Visit to Fort Vancouver

We had visitors in town and took them to see some of the sites in Vancouver. Our first stop was the Museum at Fort Vancouver. (http://www.nps.gov/fova/)Here you see Abigail admiring the furs. We got to talk about life in the old west, and discuss the uses of furs "back in the olden days, like when you were a kid, Mommy".



Steven was fascinated by this contraption... it was labled as a safe, but I had him convinced that it was jail for naughty little boys who disobeyed. The little boy next to him was visiting the museum with his family. He thought Steven was the official tour guide. (and so did Steven!) They wandered around the small museum while Steven explained everything to his new little friend. (Explained= reiterated everything he had heard so far and inserted lots of colorful "facts" that he came up with on his own!)

Gillian was intruigued by this display - you can barely see it, but on the right side of the case is a twist of tobacco. She had a lot of fun guessing what it was... and when I told her it was tobacco, the stuff in cigarrettes... she got a funny look on her face, almost as if to say "That is the largest, strangest-looking cigarette, how do they smoke THAT?"

Outside the museum was, of course, a gift shop. The kids each got to buy one "sugar stick". I told them that I remembered visiting Ft. Vancouver with my grandmother, and that was my favorite thing about the whole trip... picking out a sugar stick for 10cents (they are a quarter now.) It seemed like the selection was quite a bit smaller than I remembered it, but none-the-less, it took the kids an eternity to pick which flavor they wanted. In the end I think it was: A-Bubble Gum, G-Raspberry, S-CherryCola, Mom-Butterscotch (my fav!) At the shop they also had a collection of old-time "passport" stamps that Steven was intrigued with (pictured above/right) Thankfully we managed to get out of there without ANY ink on his hands, shirt or mother!

Just outside the museum was a small play area. The kids got their wiggles out while the grown-up looked at their maps and information and set up the game-plan for the day.That is Abby, enjoying her sugar stick on the swings.

Steven really wanted to zoom along on the "flying fox" but he was too afraid to jump out and grab the handle.














He decided it was MUCH safer to climb up and over and ease himself down over it from the top.


We headed for the fort itself, and outside the walls was a lovely garden that demonstrated the kinds of crops that were grown to support the fort. Steven found the compost pile and retreived a few "sea biscuits" from a pile of ashes there. Honestly I had no idea what they were... looked more to me like they were buffalo chips used for fire - so I told him to put them down, "No, Steven I don't think that is a cookie, it might be poop." He was excited to hear about how poop was burned as a fuel.















This cute picture to the right shows the girls are enjoying beer at an early age.



(FOR THE RECORD***this is a play on words... my daughters are not drinking beer, but enjoying the shade of the hopps. The plants growing in an arch are young hopps, they are used to make beer.)



Although the grown ups really enjoyed inspecting all the flora and fauna... Steven got tired of waiting, "Come ON guys! Can't we go in yet? How long do we have to wait?"


He even tried to get a sneak preview...




















We had a lovely time! Saw a real working blacksmith,































We also saw a cook baking in a stone oven and she let us try grating a block of sugar and a block of tea like the people had to (sorry no pictures of that), then we visited the main house and tasted a few wine grapes off the vine growing on the porch...
















...but mostly... we PLAYED WITH THE CANNONS!!! The cannons were the biggest hit. Steven was especially frustrated that the steel balls for ammunition were welded to the ground.








































When we got home, Steven's creative play took on several recognizable aspects of our recent visit to the fort...

...and here are the casualties after the "cannons" were shot.