Sundress, Braids & a New Bonnet

While we were in NB, we visited Kings Landing Historical Settlement which depicts life in the central Saint John River Valley in the 1800s.  The Little House book (On the Shores of Silver Lake) that we just finished spans 1879-1880.  The wagon driver dropped us off at the General Store where we bought Abby a bonnet and a slate.  Auntie Win came with us, which was a treat for all of us!

We ate lunch on a little hill overlooking the river behind a house that had this swing.  After lunch, the kids picked acorns while they took turns on the swing.  Two very friendly little squirrels came from the riverbank, playing and heading for the acorns.  All the sudden, one of the squirrels flew at Abby's dress! As we all looked at her, still quite shocked that a squirrel had just flown at her, she explained that the squirrel had taken an acorn out of her hand!

Any thoughts on what this bench is called or its use?  It's brilliant!The bench the boys are sitting on was in one of my favourite houses.  It was just a small cottage where six children had been raised.  The cottage was one room.  A couple children slept with their parents, a couple slept on the trundle bed (that went under their parents' bed during the day, and a couple slept on a straw mattress that fit inside this bench when it flipped down. 

Sundresses, Braids and Little House

I love Little House on the Prairie when I was a young girl. I loved pretending that I was Laura Ingalls. It didn't hurt that I lived in the country and my mum did my hair every morning in 2 braids, on a chair in the middle of the kitchen.

Abby and I have been reading the Little House series this summer. We're finished the first four books in the series . We've followed Laura and her family from the Big Woods to Indian Territory, then to the Banks of Plum Creek in their covered wagon. We're now in the middle of By the Shores of Silver Lake where Laura and her family move west from Plum Creek for Pa to work as a bookkeeper for the railroad and file a claim for land.

I love that Abby wants her hair in 2 braids and wants to go barefoot and wear sundresses. She's even asked where we can get a bonnet for her :) Any ideas?

Captains Kitty Bones, Diego and Lightning and the Tall Ship

The HMS Bounty arrived at Thunder Bay's harbour yesterday so we walked down with friends around suppertime for a closer look...

We could have toured the ship, but because the line was already 2-3 hours wait, they had closed the line. The kids were a little disappointed, but Jude said, "It was still cool to just see the ship".   This morning when we talked about the possibility of getting on the ship, Jude was concerned about how far we would have to sail away from home.  Such a sweet little guy... 

Before we left home, Jude decided that he was "Captain Diego". Abby chose to be "Captain Kitty Bones" and Jordy was "Captain Lightning".

We stopped at "Pirate Cove", a children's festival designed to complement the arrival of the Bounty.  The kids bounced in the bouncers, watched a local dance studio perform, played in the inflatable boat ball pit, and checked out Science North's exhibits. 

Because we walked down from our house, we had to walk back.  As we were leaving the marina the really dark clouds broke...with thunder and lightning... Abby and I got drenched, but had so much fun singing and splashing, running to the cover of building doorways when the rain fell in sheets, and "arguing" over who was the wettest.  I was so proud of her for not only walking all the way there and back (after being at cheerleading camp all afternoon), but also for not complaining about walking in the rain!