Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Pioneer Weekend Update

Just a quick update on our Pioneer weekend. The date has been changed to October 12th and 13th! We actually get there on the afternoon of the 11th (oh, one month from tomorrow I just noticed) but visitors can't come until the Saturday the 12th. I know a few people have been making plans to visit so I just wanted to let you know! One step closer to being Ma Ingalls!

I did get a few updates on the actual weekend that I thought would be fun to share.

1) We don't get to shower! (Although they do give us homemade soap to wash up with in the cabin) we don't even get to bring toothpaste. (They give us some kind of tooth powder) We get to bring a toothbrush, underwear and shoes.
2) There will be a barn dance to welcome us. I'm hoping this dance is the first evening when we arrive so I still look somewhat presentable to be meeting strangers.
3) They are having a church service on Sunday and I get to ring the church bell!
4) I will be spinning on a drop spindle.
5) There will be butter churning.
6) My husband gets to make all of the decisions and decide if he wants to help on any of the household chores that my children (that I don't have) would be usually be doing as traditional gender roles will be followed that weekend.
7) There will be physical labor for my husband and possibly a visit to the tinsmith or cooper to try his hand at those items.
8) The bathroom is fairly far away and we are the only people in the whole LARGE dark village that night. There is a person up at the main modern building with a walkie talkie in case we break a leg or something. Other than that, we are out there alone!
9) I think that scary water yoke thing was mine to haul water with.

And just a note to those of you planning to visit, there is a coupon in the entertainment book for buy one admission get one free.

14 comments:

lianna26 said...

We will be there with bells on, well actually I think we will leave the bell-ringing to you Ma Ingalls!
Is your girlie going to come to visit you with grandma and grandpa?
You two are going to be the cutest!!!!

Christine said...

Yes, she'll be there! Wearing her pioneer dress of course! She'll only come for part of one of the days though!

Christine said...

So glad you'll be visiting us!

Teamcarbone said...

Other than the bathing situation I think you're going to have a blast. Seriously a barn dance, that sounds like a lot of fun. Hm Will gets to make the decision all weekend...I think that's a fair deal seeing as this was something you really wanted to do! LOL

Karley Ziegler Mott said...

You are a BRAVE woman, Christine. Just the thought of not having the bathroom a few steps away during the night scare me, LOL :)

Christine said...

Yeah that bathroom thing gave me pause. You can bet I'm not going to be trekking there all by myself with a lantern!

The Fine Art of Motherhood said...

Ok, we'll have to check hubby's work schedule -- kinda torn between coming to see you the first day when you are less stinky ;) and the second when we can hear the details about your midnight adventures to the bathroom! It all sounds right up your alley, and really I think the being the only 2 people in the whole village sounds so cool! I would imagine you would be very tempted to wander around and peek in all the buildings at night, although I think after hauling that yoke thing around you may be too tired to move!

Unknown said...

I am sure I must have missed something. You are doing WHAT?!

Jen McQ said...

I am DYING to come up there to see you guys. I love the idea of you having to trek to the outhouse in the middle of the night. What I'm wondering is: what do they give you to use for toilet paper? I miss you.

Jen

p.s. You know your work will be harder than Will's.

Christine said...

Oh TOILET PAPER! I didn't even think about that!!! I'm betting on the real stuff. Of course I also bet on a shower. I wish you could come and see us! Although you would probably get me laughing so much that I would not be able to do my chores.

I miss you too!

And of course you like the idea of trekking through the dark to use the bathroom, YOU would be going with CARGO, worldwide (including the Galapagos Islands) adventurer. It would be like being with Indiana Jones ;-) And you can tell him I said that!

At least I don't have to chop wood!

The Fine Art of Motherhood said...

BTW -- when I mentioned this to Dad & Bridgett, B thought you should just pee outside -- I know you are out of practice, but I hear it's like riding a bike. Oh, and about the traditional gender roles and Will making the decisions -- Dad said to remind him that he'd be back living with you in the 21st century after the weekend's up!

Christine said...

You know, I think I will let your Dad mention that to Will this weekend!

As for the peeing outside thing. Um thanks for that reminder BTW. The difference of course will be that I can assure you that I will not be drunk on the pioneer weekend.

However, I may be persuaded to give it a try.....

Prairie Rose said...

Thanks for the comment -- how much those people miss!

This pioneer weekend thing looks like SO much fun. My best friend lives in Rochester, and if I didn't already have plans to visit Rocky Ridge that weekend, I'd be half tempted to go pay her a visit just so I could check it out!!

Will be looking forward to reading the full report when it's over!

Christine said...

Thanks Prairie Rose!

Small world! Your friends lives in Rochester! Have you ever Visited the Genesee Country Village when you've visited. If not, you must! You'll love it. They actually just had a Laura Ingalls day and it was a blast. We even got to see Nellie Olsen from the show. (I'm kind of a purist about the books but it WAS neat.)

Rocky Ridge huh! Neat! I've been to DeSmet before (though I didn't sleep in a covered wagon!) My best friend and I always say that someday we'll have to take our girls on a tour of all the sites (like old men do with baseball stadiums!)