Washington on the Brazos

Saturday, I took Caleb and Piper about an hour and a half away to a state park called Washington on the Brazos, the actual site where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed.  

It might have been a bit sunny.  Of course, we picked one of the hottest days to go.  On the way, the radio said that they high was going to be 105.  I think it got to that temperature by 9am.  Whew.

A little better, but not much...

On the grounds here, they had a home of one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Texas.  The house was fully furnished with all the things you would find during the period and the kids were able to touch and manipulate many of these things.  Here is Caleb and his friend Drew playing checkers with each other.

There were these slates all around too that the kids were allowed to write on to experience how kids did school during this time period.

This humongous spider was on site as well and all the kids gravitated to it, oohing and ahing over it.  Piper named her (this was confirmed as being true) Charlotte, after a certain literary arachnid.

There was a place where the kids could experience the chores and actual life on the farm, including laundry.  You know I had to have photographic evidence of this!  Here, Piper was using the washboard to scrub the cloth.

And here she is hanging it up on a line with an old timey clothespin.

She was so proud of her work!

We moved on to the part of the farm that housed the livestock and machinery to harvest and make things.  Here, Caleb is learning about a corn shucking machine.  Each kid was given an ear of corn and they were instructed to drop it into the chute and from the bottom came all the kernels.  We aren't a corn eating family, but if we were, I would have to have one of these contraptions!

P with the longhorn.  I mean, I can't see a longhorn and not get a photo!  Hook em!

Once we were done with the farm, we went to an place on property called Independence Hall.  This was just a large meeting space where the leaders met to decided business and have gatherings of large people.  We didn't hang here long because we were getting weary of the heat.

Last, we headed the the Star of the Republic Museum.  This is the one attraction that was air conditioned, so we took our time here!

Of course, we had to have a photo with our beloved Texas flag!

Piper with a skull.  I mean, she's obsessed.

Piper was cleaning a deer here.  She had the best time in this part of the museum because she was able to be hands on.

Churning butter, like her Pawpaw used to do!

Caleb had a good time too, just little less gross-ness for his chosen activities!

One last picture with Stephen F. Austin before we left and headed back to our part of town!

On our way back, we all decided that we didn't want to eat the peanut butter sandwiches I had packed for lunch, so we stopped at a local Mexican restaurant.  It was yummy and hit the spot.  At one point, I looked over and saw Piper doing this.  She was eating sour cream right off the plate. I will never understand this.  What a fun day!