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.

The Last Day of Camp

Yes, I know it is after Labor Day.  Yes, I know the kids should be in school.  Yes, I know you get weird looks saying your kids are at camp all week in the middle of September.  Yes, I know we are slightly on the weird side.  I'm ok with it.  I'm also absolutely thrilled with being able to send the kids to a home school camp in September when the weather is cooler and the crowds are smaller.  The kids love having a special way of starting off the school year and truly seem to get a lot out of the experience each year. 

 This year Kieran participated in a camp focusing on Music of the 19th Century.  He learned to play a tin whistle and sing a few period songs.  They also spent some time learning about the role music played in the Civil War and in regular life in the 19th Century.  He requested a camp this year that was not attended by any of his siblings so he was thrilled to spend the week alone and not have to be someone else's brother for a while.

Sean participated in a camp on orienteering.  They learned how to use a compass, went letter boxing, geocaching,  took lots of hikes, learned about trail marks, went in search of the other kids in their group who got lost, made some crafts to leave behind in the boxes, and sang plenty of goofy camp songs.  He spent most of the week wearing his handmade duct tape hat and enjoyed what was likely his last year being young enough to participate as a camper.

Katie and Liam participated in a camp called Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer Days.  They spent time making slingshots, hunting, making journals, learning how to start a fire with flint and steel, cooking over a fire, making butter, making beef jerky, making a tin ornament, baking corn bread, and in general playing in the village.  They usually came home fairly tired.

Bryan worked as a helper for Katie and Liam's class.  He seemed to be the only volunteer who understood that you were expected to arrive early and stay late to help with the clean up and such chores but he did a great job even without the help of the other teens.

"Horned Cows"

Meet Buck and Dan.

These are the two new oxen currently residing at Genesee Country Village.  They are in training to take over for the older two oxen: Mike and Tom.

The size difference between these two sets of animals is amazing.  Gabe has decided he absolutely does not like "horned cows" and that they are just too big.  And, yes, I find the names for all of these creatures to be slightly humorous given that each of the names is in some way connected to someone in my husband's family.

Pictures from the Village

Boys' Campout

On Friday night we had a group of guys descend upon the yard for a campout.  Something we really should do more often since we have so much space and rarely get full use out of the land.  This was a guy only event because it is ever so important to give boys a chance to just be with other boys.  Let's face it, most Moms are a bunch of wimps who  don't like the more active stuff boys enjoy and usually do their best to ruin the fun.  Boys need time to get away from that influence and just be.

All the tents gave the yard a decidedly different look. This picture only shows one of the areas with the tents.

From what I saw, the favorite activity for many of the boys seemed to be chopping up fire wood.  Every time I walked out to bring more food or fetch a child, a new boy was wielding the hatchet.  They had set up plenty of wood around themselves as a barrier to keep other kids out of the way although I do kind of wish they would refer to it as a safety circle, not a circle of blood.  Apparently that is the new phrase in Boy Scouts and it seems just a tad too real for me.

There were flashlights running past the front windows playing man hunt well past sundown and I don't think most folks got to bed until after midnight.  Our parish pastor came out to spend the evening with the boys and from what I understand, everyone loved listening to him share his stories and just hang out with the boys.  He also made sure everyone sang happy birthday to Liam.

We escaped the evening with only one injury, an unfortunate incident involving the grape lines.  I'm thinking the boys will up for hosting again next year if all goes well.

Camp is Over

Camp is over for the year.  The kids had a blast and I am tired.  It's been a busy week and the younger 2 boys are going on 5 days straight of no nap.  Yup, it's meltdown city around here because they just cannot function without naps.

The kids learned quite a bit and had a great time.  Yesterday the older children had to be told they were not allowed to practice their fire starting skills in the backyard without adult supervision.  Although I have to say it is totally awesome to see them start a fire without the use of matches.  Very impressive.

While visiting the museum today with the younger kids, we found a dress for Abby to try on for a while.  She was thrilled because she really wants a chance to dress up like her big sister.

The kids had a blast and I am very glad that we take the time to start each school year with such a wonderful experience. It might not be book work but I think they get so much out of the experience.  I would have a very hard time duplicating these experiences at home.