Gloria in Excelsis Deo: Historic Brattonsville

Wednesday meant a field trip to a local attraction which we'd never visited, nor had I even heard of in our six years living here: Historic Brattonsville. We joined a Catholic homeschooling group of perhaps eight families, so we made up a really good crowd.

Historic Brattonsville presents the history of the Scots-Irish or Ulster-Scots in the South Carolina upcountry largely through preserving and interpreting the story of the Bratton family. Featuring more than 30 historic structures [on 775 acres] from the 1760s to the late 19th century, the site provides visitors with an opportunity to see the evolution of Southern culture and architecture in the South Carolina Piedmont.

Running free after nearly an hour's drive

Joseph (21 months) is just one of the gang now.

Not ten minutes after our arrival, I noticed from afar that a crowd of kids had gathered around a tree to ponder if it could be climbed. Mary said, "I'll try!", chucked off her shoes, and start going up (and got about twice as high as in this picture). It reminded me of a humorous incident at a playground last week at which Mary was teaching a boy maybe around nine years old how to climb all the structures. Finally he asked, "How old are you? Five!" Then to John, "Man, your sister is a crazy climbing lady!"