Age of innocence

Last week, I had the privilege of chaperoning Lily's third-grade class on a field trip to the Fallon House, a Victorian-era home built in downtown San Jose in 1855 by Carmel and Thomas Fallon (the latter was one of San Jose's earliest mayors).

Yes, there was a lot of standing around listening about how people lived in the 1800s (especially rich people), but the nice thing about the tour is that it also included a number of interesting activities to keep the kids engaged.

Like writing your own calling cards, which you then gave to the butler (played by a classmate) as you entered the house.

And dressing up in period clothing. Very Laura Ingalls Wilder.

 And, now, for effect--Emma, Lily, and Adrianna in sepia tones.

The kids also learned about what it was like to be the Fallons' servants and got to try their hand at a few chores, including polishing silver, grating laundry soap, ironing, and shining shoes.

They also made scones (cooked in a toaster oven for expediency), which they got to enjoy in the garden after the tour.

One of my favorite moments of the tour was when we were upstairs learning about the bedrooms and the docent asked the kids what room, which you might have in your house, is missing. She was going for "bathroom," of course, but the first response from one of the boys was, "The TV room?"