State Study

The beginning of July started with a study of our state. (yes, I'm a little behind on posting!) We learned when we became a state, state facts, about our flag, some famous people, and how our state got it's nickname! We "tried" to learn about our towns history as well. We had 3 field trips, our first one was to our towns historical society. They had some good things to check out there. We were able to see pictures of the Indian chief who our town is named after, and pictures of the 2 families that started our town.
I'm going to share some information and pictures from our second field trip. We went to Gene Stratton Porter historical site. I've always loved the gardens here and I've wanted to go in the house for a long time. (I went once when I was a little girl, but didn't remember anything about it!) Before we went we did a little bit of research on Mrs. Porter, learning some basic information about her.
The woman that conducted our tour was REALLY good. She shared a lot of information. I was really impressed with Mrs. Porters life. She sounded like the kind of person I would love to sit down with over a cup of coffee.
A couple of things that really stuck out to me: Her photography skills, they were really impressive. She once took a camera up a tree to capture a baby blue jay. (The camera would've weighed over 40 pounds.) She climbed the tree with it and then sat there all day waiting til she got the shot she wanted.
The other thing was the way she built her house. She wouldn't have had an architect, it would've just been her planning it. It's a beautiful house. One of my favorite things were these huge bins in a cupboard that held her main baking supplies. It made me want to redo my kitchen, it was so neat!
I would recommend going on the tour and taking a peek into the life of Gene Stratton Porter.

Wouldn't you love to sit here with a cup of coffee and admire the view!


Can you see what's hidden in the fireplace? (she had multiple hidden pictures in it)



Her actual chair...



My beautiful mom and 4 of her beautiful grandkids! Thanks so much mom for going with us!


4 cute monkeys!