On the way to Colorado, we stopped at a Pony Express Station in Gothenburg, Nebraska for a little bit of history (and a potty break!). Once we arrived at Aunt Lesley's, we prepared for the birthday party, which was super fun. Aunt Lesley made an awesome pink poodle cake, and Uncle Sean hung his signature streamers! Then, we celebrated a cold 4th of July with fireworks at home. The girls had so much fun with the sparklers and watching Uncle Eric and Daddy set off the fireworks in the street.
On Monday, we all went the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. It was beautiful, and the weather was perfect - warm with a cool breeze. We talked to some rock climbers and were able to watch them scaling the rocks and rappelling down the face of the rock. Afterwards, we stopped at a farmers market in town to treat the girls to shaved ice. Then, we purchased some awesome garlic butter!
We were sad to leave after only four days, but we said our goodbyes and headed home on Wednesday. On the way out of Colorado, we stopped at Hammond's Candies, where they have been making handmade candy since 1920. Santa even special orders his candy canes from this shop! We took a tour of the factory, tasted some candy, and of course, purchased candy canes!
On our second day of driving, we planned to stop in Urbandale, Iowa to see the Living History Farms. What an awesome place! We saw a 1700 Ioway Indian farm, an 1850 pioneer farm, and a 1900 farm. Individuals at each farm were dressed in appropriate attire for the time period and were completing farm chores as they would have been done back in the day! They were full of information and gave demonstrations for Ioway Indian beading and farming, harvesting wheat, larding cast iron pans, laundry, tea time, feeding livestock, harnessing a horse to a buggy, washing dishes with rain water, and hanging laundry to dry outside.
After touring the farms, we took the tractor back to the 1875 town. We went into the schoolhouse, which the girls really enjoyed. They used slates for spelling words and looked through McGuffey readers. They also thought Momma sitting in the teachers' desk was pretty neat. We went into a broom shop and learned how they were made. Amelya was very interested in the cake testing brooms. Toothpicks were available, but they were expensive. So, they made small "brooms" for cake testing. They would simply pull a piece of straw out of the broom to test the cake, then toss it away.
The girls helped the blacksmith heat up metal in a fire, hammer it into a curve, hammer it straight, and then cool it off in a big bucket of water. We purchased lemon drops at the general store, ground cinnamon at the drug store, printed at the printing press, and cancelled a "check" at the bank! It was a great afternoon, and a great trip
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