Little House Feels Like Home

We woke bright and EARLY as the HOT Wyoming sun was beaming down on our tent. We all rolled around for about 45 minutes pretending that we weren't miserably hot and might go back to sleep before we finally gave up and left the tent. I am pretty sure it was about 6:30 am . We stuffed some bagels and Pop Tarts down the kids (I know my Dad will be mad at me about that!)  and went to get Kathleen and Tammy at their hotel.

This was the big day that I had been waiting for. We were finally going to be in DeSmet, SD and go to the Ingalls Homestead! This may not seem like much to some people, but I grew up memorizing everything about Laura Ingalls. My sister and I played Little House On The Prarie by the hour.  It was not uncommon for me to walk around for the entire day with a pair of my Mom's pantyhose on my head, pretending that each leg was one of my braids. 

We drove, switching driving partners and kids along the way.  When we got there we walked into the Visitors Center with Tessa nipping at my heels like a small dog, begging me for a bonnet. Of course I bought her one right away, Matt had to hold me back so that I wouldn't buy her the over-priced matching dress and pinafore. 

We walked all around the homestead and visited the barn, with 4 new kittens and a calf. From there we went to the house that Pa built and made butter, rested on beds filled with hay and tested out the old fashioned system for washing clothes. The kids could of made rag dolls and button string toys but they were very egear to get to the next thing, a covered wagon ride to the school house. We got into the wagon and the driver let all the kids take turn driving. 

The end of covered wagon ride brought us to the little school house. We put on our bonettes, and pinafores and sat at our little desks. The teacher talked to the kids about what life and school would have been like in Laura's day and what she might have eaten for lunch. 

After that we rode back to the barn and the kids took little pony rides, pumped some water from the well and we payed another visit to the kittens before we left. 

After we left there we drove to our hotel. Yes, I said hotel. After 2 nights of setting up our tent in the dark and waking up really early Matt agreed to a hotel :) We got there and Kathleen and I asked if  they could put our rooms close to each other, so Matt and I got an upgrade. It was heavenly.