Fun Among the Trees

While running errands, if it's a nice day I always try to indulge the kiddos with an outing to a playground, or something outdoors. Today we went to the arboretum in Lawrence.  The funny thing is the last time we went, it was pre-Spring too, so we have never walked it's lovely grounds when the trees are leaved out.  The kids don't mind though, and today was no exception:)
 There were water features to float leaf boats down,

 Cute statuaries,

And of course fighting over who would push baby brother around:)

A Tale of Two Ladies

Every child has a family member or hero they strive to emulate when they're growing up.  Mine was always two of my great-grandmothers.

Mary Elizabeth Clem Gentry

Mabel "June" Tanner Mauzey

 Both were, to me, very beautiful.  Not that appearance has ever been very important to me, but it would thrill me when my Mom would say "your Grandma June would have loved your long brown hair", or someone would tell me that I had nice blue eyes like my Dad (who got his eyes in part from Grandma Mary, because both his parents had brown). 
  Both were exceptional at handiwork and creating beautiful things.  Grandma Mary quilted, embroidered and created cutwork as well as being a great baker.  She even baked cakes for a living after my great-grandpa died.  Grandma June excelled in those areas too and entered her creations constantly in county fairs.

Grandma June and pictures she made out of postage stamps

Some of my family produces beautiful embroidery, cross-stitch and quilting too.  While I would love to be able to do that, I have neither the patience or desire to except to try my hand at it occasionally.  I do think back on the time my Grandma Murray taught me how to embroider my first tea towel and said that my stitches were small and even like her mom's, and that was good enough for me:)
  Neither of them was just a girly girl either.  Grandma June enjoyed fishing with her father and brothers, something I'm sure she picked up as a result of losing her mother at a young age.  Grandma Mary was a great shot with a gun.  My dad said that she could pick a snake out of a tree with just one shot!
  Both were also kind, gentle, and proper Christian women.  All attributes to strive for. 
Now Grandma Mary died long before I was even thought of and Grandma June died when I was just two years old, but they have both had profound influences on my life just by the tales I was told about them.  I am so thankful for their examples and hope to pass on their good influences to my own children.  So whenever we drive through LeRoy, KS I point out the house where Grandma Mary lived to the kids, or when they ask me where I got my wedding ring, I proudly tell them, "that belonged to your Great-Great-Grandma June, and she would have loved you very much" :).

In Pursuit of History

Today our family celebrated the life and passing of one of our own.  My great-aunt Elsie, almost 102, passed away this week.  She was a wonderful and kind woman.  I didn't really truly get to know her though until I started doing genealogy (which I think if you are doing true family history research, you should not only be finding out about your deceased ancestors you know nothing about, but also drawing close to those that are still alive).  Aunt Elsie and I would sit and talk at length about family both past and present.  She took my mom & I out to see cemeteries with long forgotten relatives.  She invited distant cousins over so we could chat about those same relatives and pour over pictures of the same.  She would also chat about her daughter and her family whom she loved dearly.  It was always a blessing to go and visit, or to receive a letter from her which she would send regularly and I would try so hard to answer even though I was (& still am awful at it).    Even though I hadn't seen her recently, I still missed her and loved her dearly. 
  After the graveside services, I had to look up some relatives...

   My gr-gr grandparents Schaede are buried just in the next row.  Aunt Elsie told me that when she was little she used to pretend that she had an earache just so Grandpa J.G. would blow pipe smoke in her ear to cure it:) 
  After eating lunch with my folks, we headed out for one more adventure.  My hubby likes to research the Civilian Conservation Corps in Kansas so we headed south to just outside of Yates Center to the Woodson Fishing Lake where Camp Fegan was around 1934-5.  It was a family adventure.  While my husband took pictures of the dam, the kids found shells on the shore...

and then helped Daddy try to find building foundations from the camp.  Bubby was totally excited to find, by himself, the CCC flagpole.

What a glorious day of good weather, reconnecting with family, and exploring:)