Pioneer Florida Museum Village

While my mom and dad were visiting, we spent a few hours at a really neat, must see historical village in the adorable town of Dade City (there was a crazy storm, so we couldn't walk around downtown...but trust me, it's a cute little place!)

The Pioneer Florida Museum Village is a great little step into the past.

The One Room School House

The kids had fun sitting at the little desks

"The Board of Education" hehehe

Jeremy found the dunce cap.

A little tid bit about the school.  This was the real school, the building was saved and relocated.  Click on the picture to enlarge and read about it.

 This was their blackboard, painted with black paint.

The Rules for the Teacher in two different decades.  They are great fun to read.

 Standing on the patio of the school house.

 Next stop was the little Methodist Church.  Taking his place in the pulpit.

I'm not sure if the benches would have been like this or not.  I'm thinking not.  

The old organ

 This is the "Pa House"...the original "Man Cave"

And this is the "Ma House", where she dries all her herbs and such.

And THIS is the outhouse...don't forget your corn cob!

Rules for using the outhouse ;)

Next up was the garden and chicken area.  These chickens were grateful that my kids couldn't get their hands on them, I am sure!

 Inside the big barn, full of old carriages, tractors and tools

A Doctor's wagon

This one was mighty fancy!

 A view across the village

I forget the name of this building....

An old saw used in the lumber mill

Hannah was hot.  Nate was still happy :)

 This was the shoe shop

Hannah loved this little house, it was so cute.

I loved having Jeremy with us on a field trip.

 Dad made sure he looked in every single out house.

 Children doing exactly what children ought to do.  When they see a big green field, they go running!  I love that about them.  They are free to be children...and what child wouldn't want to run through this field!

 Of course, Nicole found the telegraph machine in the train station.  It even tapped out the first transmitted telegraph "What Hath God Wrought".  She tried to answer back.

 Love, Love, Love that I caught this moment.  Nicole holding Papa's hand.

The little inside museum was great  as well.  Lots of cool artifacts.

Confederate Money

Florida confederate money

Hannah loved looking at and picking out her favorite dolls.

More Photo bombs

Again, I love that he was there!

 This flag is SO COOL!!!!!!  It was hand sewn in 1777 and flown in New York!  Isn't it amazing?!?!?!

 Oh no!  Watch out Hanny!

 This really was a cool little adventure.  They have events throughout the year as well.  I hope I remember to check it out again soon!

4th of July with Yaya and Papa

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating our country's independence and enjoying time with my mom and dad.

We started the fourth off with an early morning 5K race.

This was the first time Jeremy has participated in a race like this.

He finished the 3.2 miles in less than 30 minutes (I think something like 29:19)

A few people from our church ran, so it was good motivation for him.

It was fun hanging out with friends while we waited for our spouses (and daddies) to cross the finish line.

After his race, we had to walk all the way back to the park and line up for the Fourth of July parade and the American Heritage Girls float.

Maybe I am weird, but I really enjoy walking alongside the float.

My mom bought some bubbles, which were a great hit for us walkers.  I tried to find all the babies I could and blow bubbles at them!

The girls enjoyed squiring people with their water guns.

After a 2 hour nap at home, we took off again for a party at a business partner's house.  The live right on the water and have a dunk tank, water slide, lots of food, kayaks, and dancing to keep everyone occupied.  It was actually a lot of fun.

The kids had a blast in the water while dad threw them down the water slide.

Jeremy took Nicole out on the kayak.

Mom, the kids, and I had fun dancing.

Nicole even caught a fish

After sleeping in a bit on Saturday morning, the kids enjoyed playing with yaya for a while.  Mom put on a puppet show with them, first using a little doggy puppet.

This quickly morphed into a full on painting of Yaya to make her the puppet.

I know this is a memory the children will enjoy.

I'm so thankful that she likes to get down and be silly with them.

I think she may even have more fun than they do ;)