Thanksgiving like the Pilgrims

Indian Momma and Her Little Pilgrim Girl on Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!



Thanksgiving was always one of those holidays lost in the shuffle of the closing of Halloween and the beginning of the Christmas season. This year I wanted to make sure to share the importance of remembering that first thanksgiving with my daughter. We were going to enjoy a nice day at home and eat lots of turkey with our lesson but my mom had to work from 1pm to 6pm this day. At first we saw it as a horrible loss. I mean why even cook a big fancy meal when we wouldn't be able to eat it until mom got home around 8pm? So instead we took our bad and flipped it around. We rode into Maryland with mom and while she headed to work we went to Oregon Ridge Park. We love this park because it has so much. There is the big playground, lake, lots of hiking trails, a nature center, and educational classes from time to time. They have just completed a nature playground by the nature center as well. Today we got there to find the most perfect accessory to our day of thanksgiving outdoors, a wigwam. They had built a wigwam in the nature playground and my plans came together perfectly. I had stashed my daughter's civil war apron in my backpack for the day and we made some awesome pilgrim bonnets.(Here is the link for the bonnets. It was fun and fast.  http://www.marthastewart.com/908657/paper-pilgrim-bonnet) Bridget played our pilgrim girl and looked fantastic in this role. We learned what it must have been like for the pilgrims. So many had died since arriving to the new world and they seemed so lost until the Indians showed up to help. 


Last minute I remembered this fabric I had laying around in storage downstairs so I dug it out with some animal fur and grabbed a feather from the woods for a Indian outfit. It was just perfect. I told Bridget the story of Squanto and how he had helped the Pilgrims plant corn and live off the land. We played Indian and Pilgrim for most of the day. Mostly Bridget helped me fix up my wigwam for the winter and I taught her how to whittle a stick. Later we spotted two white tail deer in the woods and tracked them. While there we also got to visit with the animals they keep there. One of those animals just happened to be a turkey. I don't think I ever saw a LIVE turkey on Thanksgiving. Bridget refused to take off her Pilgrim outfit as we hiked back down to the main playground so I wrapped my Indian getup around me like a sarong and we headed on the path getting some weird looks from the fellow hikers out that day. Honestly things like that had no effect on me. I thought I was rocking the Indian look so let them stare. We left that night with my mom to head back home with a new appreciation for those people that gave their first Thanksgiving feast.

It was a great day all in all and we had a blast. We plan to do something like this every year. It was educational but so much fun we forgot how much we were learning. That is the way school should be.

 

Thanksgiving Facts I Learned This Year!

1. We have no idea if turkey was on the menu that first Thanksgiving. In the one and only eye witness account of the day it says they had foul. That could have been a number of birds but I guess turkey was the tastiest so that is what we went with later on. Also on the menu was a lot of seafood since fishing was a main source of their food supply.

2. After the "first" Thanksgiving there was no more until Lincoln's time. It was not a repeated tradition.

 

3. The Indians were not invited guest. I found this shocking! After all without the Indians there would be no Pilgrims. They showed up to find out what the shooting noise was they had heard from their village. Come to find out it was the Pilgrims having shooting games and practice on their day of festivities. While there the Pilgrims did tell them to join in the fun but if you ask me that was a little late. Not only did the Indians stay but they also brought five deer for the feast! What good hearted people.

 

4. The Thanksgiving Day Parade was originally held by Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia. Later Macy's in New York took it over but it was called The Christmas Parade since it kick started the holiday shopping season. Later they changed the name since people were getting confused.

 

Learning and Turkey,

Theresa

 



Playing Catch Up

Happy Fall from this Cyberschooling Momma and her
Cyberschooling Cutie!

Well life has been a bit hectic for us here but I wanted to update just in case someone actually reads this. :P Of course the huge theme this month was FALL! We love fall here in our home and we celebrate it as much as possible while the weather is great. We have been lucky so far this year with our weather. Sandy blew in with minimal damage for us so I think we have been truly blessed.

 



Finishing the corn maze at Cherry Crest Farms.

 

About to venture in the corn maze.

 Fall is a great time to be outside playing in the leaves and visiting the farms. This year we went to Cherry Crest Farms in Ronks, PA for a field trip with our cyber school. Cherry Crest is home to the 5 acre corn maze with over 2.5 miles of paths that will get you lost in the corn. Not only do they have the corn maze but there is also a petting farm, huge slides, a bounce pillow and lots of activities to do. Admission prices and directions are listed on their website at www.cherrycrestfarm.com. We had a good time here. Bridget's favorite thing to do here was the giant slides built into the hills. Only downside to these fast slides was the climb up the hill to get to the top. The ride down was fun but my knees were screaming at me to stop trying to be a kid. Bridget on the other hand went up a few times.


Cherry Crest Farm slides.

There are some activities and attractions here that you will have to pay extra for but most of these things are not open on the weekday when we were here. The prices on their food was also costly. Plus side, there is free parking and special event weekends where you can get more for your money. The other awesome part of our trip was the night time maze. Equipped with our flashlights we ventured into the dark corn field and got very lost. We did however find a full service food stand in the middle of the maze. It was very impressive but as you can see my daughter wasn't too sure about the dark maze.

Not too sure about our trip inside the night maze.

All in all we had a blast at Cherry Crest Farms. It is family owned and operated and you can feel that in all they do here. Be prepared to lay down some money but for the most part you will have a blast. They are closed for this season but check them out next year and start making it a family tradition.

Over a thousand pound of pumpkin!



In the hay maze having fun.

 Valley View Farms is a tradition for us. It is located close to my job in Cockeysville, MD and easily accessible from I83. Every year they bring in some of the biggest pumpkins I have ever seen. As you can see above they are not your average pumpkins. The kids get a kick out of seeing the giant gourds and a highlight for my daughter is also the hay maze. Seriously my daughter can stay in this maze for hours. It is so much fun and a big thank you to the employees at Valley View Farms for putting benches next to the maze this year.

Running away from the haunted hallway.

While you are here check out their Christmas shop which is open before Halloween. Lots of huge trees all decked out in their ornaments. In the back of the greenhouse you will find the Halloween shop. There is a free haunted house here too. Bridget got enough courage to sneak a peek inside but ran away just as fast. I cracked up! We always have a good time here but I never buy our pumpkins from Valley View. They are way too over priced. The same pumpkin I got on a roadside stand for $2 is $10 here. It's all about supply and demand because there is no other option for the people in the area for fall fun.

Art project at the car repair shop.

Bridget's leaf art.

And once again this fall it is inspection time for our car. It is usually a 1-2 hour process but for us it turned into a 9 hour day. It was a exhausting day. Lucky for me I packed lunches and school supplies to get us through the day. We did a art class on weaving. while there as you can see from our picture. I also turned it into a learning experience and took her to watch our car get looked at. By time we left we were broke and tired but we were able to drive away legally once again. The following pictures are of our extra time spent outside the car shop. There was one tree with lots of leaves and that is all we needed. We had leaf fights, made leaf art on the lawn, and Bridget made me some leaf soup with bark sticks. I just love what the imagination can think up of.



My leaf girl!

Trick or Treat at Senior Commons of Powder Mill

Grandma clown handing out candy to the trick or treaters.


 

 Halloween was here before we knew it. This year we were torn on what to do. As Christians we did not want to celebrate a pagan holiday but as a parent we don't want to disappoint our munchkin. I considered this a transition year for us. We still did the costume for Bridget but it was a positive role model costume. We also went trick or treating but not in the neighborhood and not on Halloween. We decided to go to the Senior Commons of Powder Mill in York County. The residents of this assisted living home handed out treats for the kids and some even had some tricks. I loved how some of the residents got dressed up in costume to hand out their candy. It was great fun but I don't know who was happier, the kids or the residents.  The other trick or treat moment happened at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Manchester, PA. It was a trunk or treat event but since Sandy showed up that night they moved it inside. It was still awesome. There were lots of people who participated and they decorated the whole inside of the hall at the church. The people here were so nice too. We go to VBS here every year since it's close to home. We would go to church here if we haven't already found our church home. Trunk or Treat events happen almost everywhere though. Next year check out your local churches or children's center to find a trunk or treat in your neighborhood.



The trunk or treat at St. Paul's. This guy made this trick for a treat display.



Halloween night!



Spa Night at our house! Check out the
face mask.

 On Halloween we started our first monthly spa night. I looked up some homemade recipes for face mask on Pinterest and found a oatmeal, honey and water mask that was safe even for my daughter to apply. Then I set up a basin with water, Epsom salt and apple cider vinegar as a detox foot bath. While the mask worked it's magic I gave everyone pedicures and after the foot soak we did pedicures. Not to mention the oh so yummy food we had. We bought the Tortilla Bowl Maker as seen on TV. It worked great and it was so yummo. We put some of my homemade chili inside the bowl which made it perfect. For desert...candy! Lots and lots of candy. It was the one night a year we will go crazy on the candy. Bridget thought this was great and never once missed the annual neighborhood trudge for candy. It wasn't hard to think of fun things to do with my 7 year old to substitute for the holiday. Some people might think it was overboard, banning Halloween, but to us it was just the right choice.


Fall is not over yet and it's getting hard to remember that with the stores filled with Christmas decorations and holiday commercials on TV all day long. Don't forget to take some time to enjoy those leaves and all the fun that can happen with your child during this magical time of year. Before you know it winter will be here and then you got cabin fever setting in. :-) Until next time....