Historic Folsom, CA

After visiting the temple, we headed into town to visit historic Folsom.  We heard there were some original buildings that are still standing & I just had to see them being the historian that I am.

Right when we parked, we ran into the cutest little "pioneer museum."  It cost us $5 for the whole family to go in & even that was a "suggested" donation.  It was small, but packed with some really fun historic stuff for the kids to do.

First we explored the blacksmith shop.  Taya had a blacksmith make her a horseshoe with her name engraved on it.

After that they let all the kids pan for gold.  They gave them a 15 minute lesson on how it was done & different strategies the minors used to find gold in these mountains.  The kids each got to try it & any "gold" they found, they got to take home.  It wasn't real gold, just fools gold, but boy did they love it.  Taya's been studying the California gold rush in history (4th grade history is state history) so this was extra fun for her.  She already knew so much & the museum leaders LOVED her & loved that she taught them some things.

Canyon mostly just slopped his pan around in the water.  He then decided to fill it with water & throw it all over his sisters.  Little stink.

After panning for gold, we got to go inside a real caboose of a train.  The kids loved climbing into the conductors box.  They felt pretty tall & high up there.

We also explored the wagon shed, the outhouses, a surplus store, & a typical log cabin.

The kids also got to use this old mill to grind grain down to flour.

After spending a good 2 hours at the pioneer museum, we walked up to the historic part of Folsom.  The buildings were extraordinary.  They were amazing.  I can't believe they're still standing.  There are actual shops in them stilll & I think it's fabulous that they've kept them true to their original forms.

We had a blast just exploring & learning about the architecture & time period these buildings were actually built.  The kids learned a lot & really appreciated how beautiful these buildings were.

After exploring Folsom, we went back to our hotel to swim.  The kids had been BEGGGING to swim, but they forget that Northern CA is COLD!!!  They only made it about knee deep before their teeth were chattering & they were crying to go back inside.  ha ha ha.