End of Summer Trip

Aaron went back to school yesterday, and the boys and I took off for a quick end-of-summer trip! We have been reading the Little House books and the boys are very into them. I decided we would stop at the Little House Wayside in Pepin, WI to see where Little House in the Big Woods began. I took this same trip with my family when I was younger, and I wanted the boys to experience it, too. They were SO excited when we finally arrived!

I remember the house as bigger somehow, but I have to remember that I was much smaller when I was first there! We had fun imagining Ma lighting a fire and getting dinner started...

...and looking out the "plate glass windows that Pa brought from town!" (according to Max!)

Liam really liked the house and the property, but Max was especially taken with it. I told them that this was a reproduction house built to closely resemble Laura's house. Max did not care because to him this was Laura's house.

"Take a picture of me at the table, Mom!"

"That is where Laura and Mary slept. They would put the ladder here and then climb up," Max said.

It's fun to imagine the Ingalls family all living together in this small, cozy house.

It is no longer in the middle of the Big Woods of Wisconsin, and Liam kept saying, "I can't believe they cut all those trees down." But we had so much fun imagining where the wagon wheel tracks had gone past the house, where the two big trees had stood out front and where all of Black Susan the cat's relatives might be today!

Max wanted a picture in what he thought might be Carrie's room.

One other family was there when we arrived, but they soon left and we had it to ourselves.

I could see the wheels spinning in Max's head as he just looked and looked at everything. He wanted his picture taken in the yard, too.

I'm so happy to be able to share these books that were such a huge part of my childhood with my kids. They listen intently to each chapter we read, and they remember things down to the smallest detail. It was great to bring Laura to life for them here, and we are already planning our future trips to the other Little House historic sites!