field trip!

The week before Thanksgiving...we are using it to play catch up on some school projects and not starting anything new.  It seemed like the perfect opportunity to take a field trip, too!  I've lived in McLean County long enough to remember what kids did for fun before a fantastic children's museum and other kid-friendly activities arrived.  I've taken many children to the McLean County Museum of History, but never my own.  They loved it!!

 We started with an airplane and won Josiah's heart immediately.

 They look like they should be locked up, don't they?

 Well, maybe not this poor soul.

 The hands-on pioneer room was the favorite, favorite place to spend time.  Rachel kept reminding me that pioneers did not smile.  Umm, for the camera, anyway.

 He couldn't help but smile.

The reason I wanted to go the museum now: there is a temporary exhibit showcasing how our food has changed from the 1820's to the present.  There were 4 kitchens representing 4 different eras in our county's history. 

I took a picture of each menu, telling the kids I was looking for supper ideas. Liver pie wasn't really on their list of fun things they wanted to try.

 

 I found some of this information to be fascinating, considering the food journey we have been on with Josiah.

 This sign is particularly telling.  We can eat nothing with the name Campbell's on it now.  Eric laughed when he read "better tasting than homemade."

"Since 1969 some 3,000 additives have been put in American foods.  The impact of these additives can be both good and bad, but additives are unnecessary if one eats an ample and varied diet of whole foods."

The food exhibit is only here until January, and is well worth the effort to see. 

When we left for the musuem, my kids have never even considered that their WAS history in McLean County.  Now they know even Abraham Lincoln spent a considerable amount of time here, and that we can boast a vice president.  I heard my junior high son exclaiming over things I cannot believe he didn't know!  Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours on a Monday afternoon.