On another weekend in October, Ryan and I took the boys to Walker Ranch, a historic homestead in the foothills due west of Boulder. 
This is from the Boulder County Web site: "Walker Ranch offers a rich mosaic of mountain habitats to explore in any season. Ponderosa pines and Douglas firs are interspersed with open meadows and aspen groves. 
Small streams dissect the hills before joining South Boulder Creek. You will find a great diversity of plants, animals and birds. Coyote, deer, black bear, mountain lion and wild turkey frequent the area and elk migrate here from higher elevations in the winter.
Walker Ranch is also an important historical site and hosts special events of historical interest every season.
The historic Walker Ranch was one of the largest cattle ranches in this region of Colorado. In 1882, James and Phoebe Walker filed a claim to homestead 160 acres of open meadow with a year-round spring. Designed for a self-sufficient lifestyle, the homestead was complete with farmhouse, root cellar, granary, smokehouse, 
springhouse, chicken and turkey houses, a wagon barn, a corn storage and pig barn, and various corrals and fenced pastures. This homestead is now the focal point of the park's designated historic district. We are restoring the buildings, dating back to the late-19th century. The homestead is closed to the public except for special events.
The Walker family continuously expanded the ranch. It included 6,000 acres when it was sold in 1959. The County began to purchase the land in 1976. We now own 2,566 acres and lease an additional 1,212 acres from the Bureau of Land Management. This open space property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places."
We attended their special event opening a new structure they reconstructed after the 2000 fire. They also had a ton of volunteers acting as individuals on the farm from the early 1900s. 
It was neat as the boys were able to see someone blacksmithing iron (if that's the appropriate term?), saw work horses plow a field, helped ladies churn butter and try the butter with bread. 
Eban wanted to emulate the roping of a calf so a young teen helped teach him how to do it. 
Jack didn't want to try as he liked walking around and seeing things.
I also think they loved the crab apples they found on the farm. Eban eventually gave his to a horse that was greeting visitors. It was a great day which was topped off with pizza in Boulder! The boys even had root beer which was a real treat!
