Category Archives: History

A Land Run

makingflagsJennifer of jenslittlethings.com invited us out to her place to re-enact an Oklahoma Land Run!

She had them make flags to stake their claim and then gave a lesson on the Land Run’s in Oklahoma.

nations

jumpinMini land run.

pictures

readyReady with their flags.

flagsThis was as close to period clothing as I could get with my last minute planning.

goThey are off!

hatThey both lost their hats.

lost

ontherun

undecidedHe could not decide where to plant his flag.

hisclaim

claim

thiefApparently they listened closely about the claim disputes part of the lesson…

claimjumpThey thought trying to steal each others claim was a great idea.

lunchWe ate lunch at my oldest’s claim.

Which was really far away from everyone else.

Oh well.

My youngest pointed out that his brothers land was hotter than his land and that we should have eaten at his place because it was cooler.

Yes, I am sure your place is a lot cooler since it is a whole 10 feet away.

stateshapedShe made Oklahoma shaped cookies!

Now I need an Oklahoma cookie cutter and cookie dough, and someone to make them for me…

visitorThere was an unexpected visitor!

So cute!

It was a great day!

I have the red neck to prove it!

Or maybe that was because I was too lazy to get the sunscreen out of my vehicle.

The Trojan War, Homer, and Archaeology.

It has been a little while since I did a post on what we are learning about right now.

Not because we have stopped learning.

I was just being lazy…

shipsAfter the great success of re-enacting the Trojan War 2yrs ago, I decided to do it again.

I forgot I read to them from the “The Aeneid for boys and girls” by Alfred J. Church so I read “The Illiad for boys and girls” instead.

It was good but very long.

My voice was tired.

troyTroy looked a lot like a medieval castle, you didn’t know that?

Strange.

parisParis the trouble maker.

battleThe boys were acting out the book as I read.

There were too many pauses between battles though and the legos were so tempting…

We did not finish it.

booksIf I had it to do again, I would probably have just read from “Tales from the Odyssey” by Mary Pope Osborne (The author of the Magic Tree House Series).

My oldest actually read both of the books by himself!

I did not realize it until yesterday.

“The Trojan Horse The Fall of Troy” is a really good book to get a picture of what is going on.

insideThe inside looks like a comic book.

moviesWe have also been watching some documentaries about the Trojan War and Troy itself.

“In Search of the Trojan War” and “The Battle for Troy”, the first is really long and broken up into several parts but follows the man who found Troy, Heinrich Schliemann.

We did not finish the whole thing yet because we were watching it in the vehicle and got to our destination before it was done.

Apparently the boys got something from it though because when they brought up Heinrich Schliemann in the second video my oldest got really excited.

I have found that my boys really like knowing about things (My oldest still gets really excited when he see’s the Mona Lisa just because he read a book about it) so if I introduce a subject with an easy introduction first they are more receptive to the informative stuff.

They feel like they know those people and want to hear more about them.

showandtellsThese are some of the books we got for Archaeology.

We only read “The Magic School Bus Shows and Tells” the other was just too dry.

There is a Magic School Bus episode by the same name also.

digforcluesThis book has been my favorite introduction to Archaeology so far.

Look what happened the first time we used it three years ago!

I had found a really interesting looking online game about Archaeology and was so excited for the boys to check it out.

It did not have a way to pin it to Pinterest so I just tried to keep the site open.

Yep, I lost it and can’t find it.

So frustrating!

Here is a list of games someone else put together that you can check out though.

If you know of a site that has an “Amy Archaeologist” can you let me know?

Thanks!

Fur Trade Era Rendezvous ~Fort Washita, Durant, OK

barracks3I had only visited one fort in Oklahoma until last weekend, Fort Gibson.

I kept wanting to visit the other forts but they just seemed too far away for a trip just to see them.

fortwallsImagine my delight when I found out that Fort Washita was on the way home from the DanMan Challenge we were going to!

Not only was it on the way but it was having it’s Fur Trade Era Rendezvous the same weekend!

barracksSo after we finished our 10K we headed to the Fort to walk around.

Isn’t that what everyone does after running that far?

ruins

fortIt was a very big fort so there was a lot of walking.

My feet protested a little but I was okay with that.

skins

saberMy boys noticed his weapon right away and asked to see it.

I really enjoy how people are passionate about sharing history at these events.

Seeing a Dragoon show you his saber is so much better than a picture in a book!

playerWe have gone to so many history events that we have started recognizing the regulars!

This guy has been at two other events that we have been to.

campsitesThe grounds were beautiful!

toysThe boys always drool all over the handmade weapons.

tenthouse

cemetaryThis fort was taken over by the Confederates during the Civil War.

dyeDying cloth.

fabricdye

teachingThis lady was great!

So full of information on dying fabric!

bugsDead bugs used for one of the colors(still used today).

fabricdye2

woolcardShowing the boys how to card wool.

carding

wool

yarn2

toolsThe Blacksmith shop.

blacksmith2

stokefire

canonThe blacksmith had a little canon that he fired.

It was loud!

canonfire

smoke

saddleThe Stables.

stables

candlemakingCandle Making.

candles

canon3

walkpathThis was a beautiful fort!

I am so glad that we got to go!

I really like to visit places like this when an event is going on, it is so much more fun to see people dressed in period clothing when going to historical places.

Most of these places have websites so I just check out their event schedule and add it to our calendar!