Thursday, July 23, 2009

Happy Pioneer Day

In honor of Pioneer Day, Josh, Benjamin and I went to This Is The Place Heritage Park along with my friend Lucinda and her two boys and nephew. She had a buy one, get one free deal so I figured I could handle it monetarily. We really lucked out though. Right as we got there, some lady asked us if we wanted to get in on her season pass. The people she had invited to come with her ended up not coming and her pass could get in up to 6 adults and 6 kids. Sweet!

They have it set up like Utah looked like back in Pioneer days, complete with volunteers dressed up in pioneers clothes working in the yard, shops, hotels, schools and stores. They would talk to you about what life was like for them as a pioneer. It was really cool. Josh went to a leather shop and was able to stamp out a piece of leather.

They also had a little pony ride. I was actually pretty surprised that Josh went on the pony all by himself.

Here is the baby animal area where you could pet the lambs and goats. Josh was all about the lambs. He wasn't too sure about the goats though. I think the horns scared him a little bit.

They also had a little play town the kids could play in. There was a big train as well. Of course, Josh spent most of his time there. It was pretty funny to listen to his story line as he was playing. I had to give back my nice phone so I didn't get a good video.

Outside of the pioneer area, they have a monument to different pioneer groups.

This is a picture of the statue honoring the handcart pioneers. We have ancestors that came across the plains in the Martin Handcart Company.

This is a picture of Bryant Stringham's name. He is my great-great-grandfather who came across the plains with the first group of pioneers and Brigham Young. He was there when Brigham Young said, "This is the right place, drive on."
Even with the heat and the major sunburn on my neck afterwards, it was such a fun day. It was great to think back on the pioneers and all that they did. We will definitely make this a tradition!

1 comment:

Lu said...

That was a fun day! I'm glad that we could go together. My boys and Brandon really enjoyed it too.