Foxfire Fieldtrip

The kids and I ventured out on our first fieldtrip with the co-op this year. I had been hesitant in the past since my gang is so little and sometimes the fieldtrips aren't geared for the girls' ages (especially Ella). However, this fieldtrip appeared to be mostly outside and the weather was supposed to be gorgeous so I thought I would give it a try.

I wasn't sure what "Foxfire" was but later learned that it was a group of students who wanted to build awareness about an old lifestyle of the Southern Appalachia people. The "museum" had been historically designed and reconstructed to show the lives of these people. Foxfire was names such because of the fungi plant that grows up in the hills and actually GLOWS at night.

We carpooled up with Susan and her daughter, Avery, a little girl in Harbin's class. The drive was about an hour and a half up to Mountain City, but the litte towns and scenery were beautiful on the way up and the kids enjoyed one another's company and I like having an adult's company on the car ride up.

We met up with two other families from the co-op and started the hike up the huge hill (this was kind of unexpected to me and the stroller was quite a burden). Our tour guide stopped along the way and we were able to see a one bedroom home where they would have lived, eaten and slept (with 10 kids in it at one time). The kids were fascinated to see the "rope" crib which I know the American Association of Pediatrics would definitely scoff at!!! We also learned about "tightening" the ropes that took the place of a boxspring and why the term "sleep tight" was coined as such.

We also got to see a weaver and learned the process wool takes from the time it's sheared to the time it's put on the weaving loom. The girls were fascinated to see that the loom did exactly the same thing as their little weaving loom, just on a much larger scale.

The blacksmith station was my favorite and the kids enjoyed getting to help "fan the flames" of the fire and watch the tour guide make an S-hook out of a simple straight piece of iron.

At the top, we were able to visit the chapel/schoolhouse and since Ella, Lydia and I were lagging behind, we got to hear the wonderful sounds of our group singing Jesus Loves Me coming from this beautiful structure. Also, outside the church we were able to try our hand at walking on stilts. Surprisingly I was able to get up and take a few steps!!!

We left the museum and headed for lunch. Slightly nervous about our decision we chose a Japanese Hibatchi grill that was inside a gas station. It was REALLY delicious and the staff was super nice. So I guess we learned not to judge a book by it's cover or a restaurant by it's location!!!

Anyways, the trip was fun and I got some cool pics of the kids. The weather was gorgeous and we were so excited to get to spend the day outside!
The mom.