Camlann Medieval Village–Homeschool Field Trip

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This weekend, we took the kids to Camlann Medieval Village.  It is a living history village about an hour from Seattle, Washington.  Both our family and Alissa’s family went together, and we took all of the kids, not just the homeschooled ones.  We had a blast!

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The blacksmith entertained Michaela by putting arrowheads he had forged on her fingers and then they roared like wild animals.  He was so patient with her, and explained the whole blacksmithing process to all of us who were watching, but took extra time with an enamored Michaela.

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One of the cottages had a fiber display.  It was very interactive, and the guide spent a great deal of time with the girls I was with, and let them weave on this loom.

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Jake and Patsy had a great time feeding the sheep.

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My sister, Gail, the field trip queen, chose this weekend to go because there was a May Day festival going on.  There are other festivals at other times of the year, and some weekends are “village” weekends.  It was explained to us that on festival weekends they hire entertainment such as the magician who did a show, musicians, and a few others.  Those people are not there and one lady told me there were even more displays explaining village life and how they made things on the non-festival weekends.  At 3:30, because it was a May Day festival, there was a Maypole dance for those who wanted to participate.  Michaela, Patsy and Alissa wanted to dance it and we all enjoyed watching them.

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It was a lovely day, and we all enjoyed ourselves.

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This little guy had a stick and was WAY too cute, joining in with the musicians as they played for the Maypole.  Earlier, his mother had been a guide for the cottage where we learned about daily medieval life.  She was SO in character, and SO convincing, that Michaela exclaimed afterwards, “I had NO idea that the people really lived here, in these houses!”  She was very sincere, but was fine with it when her mama explained that these people were actors and actresses who were playing a part and were told to say those things, like in a movie.

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This little cutie was the daughter of the lady who made the flower wreaths that Alissa and Patsy wore.  She happily played with my sister, Gail, for a while as her mother was busy braiding flowers.  She had a designated babysitter, but was very friendly to Gail, too.

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There was an archery demonstration, and later on, those who wanted too could take a turn shooting.

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Jake sure wanted to!

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Alissa and her dad, Ron, both decided to goof around and sit on Rob’s lap when their legs got tired:)

There was a restaurant, where Ron and Gail got a little bite to eat, as they had not had their lunch, yet.  There were things like “fungus” (mushrooms), and stew of some sort with a medieval name.  They said it was delicious.  Later in the evening, there was going to be a medieval feast, but we chose not to participate.  It is reservation only, something you need to know if you ever go and do want to participate.  I’m sure it would have been a great experience since it included both food and entertainment, but many of our kids are not good eaters, and the expensive feast would have been wasted.  Instead, we went to a pizza parlor in the nearby town of Carnation, and everyone pigged out on their preferred foods.  They even made Michaela a peanut butter pizza, which was basically bread with peanut butter on it, placed in triangles on a pizza board.  She was so happy, as her food choices are very limited.  Then Ron and Rob took the big kids to the movies, and Gail and I stayed back with Jake and Michaela, and just rested.  Ahhhhh….

This morning, Rob and I drove Lovana, Alissa, and Ja’Ana back in time for Driver’s Ed class, which started at 2.  Ron and Gail took Jake, Michaela and Patsy to the Space Needle, then brought them home a little later.  We had a fun, action packed weekend, and hopefully, everyone learned a little bit more about medieval times.  The village was small, there were no huge crowds, and the guides were very patient, kind and knowledgable.

 

12 thoughts on “Camlann Medieval Village–Homeschool Field Trip”

    1. Thanks. I do use the blog as a place to put things down so they don’t get lost in the busy, busy life we lead. It’s only one of many reasons I write it, but a big one. I’m hoping to be able to look back in quieter times, if I ever have any–ha, ha, and remember what we did. It also serves as a way for my mom and other friends and relatives to keep up with us easily. My mom especially loves seeing what the grandkids are up to. I found that I wasn’t keeping up with the whole scrapbook thing. I just didn’t have the time to get around to it. This is simpler for me.

  1. This looks like so much fun, Becky! Your photos make me smile. It looks like the girls were using a 2 harness loom to try weaving. Now that they tried it, are they wanting to learn how to weave?

    The blacksmith looks like he has quite the entertaining personality! I’m glad Michaela enjoyed learning about the blacksmith. It usually is one on the most entertaining parts of our pioneer village too. How can you loose when you heat up metal to red hot them hit it so sparks fly off!

    The may pole looks like a lot of fun. That’s something we don’t do at our village. I would love to try it something, though! Maybe someday I will get the chance.

    Thank you so much for sharing this with us!

    1. I figured you would get a kick out of this post, since it is what you do:) That blacksmith was doing double duty that day, as they had someone missing, so he was also the archery demonstrator. They had a second blacksmith to hold down the fort while he ran over to the archery and joined a woman who was the second archer. Then back to the blacksmith shop, then over to the archery. Whew! He was extremely good with the kids, and seemed to be having a really good time himself. He was very informative and entertaining and helped all of them have a wonderful time.

      Of all things, when I was in high school, our school did a Maypole every spring, along with a big entertainment, etc. So, both my sisters and I all danced the Maypole when we were freshmen. We spent weeks in P.E. learning complicated patterns, then did it for the event. This was much more simple, just over and under, since they used the crowd, but they got it woven up nicely, then unwoven. Everyone enjoyed it because it’s not something you see every day, I think, and everyone dancing it was laughing by the end because it gets really crowded and is harder then it looks.

    1. We had a really nice time. It was even better because the weather was cooperating. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed myself as much in the pouring rain:)

  2. How fun. Your sister sure has the gift for putting together these field trips!

    Interesting to hear of this village. For a few years, I lived over the hill from Carnation, in a small town along Hwy2. I’d never heard of this place. So, thanks, it’s always fun for me to learn about new things.
    Cheers,

    1. You know, I’m not super surprised you had not discovered the village. It was quite small, but very nice. I guess it’s been there for over 30 years, though. And, yes, my sister did work pretty hard this year to find really great field trips! She said it was quite difficult to find anything about world history, though. Of course, the Pacific Northwest is teeming with Oregon Trail, Lewis and Clark, Native American, etc. type museums, but very little of older history or world. We enjoy all of those very much, but wanted something different this time. Good for her for finding this one!

      The little town of Carnation looked pleasant–the pizza sure was good! I loved the green, green grass, rolling hills, etc. It made me miss living in the country.

  3. It sounds like you all had a great time at the medieval village. It sounds like a fun and educational place to visit. I would love to take some fun little trips,like this with my family this year My kiddos are younger though. I would love to find some fun and age appropriate things for them to do. Gracefilledmama@blogspot.com

    1. These are big field trips this year because my sister is planning them. I used to do many small outings with many of my other kids when they were younger, when we were homeschooling. They loved them just as much. There are probably lots of little museums, farms, etc. that you could find in your area. It will be fun!

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