Happy Family Times #30--Visit to the Iron Works

Have you had a fun adventure with your family or a relaxing time? We would love to hear about it. Kelly at Happy Whimsical Hearts and I are collecting our family activities in hopes to inspire all of us to have more quality family time. Please share below!

Pop, Hazel, and Mimi waiting for tour to start

This week we had my parents visit for a long weekend. We did some fun things with them, but I think the most interesting was visiting the Iron Works. It is a National Historic Site. You may remember in September I blogged about going to an iron pour there. This time we went for the Industrial Site Tour. A group of tiger scouts went as well. They kind of took over the tour and Hazel did not have the patience for the entire tour, so we left a bit early. It was really interesting though.

Iron Works--View from above Blast Furnace

So the Saugus Iron Works is first place in America to use this method to make iron. It was started by Governor Winthrop who wanted Massachusetts Colony to be independent of England. Originally they tried to start one in Braintree, but that was a failure due to poor choices. Then they brought over an engineer named Leder to build it. He choose this site and got it working. He also insisted on bringing in people from Europe to run it which of course the Puritans did not like since they were not as strict about their lifestyle.

Blast Furnace

The most interesting thing is that this site is celebrated because it went bankrupt. As a result all the trained workers spread throughout the company starting new iron works and developing the iron and eventually steel industry in America. Going on the tour, they actually do have some of the wheels turn and do some of the actions of the iron works. All of this site is rebuilt. Since it went bankrupt, the original went into disrepair. They found the foundations and some parts and rebuilt it where the buildings actually were.

We also went into the Rolling and Slitting Mill. Here again they spun the wheel for us, but even more interesting was that they used the large hammer and anvil. We had to cover our ears.

After this Hazel got antsy, so we left the tour. We missed going into the Forge. We however got to enjoy looking at the map which is where the tour started but the tiger scouts were crowded around so we could not get close.

Hazel enjoyed feeling it. The Park Ranger had poured water in it to show us how it would have run back in the 1600's.

Overall it was a fun visit! We know we will go back again and see the rest of the tour. Check out the museum some more and go on the tour of the house.

I must say fall was a beautiful time to visit there though!

Saugus River

Now it is your turn to share how your family has spent some quality time lately.

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Ok, now for our PARTY!! Please share your FUN Family Times!!

Multicultural Monday: Halloween

Now that the church's Pumpkin Patch with Holiday Craft Fair is over, I can focus my efforts on sewing Hazel's Halloween costume. Since I'm working on Halloween now, I thought I would look into the history of Halloween and how it is celebrated around the world.

Puzzle Piece Ghost Pin or Magnet

Sharing Saturday is open!! Please share your child-oriented crafts and activities or come to be inspired!

Today at the Pumpkin Patch we had a simple craft that I found in All New Crafts for Halloween by Kathy Ross. To make them you cut the sides of a puzzle piece and paint the piece white. Then we had the kids draw on the faces and if they wanted add glitter or color. Then they decided if they wanted to glue a pin back to them or use a piece of magnet tape. Above is the pin I made. The glitter originally said Boo, but I didn't let it dry and of course messed it up.  Below is Hazel's magnet. The original pins in the book were made with smaller puzzle pieces and had two ghosts glued together to the pin. We used the larger pieces since we already had them. The person who painted them white said it took about five coats of paint. I'm not sure what she used though.

Sharing Saturday #42

Ok, I am apologizing for not visiting everyone who shared last week. I have been a bit crazy this week. Our church is having a huge Pumpkin Patch with Holiday Craft Fair tomorrow and I'm in charge of the craft fair and somehow have picked up some of the other things for the rest of it as well. Feeling a bit stressed today. Then on top of it my parents decided to come for a visit for a long weekend, so I'm trying to get ready for tomorrow and entertain. So I promise I will visit them all, but for now I will focus on getting ready for and through tomorrow. I still urge you to go check out all the great ideas shared. Here is the most clicked last week. To check it out please click on the picture!

Since I have the Pumpkin Patch on my mind, I thought it was only appropriate to share pumpkin ideas (ok and one candy corn idea since I loved it!).

1) From Mama Smiles: Jack O' Lantern Chains
2) From Life on Lakeshore Drive: Pumpkin and Pine Cone Fireplace Garland
3) From Learning Ideas - Grades K-8: Jack O' Lantern Clocks
4) From The Usual Mayhem: Folk Art Pumpkins
5) From We-Made-That: Jack O' Lantern Pancakes
6) From One Creative Mama: Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pancakes--Gluten Free
7) From Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk: Pumpkin Traditions
8) From The Messy Roost: Candy Corn Wreath

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog.

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From Your Hostess: Autumn Nature Walks and Crafts with Nature Treasures

 

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All right everyone...This is a PARTY!! Have Fun!!

Autumn Nature Walks & Crafts

The last few days Hazel and I have taken nature walks. The autumn colors are so beautiful around here. We bring along her red wagon and a pail in which to put our treasures.

When she gets tired of walking, I pull her and she then takes any treasure I pick up and pretends I'm paying her and the pail becomes the cash register. 

One day it was particularly windy and Hazel commented on how the leaves were racing. I asked her which one was going to win, but she wasn't sure. We tried to get a picture of the leaves floating around, but had no luck. However we did get a pleasant surprise at the other end of the street.

Have I mentioned that Hazel loves cement mixers! And to watch the cement go up the big thing and back down to form the basement walls was really neat. We picked the perfect time to walk!

Now on these walks we have been gathering lots of treasures. Most of the treasures are leaves of every color. We bring them home and I have been sealing them with Mod Podge.

My craft room has several spots that look like this. Ugh!! The leaves are taking over and she keeps wanting more. Now we need to get crafting with them again. We made a few pictures.

Hazel's Leaf Fairy

My Leaf Fairy

My Leaf Owl

My favorite treasure thus far however is this huge pine cone we found. I have never seen one so big before.

We will share some of the pine cone crafts we have been doing at a later date. Enjoy!!