Civil War Reenactment

About a month ago, a Groupon popped up for tickets to a civil war reenactment. We figured that even if this was super lame, it would still be awesome. We prepped Nicholas for the big day. We described it as a party where people were going to shoot some guns and maybe even a cannon, which was a big gun. He was ecstatic for his "shooter party." (Almost everything we go to we describe as some sort of party.)

It was rainy, but we had lots of fun. We visited the Confederate and Union camps. We walked through the old town. At 11, they did a town raid. The Union soldiers took the town and then the Confederate soldiers took it back. Nicholas loved this until the shooting started. He started bawling very noisily. He insisted, "I need to GO HOME. I need to GO HOME. Mama lets go back to the car. I need to get in my car and go HOME and watch MICKEY. Mama." I pulled out the juice, chocolate pudding, and fruit snacks I take on each outing in case things get rocky. It bought us a little bit of time, but Nicholas bawled through most of the raid.

After the shooting stopped, Nicholas started enjoying our outing again. He made friends with the blacksmith. He loved watching the fire and the hammer. He tried to throw a rock in each of the "piddles" he passed. He took a tumble into some mud, declared himself "all messy," and had a great time holding the umbrella.

The small church in the little village.

Nicholas watching the Blacksmith

Lexi was an angel. She put up with the cold and the loud noises. She was so good that we spent the rest of the day testing to make sure she hears okay. I guess she is accustomed to big brother making loud noises.