It was a short hike to the homestead and we enjoyed every minute of it. Along the way we caught about 5 butterflies, looked at the biggest spider I've ever seen, watched tons of dragonflies, saw a frog jumping in a puddle of water, and played with sticks. We noticed several times that leaves seemed to levitate in mid-air (but then we would look closer and we always found a spider web attached to them).
When we reached the homestead, we learned a lot about life in the 1850s. When the family would find the spot that they wanted to build their new home on, they would build a quick sod house so that they would have shelter while they built their main house which could take up to a year to complete. This is a picture of the little temporary sod house. I believe that this particular house is not authentic. I think I heard that it was built just to demonstrate what it might have looked like.
The main house was just amazing. It was built around 1850 near what is now Butterfield Stage Road in Highland Village and it was moved to this location for safekeeping. It is an authentic log cabin with sod and clay mortar. It is one room with a small attic space where the children would sleep.
Because of the difficulties in traveling back then, people brought very few items with them when they moved. Ladies had a hope chest and typically would only bring as much as they could fit into the chest. We learned that the family would make their own furniture, plates, tools, clothing, blankets, etc. once they arrive at their new homestead.
Notice the bowls at the base of the table legs. These could be purchased from the Sears and Roebuck catalogs and they were used to keep ants off of the table. The larger bowl would be filled with water or oil to form a barrier that the ants could not cross. People would cook over an open fire pit, in a clay oven or some even built smoke houses near the main house.
Here's an authentic spinning wheel.
Here's a unique design feature that is distinct to the Texas region. Due to limited space and great effort in having to build furniture, some people would build one-legged beds in the corner of a room. Some beds, like this one, were particularly short. Since allergens are abundant in this area and there was no allergy medicine back then, people in this region often slept sitting up to help with drainage during the night and allow for better sleep.
Emma Rae, Mrs. Deb, Nicholas, and me.
The kids had a great time but you know they are starting to get tired when you see the energetic little beings looking for a place to sit down!
We hiked a little farther to a Lookout spot over the lake. Mr. Tim tried to get a picture of the children and told them "Show your teeth" to try to get them to smile. Nicholas took that request literally and started pointing to his teeth!
We hiked some more but soon found the trail to be under water for a short distance. Yes, we could have braved the waters but they were a little murky and had a stink that Stuart says probably wouldn't wash off so we all decided to back track the trail the way we had come. The little ones were getting really tired of walking by then as we were probably a mile into the trail so we were glad that the Daddys were there to help carry them out. The six of them were all so cute together as they walked along the trail singing "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" and the "ABC song"
Being the Super Mom that she is, Mrs. Deb again had Fla-Vor-Ice for everyone when we got back to the cars! What a perfect way to cool off!
We decided to release the butterflies before we left. Nicholas had so much fun doing this. One butterfly particularly liked him!
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