Field Trip Friday: Ward-Meade Park

   Today we had some errands to run in Topeka, so the thought became, what to do in Topeka that is low cost & something new, educational and exciting for us?  The answer: Ward-Meade Park.  It has been on my list of things to do with the kids for a while.  We called our traveling companions, Ducky and Grandma, to come along with us.  If you don't take the tour, it is free to walk the grounds.  It was supposed to be a hot day, so we got there just after it opened.  That didn't help much, so some of us "accidentally" walked into the sprinklers watering the beautiful grounds. Some really did get hammered accidentally by a rogue sprinkler stream, but that's another story.

Once Shorty discovered the sprinklers, we couldn't keep him out of them.  In fact, he was down to just his t-shirt and diaper by the time we left for lunch because his shorts were so wet.

  The cabin was open and it was so lovely!  It was a spacious 4 room log cabin with 2 fireplaces!  We snagged a picture of Flat Jerrin (Bubby's flat traveler for the month) there.

The best part of the trip was going into the restored Drug Store and having some cool refreshment.  I had a Prairie Dust sundae - yum!  Who says you can't have dessert before lunch;) ?

Mookie waiting for her ice cream

The kids have made me promise to take them back.  I think we'll try for a cooler day though;)

Field Trip Friday: Kansas City Zoo

  One of Mookie's requests for her birthday was to go to the Kansas City Zoo with one of her best friends.  She'd gotten the idea after we went to that zoo last year and so today the day had arrived!  This was a bit of a stretch for me.  I HATE driving in Kansas City traffic.  When Hubby and I lived in Southern Illinois early in our marriage and we would come home to NE Kansas to visit, I would make him take the Kansas City stretch and I would drive through St. Louis I hated it that much.  Today, I didn't have my security blankets, Hubby was not able to come, neither were Ducky and Grandma.  So I took our 3 and Mookie's buddy and headed out. 
  We made it to KC with no problem - yay! We were even able to take advantage of everyone going back to school and got a great parking place!
  One of the kids' most favorite exhibits is the polar bear.  He was doing his rounds and coming right by the windows today!

Even though you couldn't see him as well from the inside viewing area, they were just as thrilled to watch there:)
   We have a spot on the "tiger trail" that we've taken a pic every year we've been there.  This is ours from this year.

  I have no idea what the girls were looking at, but it must have been really interesting:)

   Swope Park where the zoo is is beautiful.  It's heavily wooded and that helped a ton on a hot and humid day like today!  I am so thankful I took my Granny's idea of freezing bottled water and taking it with us!
   We sprang for a "gold pass" which gave us rides on the train, the tram and the carousel.  The train was Shorty's favorite part.  All he could do when he got home was tell Hubby "train, tunnel, round and round".  Another great part was the feeding of the animals.  I was so proud of Shorty, he really got in there and wanted to feed those furry mouths!

Our carousel riders

  By the time we reached the halfway point and were going to cross into Africa, the heat and walking had dissolved our energy.  That part is a huge area and I was wondering if they were going to be sad if we didn't make it through all of it.  So, we just played it by ear.  We decided to go the opposite way we usually do, and caught a loop we've never made it to where the leopards and gorillas are.  To get there, you have to go over this cool suspension bridge.

  The leopard area was really neat.  They were off in the corner today, but it was set up in such a way that you might catch sight of them overhead!
   When we finished the loop Mookie look like she'd been dragged over some coals, and I asked if everyone was ready to leave.  There was no hesitation.  We caught the tram ride back to the front.  The tram driver was one of the most entertaining we've ever had:)  Even though we didn't "do" it all, we had a ton of fun!
  We left the zoo just after 4 o'clock.  This was my worry, driving KC traffic with everyone else and their brother at the end of a work day.  We made it though.  Even through the dreaded "Grandview Triangle" *shudder*, without too much stress!  That deserved a celebration of ice cream on the way home!  What a blessed day:)

Errands with a Twist

   Since gasoline has gone up in price in the last few years, it really has affected how we do our errands.  We usually makes us cram as many as we can stand into a half of the day since we do most of our big shopping 1/2 hour away in either Topeka or Lawrence.  In order to have happier kiddos while we did our necessary stuff, we took some fun side trips too (plus we get to include them on our flat traveler journals!).
  Our first scenic stop was Burnett's Mound on the edge of town.  It had been a long time, over 20 years, since I've been to the Mound and I thought it would be a fun, cheap thing to do for our Flat Travellers.  The Mound has a legend associated with it and when the tornado of 1966 roared through, it was expected that the Mound would protect the city.  Unfortunately it didn't and my grandparents, who lived a few blocks from it watched it come right over and into the city.  I had to look up the legend and it turns out that once upon a time a tornado tore across the Kansas prairie killing many of the Potawatomie tribe, some family members of Abram Burnett (who the mound is named after).  Apparently, after gathering and preparing the bodies for burial, with prayer and ceremony, the tribe asked that the Great Spirit bless the mound and the area where the bodies were laid to rest and protect all in its shadow.  You can find the story here...http://www.wiskigeamatyuk.com/Burnett_Mound_Story.html

view of the mound

It has a wonderful view of the city.  We respected the closed barrier and didn't go all the way to the top today, much to Bubby's dismay.
  Our next fun stop was the zoo.  We didn't stay long, I was mostly there to renew my Friends of the Zoo membership to be ready for homeschool zoo class in a couple of weeks.  I let Mookie and Bubby pick their two favorite animals to see.  Bubby picked the alligators, which are on loan from another zoo. The really cool attraction is the albino!

   They have a bunch of alligators that you can feed too.  Shorty thought that was awesome, although they weren't too hungry.  Mookie chose the black bears, and we were glad to see one out and about.  The kids were bummed to leave so soon, but field trip Friday is the Kansas City Zoo - we don't want to get zoo'd out:)

Timothy: A Little Fish with a Big Purpose

   Recently I had the opportunity to review Timothy a Little Fish with a Big Purpose by Brad Riley for Cross Focused Reviews.  I started reading this to Shorty (age almost 2) and before I knew it Bubby (age 10) and Mookie (age 9) were there with us drawn in by the engaging story. 

    The story tells the tale of Timothy, a little fish who obediently followed his mother and grandmother’s instructions and therefore was a blessing to those he came in contact with.  What your kiddos might not pick up on is the background is actually the story of the miracle of the fish from Matthew 17.  In that way, the story is engaging to multiple levels of kiddos because it can draw them in on their level of Biblical understanding. 

   On Shorty’s level, the bright pictures and the brief text on each page was great.  He didn’t stir while we worked our way through.  On another level, you learn about obedience to your parents/spiritual teachers and how that is ultimately being obedient to God.   Further in, you can see how God orchestrates all things for his ultimate good, even using a fish.

   I liked the endnote where the author talks about adults modeling their faith for their kids, like Timothy’s Grandma did in the book.  We as parents and teachers need to be so careful that we are modeling Christ to our kids.  

  The only time where Mr. Riley lost me was where Timothy was supposed to call his mom when he got to his grandma’s house.  I understand that it was put in there to show responsibility to kids but the idea of fish and a telephone was stretching for me. 

   I loved this book and was glad to receive a free download of it from Cross Focused Reviews.  The opinions in this review are my own:)

Field Trip Friday: Sleeping Heroes and Rockets

  Today we wrapped up our Sleeping Heroes Civil War veteran documenting for the summer at Lyndon. We were able to finish two of our county cemeteries this summer.  Bubby was at a sleepover, so it was just Mookie, Shorty and I with our buddies.  It was a beautiful morning for it.

Cheese!

We had to drag Bubby away from an air soft war, but we finally made it on our way to watch another of our buddies launch rockets not too far from our house.

blast off!

Next week a trip to the Kansas City Zoo to celebrate Mookie's 9th birthday!

Amish Country

  We think we have narrowed down Mookie's allergy to a preservative.  Sadly that's probably as specific as it's going to get for now as there's so many.  It seems to be helping though.  In an attempt to cut costs, we're buying bulk baking goods.  So today we made our bi-monthy trip to Amish country in NW Missouri for some shopping at one their bulk foods places.  It's quite a drive, but we pick up Grandma and she joins in the adventure with us!  Its cheap and fun:)
  Our trip takes us through Leavenworth, KS.  One of the kids' favorite places is the riverwalk area near the "blue bridge".  I had never been before, Ducky and Gigi have been the ones to take them, so it was a treat for me! Flat Darcy got to come with us too:)

the sculptures there were awesome!

Shorty's favorite!

The Landing is right next to the train tracks and just before we left one came through!  Shorty was thrilled!!

On to Amish country.  Shorty loves the "neighs" and Mookie loves everything about it. We left Bubby with Hubby & Ducky to get started on a new deck for us.

One of the things I love about NW Missouri is getting to catch a glimpse of the tobacco plants when they're in season.  They aren't as prevalent as in years past, but it's so cool to see something other than the norm.  For our Flat Darcy project we stopped and got up close to a field.  Mookie was thrilled to bring home an actual leaf:)

We can't wait to go back!

A Beautiful Birthday

  A couple of weeks ago we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday.  Her only request was that we throw her an old fashioned weenie roast so the grandkids would have that experience.  The Lord blessed us with excellent weather and it was an amazing evening!
   We had typical picnic fare - hot dogs, roasted corn, and ooooh Grandma's yummy mac n' cheese!

And of course, S'mores!

How many did the kids eat, I'm sure we don't want to know;)

Our boys were thrilled beyond measure at the WWII plane flyover.  There was an airshow at a nearby airstrip and we got to benefit!

Most of my evening was spent like this...

He had a blast chasing after planes, and older cousins.

There's nothing quite like spending some wonderful time with the family!

Guess Who? #2

Some more of my unknowns...

Barrington, IL

Chicago, IL

Yates Center, KS

Pretty sure the woman on the right is my gg-grandma Emilie (Krien) Schaede.

This one is identified as Bill Martins, Mark & Floyd Runnar, and John Mullins.  I know how John fits into my family, and the others are supposed to be related, but I don't know how!

This woman is my gg-grandma' Susan (Camp) Murray's sister.  The age of the photo would make it either Tamson (Camp) Evans, or Caroline (Camp) Shriver.

This one was on the page with the Camp pictures.

This one was on the Camp picture page too.  Isn't she cute?

My Little Genius

  Today took a while to get through.  Tomorrow we have a road trip that is going to mess with our schedule for the week, so I was encouraging the kids to get more done so they didn't have to work on it later and then they moved as if in molasses.  Isn't that the way? :)
  One of Mookie's lessons this week is a reluctant reader's writing guide on poetry that we're trying out for the Crafty Classroom.  Mookie HATES writing!  She'd rather be crafting.  So she put off the writing her couplet until the very end along with a couple of other minor subjects.  
  At the end of the school day, she presented me with this...

"But I'm an explorer, those maps I will use.  For ambling and rambling, wherever I choose".

Heavenly days.  Boy, it was worth all the pulling of teeth to get a gem like that.  My child is a genius!  She's the next Emily Dickinson!  Then pulling me out of my daydream, I hear her say something to the affect of "so you like my handwriting assignment?".  Huh?  Um, yes, your handwriting is beautiful.  Seems we still have some poetry to work on :)

Guess Who?

Everyone has those pictures, those unmarked ones that taunt you with their hidden identities.  Don't give up hope on them, at every chance you get, send them out to new cousins you find and see if they find a familiar face.  That worked for me once, I sent xerox copies of my unknowns to a cousin and she found one that was an exact match to one in her collection - he was unmarked there too, but we narrowed down the family he belonged to.  So, to whomever may read this blog, I'm going to put my unknowns into cyberspace in hopes of finding out who they are:)  These are from my Dad's side of the family (Murray, Schaede, Krien lines).

Westphalia, KS

Neosho Falls, KS

Neosho Falls, KS

Neosho Falls, KS

Yates Center, KS

Yates Center, KS

Yates Center, KS

Yates Center, KS

Yates Center, KS

Yates Center, KS

Yates Center, KS

Field Trip Friday: Atchison

  This week we received a "guest" in the mail. Flat Darcy (a flat traveller from our Homeschool Swapping Adventures group) came to stay with us for the month.  She is from the great state of Texas.  So, since the kids & I were headed up north again this week, we decided to see a piece of famous Kansan history - Amelia Earhart's birthplace.
  My mom's family is from Atchison area.  My gggg-grandpa John McNemee settled in Atchison in 1855 when there were only 10 log cabins in town.  Atchison was a primary entry point to Kansas during territorial days and has a ton of history!  Our first stop was to eat lunch down by the Missouri River.  The city has really made this area a nice place for recreation now.  Not far from where we pulled off was an interpretive area for the Lewis & Clark Trail.

Mookie & Darcy on the Missouri River near the Lewis & Clark trail

They also had a great veterans memorial & had a piece of the section of the aft deckhouse superstructure of the battleship U.S.S. Arizona.  This thrilled Bubby to no end!  It even had a place you could actually touch it.

Next up was the birthplace of Amelia Earhart.  I was wary of attempting this because Shorty DID NOT SLEEP on the way to Atchison & so we were facing the early afternoon in a small museum with a toddler in need of a nap:/  I was so glad we followed through with our plans though.  What a beautiful house!

the kids and Darcy in front of Amelia's birthplace

I told Hubby when we got home that if someone told me I had to pack up and move to that house without prior notice I would!  It sits on the bluff overlooking the river and is beautifully restored.  Amelia lived here for approx. 10 years.  It was her grandparents' house & her father traveled alot with his job.  The two oldest kids took the self guided tour paper & walked themselves through while I chased the toddler around.  He didn't really try to get into anything, he just had to keep moving.  Mookie especially loved the house. She loved all the pretty things in it:)

Mookie's favorite room (she loved the window seats!)

I think I should have ran him up and down the back porch steps a few more times!

On the way out, I asked them if they could stand the hour and a half ride home while wet.  They thought they could, so we took an unplanned trip to the free spray park we saw on the way up to the Earhart house.  This turned out to be the highlight of the trip, you can't go wrong with kids & water!

Shorty hates being sprayed with water, but he warmed up to the idea and had a blast! 
We came home totally tired and happy:)