Living History Farm and Rugby

As winter turned into spring more opportunities have been afforded to spend time outside. We took advantage of some warm weekend weather last month to spend some time at the Living History Farm. We found it interesting to see the changes in agriculture and home life over the last 200+ years. You can read more about Living History Farms at http://www.lhf.org/en/visit/about_the_farms/.

Fabian decided to play rugby this spring. Des Moines Roosevelt has a high school team on which Fabian took part. Games were played every week over the course of a couple months. Each Friday the varsity would travel to a different location and play around 3 games each night. Fabian had a lot of fun playing.

I'll include information about each photo in its caption, as appropriate.

A shelter from the 1700 Ioway Indian site at Living History Farm

Pigs and piglets at the 1850 pioneer farm at Living History Farms. 

Fabi getting better acquainted with the pig. The pigs seemed to be in good spirits considering what was going to happen to them (see later photo)

A cow at the 1850 farm. The steps that they take at Living History Farms to bring every thing to life really make for a memorable experience.

The aforementioned pig (a sibling, anyway)

Inside the 1850 farm home. The employees dress in period wear, but they don't assume the part of the person. That is, if you ask them questions they don't speak as if they are from the period. This makes sense at it allows you to converse with the people in a non-constrained way and the whole thing seems less theatrical (and more authentic), as a result.

An overview of the 1900 horse-powered farm

The horse that likely powers the farm

Attentive pupils inside the schoolhouse. Always ready to learn, right Fabi?

Those desks had seriously straight backs on them. Talk about a restrictive learning environment. Yikes.

A broommaker

The local blacksmith fashioning a spoon

Fabi during a varsity rubgy match

Making a tackle. Fabian learned the basic rules of the game very quickly 

I'm not sure what the outcome of this encounter was, but I'm sure Fabian got a tackle. 

Teammates

The coach giving a pregame pep talk

Making his way down field with a look of steely determination 

A nice pass to an open teammate 

"Just tell me who to tackle"

Who's next?

Looking for the open pass......

....on second thought I think I'll just run

This is a pass that resulted in a score for Roosevelt. Perfect play!

The kickoff