The Sam Houston Folk Festival

Friday was my birthday and we celebrated with a wonderful family day! We woke up very early, had a wonderfully healthy breakfast courtesy of Whataburger (I love those honey butter chicken biscuits!), and headed out to the Sam Houston Folk Festival! There aren't many field trips that my local homeschool group attends that are inexpensive or age appropriate, but this one seemed really fun! It was a festival celebrating the life and times of General Sam Houston who won the battle against the Mexican General Santa Anna, was the president of the Republic of Texas and was later a governor of the newly annexed Texas. Not being a native Houstonian or Texan, I knew nothing about him really, but thought it would be a fun outing, a good way to see what this lovely state has to offer for future educational trips, and a great way to celebrate my birthday!

It ended up being a lot of fun! We got to see children dancing traditional Mexican dances, watched demonstrations from a blacksmith and on glass blowing, and saw lots of people dressed up in period costumes. They had two army vehicles on site and a few men dressed in uniform. I told the girls that these men were Heroes and asked Jordan if she wanted to give them a hug. She surprised me by walking right over :-) Too cute!

It must be said that I am a TOTAL HOMESCHOOL MOM DORK now! I think I was always interested in history, but not like this. . . I loved hearing how people did things back in the 1800s!!! They had a woman spinning sheep's wool on a spindle. I have read and watched Sleeping Beauty countless times, and must confess I never really thought about what those things were used for, much less cared to see a demonstration on one, but Friday I was fascinated! She had a group of children around her and I was the one asking all the questions! How did she get the wool on there to begin with? How does she pull it to make that thin string of wool? How does she make several pieces of wool become one joined piece? It was so cool! Yes, I am a dork!

I was also super excited to see a local Bee Farmer there! We have been watching the Magic School Bus episode on honey and how it is made, a lot. Although the girls love it, I think I watch it for myself half the time because I learn so much from this show!! The farmer had all his supplies and tools out on the table, and I asked if they were giving demonstrations. He said he could if anyone was interested, which of course I said that we were! The girls watched for the most part, but again I was the biggest dork listening intently to the entire process. After the demonstration, I did what any good homeschooling mama would do -- asked if they give tours/field trips at his farm (answer: they haven't before, but they could if someone was interested!), got his card, and purchased a jar (for educational purposes of course)!

We also watched a woman demonstrating how they wrote back then, using the ink well, pen and paper. Gregg and I both found this interesting, as she described how the paper itself was delicate, as was the fresh ink on the page, so you had to write slower and at that angle to keep the paper from tearing and ink from smudging. Writing a letter back then was truly a labor of love, a gift that was done by stopping, and taking time out of your day to write to a loved one. How quick is it to rattle off an email nowadays, and maybe say things that we wish we wouldn't! This woman had her children around her, and I wasn't surprised to learn they were homeschoolers!! She told us of many historical balls and festivals in Texas that really celebrate history, which I am very excited to learn more about!

The girls loved looking at all the items up for sale, the pinatas, the pictures, the dancers, people and animals -- but their favorite part was watching the ducks and turtles in the large pond! We sat down and watched some very fiesty ducks and tried to take a picture of an elusive turtle for a long time, before hiking back in the lovely Texan humidity to our van!

Yes, it was a WONDERFUL birthday! Also, thanks to all of the wonderful grandparents for my wonderful birthday present -- an AWESOME new camera!! Woo Hoo!!