Boxcar Children

Over the summer the children and I read the Boxcar Children (books 1-4). We LOVED them! IF you haven't read them, it's about four orphaned children that take up house in an abandoned boxcar.

Using that as inspiration, we decided to have our own Boxcar Day. Only we didn't have a boxcar, but we did have the next best thing - a boathouse!

For a night we camped out in the upstairs of the boathouse. We packed some yummy food for our meals and snacks and brought plenty of imagination for our own kind of fun.

The children put together a long paper chain to decorate the room we were staying in. We played some board games - old classics like Sunken Treasure and Water Works as well as Jenga. We also did some reading of the Boxcar books.

We had a simple dinner of homemade bread, canned fruit and smoked oysters. We ate at an old table in the boathouse. We had fun looking in the nooks and crannies of the boathouse - lots of little closets and storage areas tucked away.

Bedtime - the kids had some roll-out type beds. I didn't have the pleasure. Hard wooden floors are comfortable, right? I don't ever remember falling asleep that entire night.

The next morning for breakfast we had more homemade bread and berries with cream. Then we set off for a hike around the lake. It's a three mile hike. All the kids were troopers until we saw a bear lumbering ahead on the trail. Then we all felt like turning around. But he seemed to have run off into the woods, so we continued on and we are still here to tell the tale.

After that hot hike we went swimming and had some sandwiches for lunch. Sadly, it was then time to pack up and head home. But what a fun adventure we had.

Getting ready for some games:

Making the paper chain:

Dinner time:

The view from the top of the boathouse:

Swimming: