Utah trip: This is the Place

Andrew worked at This is the Place Heritage Park this summer, and Aaron and Emily's families volunteered there once a week. We went there on their day. 

Andrew walked around and sang with a little group. Some days he narrated the train tour. What a fun summer job!

They rotate which house they work in each time. They talk about the pioneer family that lived there and what day-to-day life was like. In this house they demonstrate cooking on the wood stove. Emily made chicken noodle soup.

The kids get to hang out at the house or wander around the park. What a fun thing they get to do every summer!

Troy's sister Joy volunteers too. I don't think I'd seen her since Troy and Emily's wedding! 

 They even have cute pioneer clothes for Margot.

 A bunch of cousins walked around the place with us. We especially enjoyed the pottery house.

 And the dentist/doctor/barber shop was hilarious. First he pretended to pull out Brennan's tooth.

 Then he gave him a shave. He was quite entertaining.

We stopped by Marrisse's place too. The person who lived in this house was an artist.

 The highlight of the day for Chloe was the pony ride and horse stable. 

Peter and Dallin were just barely short enough to do it.  

 Funny ducks!

 The blacksmith was also very entertaining.

We all met back at Emily's place for lunch - chicken noodle soup with herbs from the garden. Emily and Marrisse went home (they have a 4 hour shift), while we stayed a couple more hours.

After lunch we headed up to the Indian village. They had dancing in an air-conditioned tepee.

This was one of my favorite things there. I loved it! 

Next we panned for gold. It was shady and relaxing. 

Of course it wasn't real gold (I think it was iron pyrite), but it was shiny and fun to find. 

A little train went around the whole park, and we could get on and off whenever we wanted. 

 Chloe has told me several times that she want to go back there and ride the train.

They made arrowhead/bead necklaces. Andrew told us that one day his job was to remove the "Made in India" stickers from the arrowheads. Haha!!

We were all pretty tired by this point, so we made one final stop at the candy shop and then drove to Aaron's house for dinner.

 It was a beautiful, relaxing evening. We ate outside and visited until the sun went down.

Chloe loved playing with Katrina! They were instant friends. 

Cuties!