LIfeStraw Go at Bonneyville Mill

With the LifeStraw Go in hand, we decided to head out to Bonneyville Mill this last Saturday to try out the LifeStraw Go. Read more about the LifeStraw Go in the pictures below by the waterfall. There is also a giveaway for a bottle/filter at the bottom of the post. It was about 27 degrees, but felt much warmer as there was no wind and it was sunny out. On days like this, we make it a point to go out!

 

Holiday at the Mill

What a beautiful day for Holiday at the Mill at Bonneyvill Mill sponsored by Elkhart County Parks! We're all for combining nature studies and fun with recreation and this is a great setting to do just that.

The area looks so different than just a few weeks ago. Many, many leaves are on the ground. It can be a great time to look at the different types of leaves, colors, etc. We talked about the tulip poplar tree. I recently read the leaf shape looked like a cat's head--I had never noticed that before! The leaves from the state tree are often a gorgeous yellow in the fall.

The kids spontaneously started having a leaf fight! This is a great way to "experiment" and play with nature!

We walked over to the One Room Schoolhouse first to check out the crafts. To be honest, I think the kids enjoyed hiding in the tall plants and climbing the rocks the most out of the day. I provided an opportunity for them to play outside. My oldest was hesitant to come to this, but once he was out, he was enjoying himself. My motto is to push through the complaints! Within 10 minutes or so, they are almost always engaged and finding ways to have fun outside. If I say, let's try it for 15 minutes, they forget I just said 15 minutes and are out for much longer than an hour. 

Inside there were crafts for the kids. A couple made oatmeal cookies for the birds. I asked if they were good for humans, too, but then saw the recipe had egg shells as well. This is a similar recipe, with blueberries added. We'll have to try making these at home for 31 Days of Nature Kindness in December. 

They baked paperclips in the cookie to hang it up with a string. They look happy with their results!

Another craft was making pinecone animals. Cute options! We did a program with him for these before, making interesting pinecone creatures.

Upstairs, some of the kids and their cousins tried dipping candles. We've made these several times, dipping wicks into melted wax and then into water to cool. The crafts were free, but donations were gratefully accepted. 

 

It was fun seeing a whole family we know from programs at Elkhart County Parks and Junior Indiana Master Naturalists volunteering for the morning. Several craft vendors were selling wares. I really liked these pretty painted gourd leaves! I picked up some hickory scoops--very natural looking! 

Other vendors were downstairs with painted ceramics, beadwork, and knitting. I've often bought simple earrings from this vendor. My favorites are clear beads that I can work with anything. 

 

I noticed this simple corn husk decoration--how cute! I just pinned and idea for corn husk "puff" garlands on Pinterest. Great ideas for fall decorating!

As you can see, the kids really just enjoyed playing outside near the one room school house. I don't think the kid on the guard rail is with me. :-)

My oldest liked this HUGE leaf, picked it up, and started eating it. Hmm . . . maybe this is taking wild edibles a little too far! 

As we walked back toward the mill we saw lots samaras (maple helicopters). The kids enjoyed exploring their aerodynamic properties!

The mill was gorgeous as always, but very different than early fall. Inside, it was decked for the holidays. 

Our picture with Santa didn't turn out very good with the lighting. The kids still enjoyed their candy canes! Hint, maybe Ronda took a better picture she can share with me! :-) 

We checked out the grains and the grist mill. 

I enjoyed seeing the various plants drying in the eaves and matching up the different types of grains with the names. We have a grain mill at home, so knew most of them from grinding grains at home.

There were cookies and drinks available (once again, donations gratefully accepted), so we took a break outside.

We checked out the store which had 10 percent off. I always check the clearance bins and find things I want each time at a discount. 

While waiting outside for the reindeer, the kids noticed many things, like the round balls and bird's nest up in the tree. 

They also saw that the bark was peeling on this tree. They found an interesting hole in the side of the tree as well. 

We took advantage of the break and snapped a few pics by the waterfall. It's a popular place for pictures if you didn't notice already.

Two sticks pass the time as the boy tries to sharpen them.

We saw the pony all decorated for the holidays. My nephew didn't take my threat of "Smile if you want lunch" very seriously. ;-)

It was neat to see the reindeer up close. We thought it was much smaller than we imagined, though we've seen them before. We learned that both the male and female grow and shed antlers each year.

Thanks for the visit, Candy Cane! 

While we enjoyed the festival, we also enjoyed having an excuse to visit a beautiful place on a lovely fall day. I encourage you to combine a bit of nature study and outdoor time with these fun activities! 

We've gone the last couple of years--the boys fought Santa with swords last year! 

We also enjoyed a fun day there this summer. It looks so different right now!

Bonneyville Heritage Day (previously Bonneyville Celebration) is also fun in September.

Bonneyville Mill Heritage Day

It was Bonneyville Mill Heritage Day on Saturday! This is a slightly new format from what we have seen in previous years, with a shorter time frame, new name, and slightly different focus. We've been going to the celebration for the last several years, even before we lived in the area. It can be a great time to visit with family, grab a few treats, enjoy activities and music, and explore the outdoors. True to form for the last several days, it was a chilly morning, warming up later in the day. We appreciate the effort of Elkhart County Parks and numerous volunteers in putting this together!

Cast Iron Cooking

Last night, my husband and I went with the youngest two kids to a Dutch Oven Gathering with Elkhart County Parks at Bonneyville Mill County Park. This is an annual gathering. There are two options for participants. You can either cook/demonstrate or pay $3 and "observe". But we didn't just observe! Courtney, the interpretive naturalist, spent about 45 minutes or so going over cast iron basics. It sounds like he is a bit of an afficionado. He has been a part of the International Dutch Oven Society in the past. His mother also knows of his love for cast iron cooking and picked up any piece she found at garage sales, plus bought him new sets other places. His wife finally had to say enough is enough, though I'm sure a piece sneaks in here or there.

 

Bonneyville Mill

We ventured out to Bonneyville Mill twice this last week. The unseasonably cool weather has been great for getting outdoors! The Mill is open from May-October Wednesday through Sunday. I always forget and end up there on Tuesdays, which is one reason why we made a return trip. Still, we had a nice trip on Tuesday, even though the Mill was closed. As a child, we lived down the road on CR 8 in Bristol, so we frequented the park. When I lived out of the area, we also usually made a trip when we came back for a visit.

Heading over to the Mill from the parking lot is a beautiful Dahlia Garden. I've met members of the Elkhart Dahlia Society who care for this. They are dedicated to this beautiful and complicated plant. 

This is a BEAUTIFUL spot for pictures! 

There are several gardens in this area. The younger crowd liked peeking behind the flowers. There is also an herb garden nearby.

The view is gorgeous, with the reflection on the pond.

While some areas are manicured, there are also very natural areas nearby. 

You can see the water flowing under the mill. Inside, you can see historical artifacts relating to the operation of the mill. It's kind of mind boggling to see how the energy of moving water could be harnessed to power the grist mill and other operations within the mill--all dating back to the 1830s.

Here, the mill worker is demonstrating the various products when grinding corn. There is corn meal, grits, the chaff, and all of it mixed together. The machines can separate the different products.

 

There were also several different types of grains--I knew most of them! We have a Nutrimill Grain Mill and grind our own grains at home for the most part. They sell the freshly ground grains at reasonable prices. I know of several families that buy their flours here. A lady bought cornmeal while we were there--she said it makes delicious breading for chicken! We had a great conversation with the miller!

There is also a quilt mural on one of the nearby buildings. 

We chose to go toward Briar Patch Shelter and stopped at a small wetland area nearby. We quickly found small frogs and noticed tadpoles swimming in the area. 

We tried catching tadpoles, but weren't very successful. My husband joined the "hunt" and caught one!

The others all came back to investigate our discoveries. We could see the small back legs on most of the tadpoles. We spent a good half hour at this spot looking for frogs and tadpoles. We'd visited this area for an amphibian presentation in the past--good place for frogs! Earlier in the spring, I put together this post with links to local frog calls. We left the amphibians in their habitat, but it was fun to see them up close for a bit!

To think, it's just a platform; however, it took us into a world of amphibians!

Later we trekked over to Briar Patch, hoping for the nearby playground. The meadow is also near the area used for sledding in the winter nearby. The shelter was rented out for a family reunion--we often have family reunions there, too. The park was fairly active on Saturday, with a wedding with the waterfall behind (which is why we didn't head in that direction), another couple getting wedding pictures, and many more families out and about. There are several pavilions to rent in the park.

The kids were disappointed to see there was no playground here anymore. We weren't aware that it was gone! 

A favorite tree was still nearby. I call it the "family" tree, as there are branches for a whole family to take pictures! We were glad to have several cousins along with us! They also had fun finding toads (and releasing them)!