More Pictures From the Village

We spent all of Friday walking around the village.  The camp presentations are always at the end of the afternoon but rather than come back home, we like to spend the day walking around with the younger kids.

 No trip with the little ones is complete without a stop in the hands-on house.  And just a reminder to all of the adults out there: when something like this is available, let your kids use it and back off.  I've walked into this house with another adult only to have them immediately start yelling at the kids for touching things.  Seriously, some things are meant to be touched and experienced.

The Village now has a permanent Civil War exhibit.  This exhibit showcases a replica of the Intrepid balloon which was used during the war to keep track of enemy troops.  On days when the wind is favorable, rides are even available in the balloon.

When small children need to be occupied, there are two things that are suggested. One is a stop at the grand meadow to run off some energy and another is a stop at the general store to sample a cookie. Yes, it is bigger than her head.  Ellie fell asleep after eating half of it and immediately started looking for the other half when she woke up.

This is my favorite place to visit in the village.  This church used to be St. Feehan's parish in Chili.  I love the old statues.  I love the look of the altar and the communion rail.  The stations of the cross are beautiful.  The entire place just makes you think this is what a church is supposed to look like.  I did have a hard time explaining to the little ones that Jesus was not actually present in the church when they asked if they could say good-bye to Jesus before we left. They knew to look for the tabernacle (which you can't exactly miss) but I guess I have forgotten to explain that when the sanctuary lamp is not lit, Jesus is not in the tabernacle.

We also spent some time in the school houses take drawing lessons and learning the alphabet.

This little guy was the big attraction at the beginning of the day.

And a few of our favorite people caught enjoying village life.