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| Return Trip to Greenfield Village! |
Everyone slept well again tonight. It did help that our room is huge and we are crazy spread out-2 kids stayed with Grannymom, 1 one the couch, 2 in the other bed and poor Whitman crammed in the bathroom. Every morning the kids wake up a bit slower and Robby and I probably wake up a bit slower too but we still managed to get to breakfast and in the car on time.
It was just about a 20 minute ride to the Ford complex and we all piled into our van-14 folks just about fill up our little ole van. When we arrived, Robby and Tony went to buy tickets which seemed to take forever. We have passes from last year (we bought a membership so we could come back this year and bring Grannymom and Grandpa) but Robby still had to buy tickets for our tour on Tuesday.
When we had stepped out of the car, the blessed sun was shining but the breeze was blowing. We opted to not bring our coats and after waiting on Robby and Tony for so long, Grandpa said that he might want his jacket and I used that as a good excuse to get my own and a few of the kids. To me the weather was was a bit cool and then a bit warm-it was too cool to not have a jacket and too warm to have on. I have been watching today's weather for months (it seems) and we could not have had a better weather day.
Today had probably been the most anticipated day by Robby and me. Last year when we went to Greenfield Village in Dearborn we absolutely loved it. It really could not have been more perfect and Robby and I were pretty worried about it not meeting our expectations this year. I am so glad that this day did not disappoint! (I don't know about the others but I sure had a good day.)
When you walk into the village, you hear the puffs of the steam train. The engine was sitting on the track waiting for us to board. We took a train ride around the village: Henry Ford created the Village as a school which operated until 1969. He felt that the best way to learn history was to be immersed in history. So Ford, having plenty of money, bought historical buildings and when it was time to learn about science you went to Edison’s lab, or when if was time to learn about flight you went to the Wright Brothers home and bicycle shop. Eventually, the school closed but is now a charter school for local children on the grounds. But for the public, Greenfield Village has become almost like a historical Disney World. The Henry Ford is the largest indoor-outdoor museum complex in America and the village contains nearly 100 historic buildings from the 17th century to the present. It is just really cool and from the moment you cross the gates, you feel as if you are in the different time.
After riding the train, we walked to the Model Ts. It took 4 car loads for our gaggle of folks. The kids had read a book about Henry and his model Ts and this was one of the things that they remembered most from last year. There wasn't a line for the Model Ts so it didn't take long for our ride around. Once we were off, we walked through Ford's shop.
From there, we headed to the train roundhouse. We walked through the workshop and then stopped out front. They have a huge train turntable that they let the kids turn. You ha to be 6 and older to do this so Campbell was not too happy about it. But Layne, Brett, Reagan, Anderson and Graham were able to push the turntable. They were able to turn the quite heave turntable with ease.
Next up was the Liberty Craftsworks area and we spent a few minutes there. The first place we stopped was where they were blowing glass. We watched them twice-the second time they broke what they were working on. It was pretty neat-they stretched this long candy cane like piece of glass across the room and then will make a bowl out of many peices of that glass.
Then it was through the place where they make yard, the tin works, the saw mill and then we skipped a few places-there is so much to see that you can not see it all unless you hurry and that is what we had to do.
We stumbled upon Katherine Wright (remember Keaton giving her oral report about Katherine Wright a few months ago-click here for that video) and then along came Orville and Wilbur. The kids listened intently and while Whitman and I ran across the street to pick up some custard. I guess becuase it was in a cone, Whitman thought that it was al his-so I had to work pretty hard to sneak bites form him.
After the Wrights were finished talking, we had our pictures made with them. Then we told Katherine about Keaton doing a report about her. Keaton even told Katherine a part of it ("I had 2 brothers, Wilbur and Orville and they made their first flight in 1903") She probably doesn't have a ton of little 3 year olds doing reports about her life so she was pretty thrilled to see and hear Keaton. They even had their pictures taken together.
When we left, Katherine everyone walked through the Wright home and then it was off to lunch. We might have stopped in a few places on the way. Lunch was at a place called Taste of America and we had mac and cheese, pizza, a suasage hot dog and bbq. After our little break, we pressed on down the road.
There was the McGuffey school house, the Mary Martha church and then we took the sidewalk down to the baseball field. They have a baseball team that plays in the summer and the team is from 1867. So it was pretty interesting to watch and it was also interesting to see the local folks that came bringing their chairs and blankets there to watch the ball game. We just stayed for one inning of the game and then we were off to see more houses. (Though most of us could have stretched out on the grass and taken a nap.)
We saw plenty of other things including walking over a covered bridge when we stopped to listen to Edison. He told all about his accomplishments with the lightbulb and we toured his boarding house, his workshop and office. After Edison, we saw a courthouse that Honest Abe practiced law in and then we moved on to see a sharecroppers house where the kids were given cornbread to feed the chickens.
Down the road a ways, we caught the Omnibus (horse drawn carriage) and road it to the front of the place. There we looked through the Ford family home before walking back towards the carousel. Tony and Shannon went to ride the Model Ts again while we rode the carousel with everyone. Afterwards, I took all the kids to the playground and then Whitman rode the carousel one more time with Grannymom.
It seems like everything in this area has closed at 5 and Greenfield Village is no exception. We could have stayed until at least 9 tonight-all these early closing places are causing us to have to hurry! A big before 5, we headed towards the gate but made one last stop in the line to ride a Model T-really how many Model T rides do you get in a lifetime?!
Then it was out the gates and to the gift shop. Grannymom was the only one to buy anything today but I love gift shops like that and I just want to buy everything. I did write down lots of names of books that I want for the kids to read soon but didn't buy anythikng. Maybe tomorrow!
After leaving The Henry Ford complex, we headed to IKEA for supper. We had the chicken meatballs and they were pretty good and then we started out jog around the store. We are contemplating buying beds for the kids from IKEA so we were happy to get to see those in real life before buying 6 beds and hauling them home.
Campbell, Keaton and Graham were happy that Robby let them go in the play area for a few minutes. They couldn't have been in there for 30 minutes but they loved it. Graham even wanted to go so Robby sure let him-I bet he enjoyed taking care of his little sisters. And as soon as we had met back up, we found what we had come for: ice cream. We have missed one day of ice cream but hopefully there is still time to make it up :)
The kids had ice cream but since I had already had mine for the day, I had a cinnamon roll and it was very, very good. Robby bought a bag of mini cinnamon rolls for us to snack on. We even had some tonight as the kids were going to bed. Reagan saw me and asked what I was eating so I just pulled oen out of the bag and handed it to her. She kept saying "but I have already brushed my teeth" but I assured her that this was vacation and you only once.
When we made it home from IKEA, Robby did our laundry and the kids swam. It seemed to take a while to get everyone showered when we came in but soon everyone was sound asleep. Now I love our hotel room but big hotel rooms are just not always good-it is so big that we have spread everything out. I am already getting short of breath just thinking about having to pack everything back up in the right spot and refilled correctly.
Thankfully the kids were able to get to sleep a bit earlier than the past few nights. They are getting more and more tired and that is eveident my their behavior (or I am getting more and more tired and that is evident in my patient's level.) Tomorrow is the Henry Ford Museum so that should be interesting.
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