In planning this trip we’d hoped to work in ties to The Little House on the Prairie book series as we’ve read all the books with Isa and most of them with Addy. My parents read them with me as a kid and Jud read them all too, so we were glad DeSmet, South Dakota was not far out of our way as this town was the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder for a while. If you’ve read the books you know that her family moved around a lot, and she moved some as a grown up too, but DeSmet played a major role in her life and that of her parents. We were able to visit a house lived in by Ma and Pa and Mary and Laura, a house built by Pa, a schoolhouse that Carrie and Laura went to, and a replica of the schoolhouse that Laura first taught in. Isa also picked up a chapter book in the series written by Laura’s daughter Rose about Rose’s adventures. That series is called the Rose Wilder Lane Series and starts with Little House on Rocky Ridge. We’re all looking forward to the fun of a new book series.
We also enjoyed a scone and coffee at the general store downtown where a nice lady working there gave the girls some Mardi Gras beads for no apparent reason other than friendliness. DeSmet seems like a sleepy town of nice folks and we’re glad we stopped in for a visit and helped out the local economy in our own way while learning a bit of Americana.
ravensroadschool 
Now THIS is amazing!
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