Laura Ingalls Wilder Home

After visiting Bakersville we went on to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home in Mansfield. We've been wanting to take Nana here for a long time because she loves the "Little House" books so much.

Britt thinks this picture is hilarious because it show just how difficult it was getting Allyson to participate in picture taking ... especially after skipping her nap!

We couldn't take pictures inside the home but it was a fantastic tour. Almost everything is left as it was when Laura and Almanzo lived there. They built the house one room at a time, beginning with the kitchen. (Nana was mortified there were no drawers in the kitchen!) Almanzo even made many of the furnishings inside. The work is fantastic. The couple both lived...and died...in this house.

Before leaving to go to the "Rock House" Papa made sure everyone knew Nana had been there.

 Next we went to the "Rock House" just down the road. It was a gift from their daughter, Rose, who is actually the first one in the family to be a published writer. In fact, she inspired Laura to write. The rock house is where the first "Little House" books were written.

Rose wanted to give her parents a brand new home with all of the latest amenities. She ordered it from Sears and Roebuck and had it built. It was the only house in town to have electricity, indoor plumbing and even closets. (It was another 30 years until anyone else in town had these luxuries!) Almanzo and Laura missed their simple farmhouse, though, and at the first opportunity, moved back and never left it again.

We had some time to kill before the tour started so we took pictures...

 ...and played games with a large group of Mennonite kids who were there, along with their parents, for the tour. (I did have permission to take pictures of them.)

 Nicole and one of the little boys, Lee Michael, became buddies. It was wonderful to see them play together and have no idea of the differences between them. 

One funny story... the tour guide (who was especially cranky and borderline mean) was telling about Rose teaching her parents to drive a car. Rose thought it was so funny that they kept pulling on the steering wheel and saying, "Whoa!" Then, the guide looked at the kids and said, "You don't have any idea what that means, but..." One of the Mennonite men came over and explained to Britt that they have a pretty good idea since these kids still get around by horse and buggy!!

It was a great day.

Bakersville

This is Day 3 of Papa and Nana's visit. On the first day we enjoyed dinner at home and let them rest. Day 2 was Sunday so we went to church...

This is the "big kid" church where Nicole has her class. 

Allyson's class watches their drama here. 

After church we went to Lamberts. The wait was excruciating but Nana and I had time to visit the antique store around the corner. That night we watched movies at home.

So, that brings us to today. We made the hour-long drive east of Springfield to Mansfield, Missouri where Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo lived and where Laura wrote the "Little House Books."  (Nana loves the Little House books!)

Before we went to the house, we stopped for lunch at Bakersville, a small pioneer village in Mansfield.

Here is where Papa had his "dental work" done.

The girls were not impressed.

Then Nicole decided to be silly with Papa. (Might as well since she's already lost several of her teeth and a front one is on the way out.)

Everything here is vegan. The main restaurant was closed so we ate in the bakery (a.k.a. "flour mill").

We had vegan steak sandwiches with homegrown veggies and strawberry lemonade. Payment for the meal was donation only! Then the ladies there gave us a ton of oatmeal chocolate chip bars to snack on for the rest of the day.

Nana and I had fun picking out souvenirs to bring home.

 This is the upstairs portion of the bakery. There was a loom and spinning wheel and the most comfortable rocker ever.

Allyson just liked climbing up and down, up and down, up and down. Up and down.

After lunch we looked around. It was so hot outside but also a beautiful day!

We also visited the seed store and bought some seeds for our garden!

 This was hanging in the store. Nana and I thought it was funny.

The girls enjoyed watching the chickens. (And trying to feed them grass and rocks.)

 The clouds look painted in this picture! 

These were taken inside the mercantile.

We took pictures on the porch before leaving.