This is the Place

Yesterday was a very good day. My family and I got up early, dressed up in 1800s pioneer clothes, and set out for Zion. Not literally, but we went up to This is the Place State Park where we volunteer in the living history museum. It was the Mountain Man Rendevous, so we were super busy.

In the morning, my sister and I went to see the baby animals in the petting zoo. They were alive and frisky after just waking up. There are about eight or nine lambs, I think. Their names are: Montgomery, Charity, Hope, Ty, Lily, Dash, Chance, and then two others that I can't remember. There are three kids as well (baby goats) and they're named Sally, Gizmo, and Oakley. Sally and Oakley are my favorites, with Sally being the biggest and Oakley the smallest and youngest of the group. Sally is super affectionate, and she fell asleep in my lap while I was petting her. Oakley is fearless and curious. She was the only one brave enough to cross the bridge over the stream in the corral; the others all just stood there and looked at it. Sally finally did it. She's more of a follower, but she's sweet.

Later in the day, my "Pa" and sisters and I went down to look at the Mountain Man Rendevous site. We shot bow and arrows (I got a 60 lb. pull bow, and I hit the bulls-eye!), churned butter, made arrowheads, and, the best part: I got to learn how to throw tomohawks!!! It was so awesome! My littlest sister beat me in the competition, so now I have to iron her dress next week (if she remembers ;) but it was really cool. I loved it, because I could actually do it!

In late morning, my parents and my friend, Shandy (she's the employee who works in the house where we are at) left for lunch. We hadn't been busy all day, with three or four people at a time coming to tour the house and see how to weave rugs. Then, as soon as they were out of sight...there were over 75 people who wanted to tour and weave and make tipis!!! For a whole hour, I was teaching kids (and parents) how to make the tipis stand up with sticks and tape (not authentic, but that's what we did) and my sister was showing them how to weave. I also gave a whole bunch of tours, which was really embarrassing because I didn't know much about the house or the people who lived in it. But, we got through it. Just as my parents and Shandy came back, lo and behold, everyone was leaving. I say that that just isn't fair. My mother has great timing.

All in all, I enjoyed it very much. I got to help people and see how happy little kids were when they put their tipis on their heads and scrambled down the lane. The only minus in the day was that by the time I had gotten home, my face was as red as my petticoat. Since I couldn't see when wearing my bonnet (it's like being a horse with blinders on, or sticking your head out of a mailbox) I hadn't worn it while helping people. Unbeknownst to me, I had slowly been recieving a heck of a sunburn.

Thank goodness for aloe vera.