Sutter's Fort

One of the great things about Kira and Andrew's school is the amazing field trips they get to participate in. Some of you know that Tom and I have to do 140 hours a year with the kids school. I usually do my hours in the class and as Secretary of the PTO, so Tom is usually the go to guy for the multi-day field trips, and he does a good job. This year, Kira's class went to Sutter's Fort in Sacramento for an overnight trip. Sutter's Fort was the first non-Native American community in the California Central Valley. The compound was started in 1839 and the fort is still there today and is now a state protected park. The kids in the class, and the parents all took on characters for the trip. Kira was Elizabeth Wimmer, a women who discovered how to determine if gold was real or fool's gold, with the use of lye soap.

Here is a picture of Kira in her costume.


Tom's character, Kaleb Greenwood, was a fur trapper. Tom and another parent led workshops for the kids about the in's and out's of fur trapping. Tom seemed to really embrace the character, and loved teaching the kids about how to trap beavers. It seems his days working on the farm and slaughtering animals has now been put to good use. Don't expect him to quit his day job, fur trapping does not pay much, but I was beginning to think for a moment he might.



Below is a picture of Kira and her classmates taking a wagon ride to the fort.


This picture is the morning of the second day. Tom's face is classic. You think he is tired?