Spring into Spring ...

So what do you do when Daddy's day is booked?

 

Well, in general, Mommy generally tends to be more comfortable staying close to home. However, armed with my trusty Garmin (THANK YOU, Mom and Dad!!!!), I decided to make what could have been a rather blah day without Daddy into a special one at a local Spring Festival. We would have loved for him to be able to join us, but it was still a ton of fun! :)

The main part of the festival was a living history farm/village, so we enjoyed exploring lots of old buildings and learning how people did things a few generations ago. After seeing some baby bunnies and ducklings, the plow horses caught our attention.

Even more of an adventure? Hannah and Peter got to help plow a loop around the field! They had a new appreciation for our gas-powered tiller, although Hannah might have been considering that it would make reasonable justification for her desire to have a horse ... :)

We then learned about the process of turning wool into thread ... we watched them shear sheep ...

The kids washed and dried small bundles of wool ...

And then they carded the wool and twisted it into yarn. My crafty Hannah-bug particularly enjoyed getting involved in the whole process. :)

And what was Peter particularly interested in? The Home Depot wood-craft tent set up just outside the living history farm. Now. I was obviously out of my box this day. Because if I had been in it, I would have realized that ONE Mommy and THREE children with hammers, nails, and glue is NOT a good combination. But thankfully, I wasn't in my box and gamely dove in with my crew.

It was only after they had their kits and their aprons and their hammers that I realized how totally out of my league I was. I needed four more hands and fast. And it'd help if those hands were more skilled at hammering than the ones I have presently.

The Lord answered before I'd hardly had time to pray, and He did not turn me into an octopus. :) I must have looked as overwhelmed as I felt, because within minutes of the kids sitting down, two kind gentlemen came alongside and asked if they could help the kids. I gladly accepted their kind offers. So, with the two hands God gave me, I helped Peter.

 A kind Home Depot man helped Matthew.

 

And another kind grandpa helped Hannah. I was blessed. I am so thankful for these two men who came alongside a more than slightly frazzled Mommy trying to do something special with her kiddos. :)

And then just before catching the bus back to the parking lot, we saw our first butterflies of the year in the butterfly garden. Exciting times! :)

So thankful for the special memories with my kiddos! ♥