When I sat down to write this post it was supposed to be about my favorite television shows and honestly, it could have been the longest post to date – not because I have a lot of them but because I have pictures and stories to go with each show. If you all haven’t guessed this about me yet, I… 1. don’t half-ass anything, 2. love to share stories and pictures and 3. when I love something, I love it with my whole heart. So when it comes to my favorite shows, I couldn’t combine them all into a single post. Each show will have to be it’s own post.

Little House on the Prairie is a show that I grew up watching with my mom. It seemed like every Saturday morning we would sit on the couch, eating bowls of cereal and watching an episode on TV. It has always been a favorite of mine for many reasons – mostly because I have a love of “the olden days”. I have always said that if it wasn’t for modern medicine and washing machines, I could have lived in the 1800’s without a problem.

I got this boxed set for my birthday many years ago and while I don’t watch it nearly as much as other shows I love, it still holds a special place in my heart. As I type this out, I am laying in bed with a migraine and watching 2-3 episodes. (I just finished watching the episode where Typhoid was going through town and they all needed to isolate in their homes – this wasn’t a planned episode to watch but wow, talk about current times with Covid).

Not too far from where I live there is a place that I absolutely love and have been going there since I was in elementary school – The Genesee Country Village & Museum. It’s an authentic 1800’s village with actual buildings, people dressed up and a million other amazing things. I don’t care how many times I go (which is usually 1-2+ times a year!), there is always something amazing to see and experience. It’s honestly like stepping into The Little House on the Prairie!

We took Shawn there for his 1st trip in the fall of 2009, so he was only about 9 months old and he’s been back more times than we can remember. He loved everything from petting a chicken to seeing the large oxen walking through the village. For being a primitive village that (obviously) doesn’t have a shred of technology to it, Shawn loves going and exploring everything. Which says a lot since it’s not as “cool” as the stuff we have today.

GCV&M has events throughout the entire year from Maple Weekend where we get to experience how they used to make maple syrup in the 1800’s to special events like The Civil War Reenactment and Alice in Wonderland themed weekends. There is even one that’s dedicated to Little House and I have been to that multiple times over the years.

These are from the Civil War Reenactment that my sister Jen and I took the kids (my niece Jordan) to see and we had the BEST time. They both really enjoyed it because it was different than previous trips to the village. They were both excited to meet Abe Lincoln.

They also have extra activities that you can pay to make throughout the village too. We have made punched tin ornaments, mini gardens in tea cups (for Alice in Wonderland) and lots of things in between. These photos were from a trip a few years ago when we were there for Maple Weekend. (Which is amazing, btw)

One of the neatest experiences I have had there was when I got to operate the letterpress machine. I had met a character who ran the newspaper and we could have talked for hours. He showed how they did all the typesetting and layouts for the newspapers, flyers, and more. He actually broke character with me (which is so rare!) because he too is a graphic designer (these are all part time volunteers mostly) and we just talked and talked. In the end he allowed me to work the machine and I was in my glory! I still have the poster that I made stashed away.

One of the coolest things that they have here is a baseball field in which they play actual ball on. They pick a year in the 1800’s and play based on the rules for that time period. It’s really fun to sit in the stands and feel like you’re back in time watching a game.

There are some things that I have really been wanting to do here but haven’t been able to yet – one of which is an authentic 1800’s baking class. It’s really expensive (and rightly so – there is a lot that goes into it) and I just haven’t shelled out the cash for it. One of these years I am just going to do it.

It really is wonderful that I basically have an extension of one of my favorite television shows within an hour of our house. I have pretty much grown up going to this village and I don’t have any plans on stopping any time soon.

XOXO, Jules