“Over the River & Through the Woods”
And our family has made it to Christmas Day! The focus of the day was the four hour drive to Bemidji, MN to be with family, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t have a little fun along the way! And so we merged the drive with a theme for the day of “Over the River & Through the Wood”.
The poem was originally published in 1844 as “The New-England Boy’s Song About Thanksgiving Day” and it has stood the test of time as we still sing it today. Over time, the poem has changed a bit with many people swapping in “for ‘tis Christmas Day’ instead of Thanksgiving day. But the biggest change was that the original version actually had “To Grandfather’s house we go” instead of Grandmother’s house.
So, we cued up the song when we hit the road and crossed over the Mississippi River and through the North Woods to get to Bemidji. We even got the kids some picture books of the poem (both original and reinterpreted) for the ride. And if that didn’t entertain them, we had Mary Kate and Ashley’s “To Grandmother’s House We Go” ready on the iPad as well.
We brewed some Earl (Dapple) Gray Hot Chocolate for the road and had pumpkin pie awaiting us when we arrived, just like in the song. And with that, we’ve reached our “barnyard gate” both in terms of our arrival in Bemidji but also the end of this year’s 25 Dates of Christmas. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
ACTIVITIES:
Open Presents
“Over the River” Classic Book & Modern Book
Drive to Bemidji
Olson Twins’ “To Grandmother’s House We Go”
FOODS:
Pumpkin Pie
INTERESTING READS & CONTEXT:
