a whirlwhind experience of pioneer life

our plan was to check out the cedar valley settlement and music festival yesterday after the kiddies' afternoon naps.  well, we did.  but we got there half an hour before everything ended.  oops.

although we didn't get to try our hand in candlestick dipping, churning butter or listen to the bluegrass music, there were still a few other things still going on before the festival ended.  since the pioneer activities were set up through out the trails right outside the nature center, all you had to do was follow the path into the woods.

there was corn flour being made along the trail and emma got to try her hand at grounding up kernels.  the set up to grind the kernels was fairly ingenius.  physics...used even in the old pioneer days. the demonstrators had only managed to accumulate one small bowl of flour since the start of the festival, which is really enough to make one corn muffin. i can't imagine how long it would take to make 5 pounds!  that would be some MAJOR upper body work-out.

then we stopped at another station to make some buckeye bolos. even gibson got one although i think he was more interested in playing with the dirt.  i think bolos were used for hunting, but i don't know how effective it would be using buckeyes (maybe it might work to capture small animals?).

after a very helpful demonstration, we had a go on our own, but obviously our skills were not as refined as mr. bolo expert.  ty was particularly persistent in mastering the technique, and was quite occupied through out the rest of the day with his new tool weapon.  see...video games and ipods can't compete with the buckeye bolo! 

the advantage of coming so close to the end was that we were able to collect some extra buckeyes to make a lovely buckeye necklace (since there were pre-drilled holes in them already) and even some for the kids to play with at home.

the last stop we made before everything was officially done for the night was at a clearing along the trail, where we were drawn to the noise there.  it turns out, set out among the clearing were simple items like old washboards, spoons, muffin tins, and pans that people were using to make music.  thanks to dave henterly and his unique concotion of musical instruments, visitors enjoyed an opportunity to make some music together.

since this is an annual event, hopefully next year we'll be able to go for a little longer.  despite the short visit, i think everyone enjoyed being outside, experiencing nature and learning a little about the ohio past.