Walnut Grove, MN

We just got back from a weekend in Walnut Grove, MN, which is the place Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about in On the Banks of Plum Creek. Here are the highlights:

1. Attending the live Wilder Pagaent - We had great seats in the outdoor amphitheater and enjoyed the special lighting and effects - even though they meant the pagaent started at 9:00 at night! We didn't get Ellie into bed until 11:30, but since we had planned out whole trip around it, it was well worth it. (She actually fell asleep in the car during the 7-minute ride back to our motel - OUR daughter!)

2. Touring the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum - If you're ever three and a half hours southeast of the Cities, we highly recommend this! It had seen different buildings, including a sod house, a church, a schoolhouse, and an old-fashioned touch-everything and pretend house. Our make-believe-crazed girl had a blast being a teacher and a pastor, scrubbing and ironing clothes, dressing up in old-fashioned outfits, and much more. (The last member of the family is Bear in the second picture.)

3. Playing disc golf at Plum Creek Park - they had a great, hilly course and we were all sweaty and out of breath. We had to cross Plum Creek a couple of times and got to see Lake Laura before picnicking in the shade. (That's Ana and me in the prairie grasses. We spent a lot of time looking for our discs out there. Isaac beat me by two throws per hole.) 4. Participating in a Family Festival - Isaac's teenage sister Ana (who came with us) spent hours working on a tile mosaic, while Ellie played at the playground, did a few craft projects, performed "shows" for spectators sitting on benches, and mostly bossed Isaac around.

We had a great time. Isaac and I know far more than we ever thought we would about the Ingalls family and the history of Walnut Grove!