lessons

Our days are rolling along with a lot of summer fun.  Both sides of grandparents wanted a quick visit before the baby comes.  Grandma was here from Thursday til Saturday.  Then Nana and Papa arrived Saturday night, and left this morning.  I finished up some getting ready for baby tasks, Mark and I went out for our 12 year anniversary, and of course the girls got spoiled.  I soooo appreciate our parents' willingness to make the 4 to 5 hour drives to come see us.  I know that our living away is an inconvenience to them, but they don't let that stop their love and devotion to their grandkids.  We have the best family, and I know that is special.  So, the girls are on grandparent detox right now.  

Last week Madeline, Lydia, and Anna all had swimming lessons.  It is so exciting to watch them learn and grow more confident in the water.  Anna is our little fish.  The entire time I was watching her in the water I had a huge grin on my face because you can tell she is  loving it.  Lydia was pretty apprehensive.  She happened to need to use the bathroom when it was time to practice diving.  We had many pep talks about bravery throughout the week, but she finished strong.  Madeline is gaining strength and endurance.  After watching their lessons, I understood why they were so tired every night.  Anna and Lydia will be in Level 3 and Madeline will be in Level 4 next swimming lessons round.  The two videos below will put a smile on your face... Lydia diving (but really jumping to the ladder) and Anna jumping in.

Speaking of being tired every night, Madeline is attending Camp Sonshine this week.  With non stop activity and the heat, she was bushed last night.  It is a day camp, which is much easier on Mommy than a stay away camp.  She will sleep over Friday night under the stars.  I expect her to sleep the day away on Saturday.