Abe Lincoln for a Day

On a beautiful fall day we went to a historic sight where Abe Lincoln's father, Thomas, and his step- mother, Sarah, lived. Abe, who lived as a lawyer in Springfield, loved to visit the cabin. When we got there, we started by lining up. All the boys got button-down shirts and the girls got dresses. We numbered out in two groups.

First we washed our hands with a bowl full of warm water, and we even got to use old fashioned soap. That's really not that exciting though compared to what other things we did.   

This is in front of the cabin they have rebuilt to resemble Thomas' cabin. Part of the foundation is the original. Isn't that cool? I thought so.

I had a great time with my friends, Landon and Stephen

After a good wash, we went to make some johnny cake inside the cabin. We took turns dumping in the ingredients. 

This is how the cooking utensils were stored!

When it was my turn, I got to dump in the flour. Good thing I had a white shirt on!

Here I am dumping coals on a Dutch oven or spider to make sure heat comes from the top and the bottom. Our johnny cake is baking inside. I wasn't sure if it was going to turn out or not. 

Here we got to make candles. 

We went around and around the hot pan and dipped as we went past. It was a lot of walking circles, and when we stopped, the candles weren't that fat at all. 

a man that really did look like I think Thomas Lincoln must have helped us chop wood. It was fun. 

Then we got to use a two-person cross-cut saw. It took a special technique but we got it!

Now I am making butter! I can now understand how tiring of a job it must have been for pioneer girls and mothers. 

but all our butter-making paid off when we ate it fresh on our delicious hearth-baked johnny cake!

We spent some time in the afternoon discussing, planning, re-living what it might have been like to move west on a wagon train. We never got to the part where we were supposed to pack the wagon- that would have been a blast. But it was still a very good day!!! -Kenan

Liberty had lots of fun, too!!! She picked up buck-eyes with Amos. 

and kept busy investigating all parts of the cabin :)