We were invited by the Minnesota Historical Society to visit the Oliver Kelley Farm in Elk River, Minnesota.

We headed out there on a very rainy Saturday morning. By the time we arrived (a 20 minute drive from Mpls) the rain had stopped and it turned out to be a perfect spring day!

We arrived right when they open at 10am which was a perfect time to beat the crowds! 

Upon arrival, you enter their brand new modern facility. There is so much to learn there about modern farming and the history of the site. We watched a short movie, visited the kitchen where someone was making corn bread with a 1800's recipe. Cy tried the bread and called it bland! Ha! I was so embarrassed but he did have a good point. They didn't add any sugar back then. At all! Just a little honey. Perhaps that was a sign of the economy but it definitely was a good reminder that we don't NEED sugar in everything!

We also visited a brand new classroom and learned about local crops.

Then we headed outside to meet some of the animals that live on the "modern" farm.

After that we took a short walk back to the historical site.

It was so fun to see the contrast from modern to our state's early days! The boys loved it too! 

They watched barn kitties playing!

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They were allowed into a sheep's pen and got to pet the sheep.

They watched piglets nurse from a mama pig. And finally we headed in to the 1800's home where we were greeted by the "farmer's wife" who asked the boys to help bake bread, make soap and wash carrots.

We stayed at the farm for over two hours. It was so much fun. We promised the boys that we would return to see all of the babies! There were a lot of pregnant animals there!

This is definitely a gem of the Twin Cities and a really fun family outing!

Thanks so much for inviting my family, Minnesota Historical Society! We loved it!