Adam surprised us all this weekend with a trip to Malabar Farm for the Maple Syrup Festival. The sugar only "runs" for a few weeks every year, and we've never made it up there on the right weekend before. Here are the Littles waiting in line for the horse-drawn wagons to take us up to the sugar shack.
There were a lot of people visiting the farm this weekend, so they had 10 wagons running at a time. We didn't get to ride in one of the covered wagons, but the kids wanted me to take a picture of one anyway.
The view as we were riding in our wagon.
Passing other wagons on our way up the hill.
Heath looking in one of the buckets.
The kids liked to see how much sugar sap was in the buckets as we passed them.
Some of the presenters.
Not historically accurate, by the way. Evidently before the arrival of the Europeans, only the women and the children made the sugar. After the Europeans arrived, the native Americans taught them how to make the sugar, then traded them other goods for sugar instead of making it themselves.
The kids watching the process.
The kids watching the process.
The native Americans made huge troughs out of logs. They heated the sugar syrup to boiling by constantly placing hot rocks from a nearby fire into the syrup. This presenter was pulling the cooled rocks out of the syrup, placing them back in the fire, then bringing over new hot rocks.
Sugar steam rising when a new rock is placed in the syrup. The presenters said it would smell like cotton candy, but we all thought it smelled like maple syrup.
When the Europeans came over, they brought metal pots. Now the syrup could be boiled directly over the fire.
Heath checking out another bucket.
Sugar steam rising when a new rock is placed in the syrup. The presenters said it would smell like cotton candy, but we all thought it smelled like maple syrup.
When the Europeans came over, they brought metal pots. Now the syrup could be boiled directly over the fire.
Heath checking out another bucket.
I didn't get a picture of the modern vats, because we've been to a friend's sugar shack before.
Taking a break to eat hot dogs that were boiled in sugar sap. They were better than that sounds! There was a live folk bank playing in the other room, but it was too crowded for us to find seats in there.
In the wagon heading back down the hill.
We stayed in Bellville in the hotel with the small water park. Here the kids are ready to go.
Heath's way in the background with me, though you can't really see us. We didn't get any other pictures of Heath because he spend most of the night on the water slide and it wasn't safe to have the camera near all of the splashing. The girls loved the side with the baby pool.
Carrie is waiting for another bucket of water to douse her in the splash zone.
More splash zone shots.
Back at the room in new jammies.
Taking a break to eat hot dogs that were boiled in sugar sap. They were better than that sounds! There was a live folk bank playing in the other room, but it was too crowded for us to find seats in there.
In the wagon heading back down the hill.
We stayed in Bellville in the hotel with the small water park. Here the kids are ready to go.
Heath's way in the background with me, though you can't really see us. We didn't get any other pictures of Heath because he spend most of the night on the water slide and it wasn't safe to have the camera near all of the splashing. The girls loved the side with the baby pool.
Carrie is waiting for another bucket of water to douse her in the splash zone.
More splash zone shots.
Back at the room in new jammies.
1 comment:
What great family time!
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