Conner Prairie

The first weekend of October, my brother and his youngest, Tori, came out for a visit from California.  That Friday, while Ryan and my dad went golfing, my mom brought Tori up this way, and we met them for a fun afternoon at Conner Prairie, an interactive history park.  David took the day off, and we all had a ball together!  It had been a very rainy morning, so we started our trip indoors at the Discovery Station.  We'd never been to Conner Prairie before, so it was really fun to check it out, and we enjoyed what it had to offer (the small portion that we saw that day).

Eli dressed as a blue jay

Clara "eating" the garden veggies

Playing under big blanket forts

Having fun with the country puppets

Even though Tori and Eli only see each other about once a year (last time was 2013 Christmas), they were instant friends and played so well together (and even got into mischief together, too).

Tori is 7 months older than Eli

After the kids played lots of pretend and make-believe inside, we headed out and rode a fun and bumpy tram ride to the Civil War site.  Eli was hilarious to watch on that ride.  You'd have thought he was riding a crazy fair ride from all the funny faces he was making.  We were all laughing and loved it.  

With two crazy young'ins there wasn't really a chance to take guided tours or listen to very long speeches.  We walked through a campsite and listened to a soldier playing the piccolo.  We also walked through a house, and country store.  The kids had the time of their lives chasing a bunch of chickens!  They chased them around and around, until the chickens finally ran into their house.  It was quite the show to watch them.

The only time the kids sat quiet for a while was when we visited the blacksmith.  Both of them were pretty mesmerized and watched him work for a long time.

We also spent some time at the 1859 Balloon Voyage exhibit.  Usually they will give hot air balloon lifts, but it was too cloudy that day.  My mom ended up purchasing a membership, and we get to be included on it!  Excited for more Prairie trips in our future!