Field Trip Friday: Homecoming

  Starting off on our trip this morning and the gas station attendant in town asked if we were going to the parade today.  "Parade?", I asked her.  "For homecoming", was the reply.  One of those things we homeschoolers are out of touch with.  I've been seeing all the fun pictures of my friends' kiddos dressed for spirit week, but hadn't given the homecoming parade a second thought.  We were off on our own "homecoming", just a different way. 
  My parents, Ducky and Gigi, own a piece of land that my great-grandparents farmed and lived on.  On its edge is a gravel bar on the Neosho River that they like to go and take their trailer to and stay at for a week or so periodically. They were there this week, so we went to hang out with them.  The gravel bar is just a magical place.  Several miles outside of a small town called LeRoy, down a small field road, surrounded by fields of corn and soybeans.  It is the ultimate place for the kids to explore nature.
  

off to look for shells

The kids love scouring the river banks for mussel shells.  Today they were using the shells to line "caves" that they were digging into the gravel bar.

One bonus that they found was a bison horn on the banks!  The kids have their Daddy's eyes:)  They were so excited.  I am always wary of taking home the gooey things that they find from the gravel bar, but they are always so thrilled at all their finds:)

Mookie & Shorty playing with the stomp rocket

One of the favorite things today was Ducky and Gigi's stomp rocket.  Even Shorty got in on this one - and he loved it (didn't do too bad with it either!)

It's always so hard tearing ourselves away.  Luckily we'll be back in a couple of weeks!

Ducky & Shorty

Pit Stop!

I was thinking back on today and our wild flat traveler inspired field trip (in lieu of our "field trip Friday" this week), and Guido from the movie Cars's voice came into my head "Pit Stop!!".  Yep, that's pretty much how it was:)

We were dying to see my folks after our big vacation, and when we found out they were going to be in Topeka, we planned a lunch date.  Funny thing is that all three of us adults had the same eating establishment in mind, we're weird, what can I say?

Just in case, I brought our new flat travelers with us.  Since we were close to downtown, I suggested a trip to the state capital.  Ducky had an appointment later in the afternoon he had to be at, so it would be a quick trip.  With Shorty in need of a nap, I knew that wouldn't be a problem. 

It was a super fast trip, but we got to see all the important parts that were open to the public: the murals and statues, the House and Senate chambers, the old Supreme Court, the door to the Governor's office, and most importantly a ride in the cage elevator! :)

House Chamber

Supreme Court

I had never been in any of the chambers before - so cool!  My favorite was the House chamber, it had a flyer describing different items of note. 

I totally love the John Stuart Curry mural of John Brown.  It is just so powerful, it really captures the imagination of what he must have been like and the volatility of that time period.

So, I am so glad that its free to tour the capital, because our "pit stop" lasted 1/2 hour.  It was a quick one, but since we had been there previously we didn't feel too badly, plus we got to see some new areas!  Shorty slept all the way home and then some:)

Our First Flat Traveler Experience

  We've been having fun with our Facebook group Homeschool Swapping Adventures.  Our last adventure was swapping flat travelers.  Let me tell you, we had a blast with our travelers we received.  The neat part about taking them around was it encouraged us to take more pictures of our everyday life added along with side trips to show neat things about our area!
  In addition to pictures and journaling, we also included small trinkets and pamphlets we picked up along the way - sort of like a small geo-box.  Here are some pictures of what we sent back with our visiting travelers:

Flat Darcy's packet en route to Texas

Flat Jerrin's packet en route to Washington

Here is what we received:

Texas

Flat Darcy's family had some cool trips while our traveler was there an adorable scrapbook & even some bluebonnet seeds (Texas's state flower).  Mookie is so thrilled to plant those in her garden next year!

Washington State

Flat Jerrin's family sent a great journal, a local newspaper, locally made candies and soaps, and even a Bigfoot keychain:)  Bubby is ready to use the map to go see his bestie out in Seattle someday:)

What a wonderful experience!  I've learned some new things to send, like a cd with digital versions of the pictures, and a fact sheet with state info and even a map showing where the traveler went while they were with us.

The only problem we've had so far is that USPS Priority mail is not really as fast as the 2 days like it is advertised.  Our package from Texas took almost 2 weeks, and the one from Washington took a week (it went from Washington to Kansas City, to Memphis, TN and back to us!).  The benefit of doing it priority, however, is that you get a tracking number automatically so you can track it if need be.

A cool side benefit is that you really get to act as an ambassador for your area.  It really makes you think about your everyday activities and if you send your traveler info in journal form, it's neat to see what you've been up to for the last month:)  We're ready to see what new adventures our travelers have!

The Great National Park Adventure - Rushmore

Shorty at our Custer Cabin

  We woke up in Custer State Park to a beautiful morning - I could see my breath!  A beautiful haze was blanketing the huge trees.  Oh how I wish that we could have lingered a little longer in Custer.  They have wonderful wildlife and just neat areas to explore.  We were feeling the crunch though and after a brief stop at the visitors center in Custer that the CCC built, we were on our way to Rushmore.

wouldn't this be an awesome house?

  The drive up was just beautiful.  Even though it wasn't far from where we camped, the curves and switchbacks made it slow going, but really who minds when surrounded by so much beauty of nature?

   When we got to Rushmore, we could tell that it was almost the next weekend because the crowds had really picked up.   The cool thing was when we walked through the parking garage we saw almost a different state/province in every slot!  To be totally honest, I was very disappointed at the "grand entry" to see the monument.  I thought that the monument itself was grand enough and the other just took away from that.  It wasn't there when I was there 20+ years ago, so I was glad I had the memory of that time:)
 

   The exhibit area down closer to the monument was really well done.  They were interactive for the kids and great for all different learning types.   The kids' favorite one was where you could push a tnt detonator plunger and make parts of Mt. Rushmore explode using original video footage.

Making Rushmore go "boom"

getting sworn in as Rushmore Jr. Rangers

  The walk on the President's trail was so pretty with lots of great photo opportunities.  Bubby was really interested in all the Ponderosa pines in the area and would pick up the needles along the path and hand them to Shorty telling him what they were.  Shorty misunderstood and thought they were "porkapine" quills :)

  By the time we left Rushmore, our hopes of reaching Devil's Tower for an afternoon visit were slim, so we just headed for our next night's stay in Keyhole State Park.  It is about 20 miles away from the tower, but you can see it in the distance on your descent into the park.

  Our cabin at Keyhole was more basic (without a heater or close showering facilities), but it was still lovely and lakeside too! 

   Oh how majestic that tower looks!  I've been 3 times and am not tired of it yet.  We got there right when the visitor's center opened and got "rock star parking", which was good, because when we left a couple hours later, it was getting really busy.  

  Surprisingly the kids didn't get really tired of all the hiking we did.  They all trooped along, just excited to be seeing what we saw at each place.  Shorty didn't care much for the faces on the mountain at Rushmore, but he did enjoy the tower - maybe it was because of all the rocks he could climb along the trail.

walking the tower trail

 

  

the kids on the debris at the base of the tower

   After earning their 5th and last Jr. Ranger patch, we started on our last leg through the mountains in Colorado - um, or so we thought.  From about Gillette, Wyoming on we drove through rain.  When we reached a few miles north of Cheyenne the road signs started saying that all roads were closed from Cheyenne to Colorado - huh?  We'd been without internet/tv/phone service for a couple of days so had no idea what was going on.  After we got cell service I made a call to Ducky and Gigi to find out what was going on and they told us about the flooding going on in Colorado.  What a blessing we weren't a day or so earlier in crossing the state border (they had closed the border just that day) - we had been planning on heading to Estes Park area.

  We turned east on I-80 and decided to drive on home.  When we hit pea soup fog in Nebraska, we were doubting our choice.  It even had strong winds with it, but the fog was unaffected!  When we stopped for gas, the attendant said that it had been like that for 2 days.  Thankfully, we ran out of it and had a great uneventful trip safely home.  Shorty woke up when we pulled in at 4am and cheerfully shouted "Home!".  He was more than ready to be there, his schedule had been shot to high heaven on this trip and he was done.  Actually the rest of us were wearing thin too, that is except Bubby.  That kid just fed off of each place we went.  We told them in stages where we were going over the next day or so, that way they would enjoy each thing and not be looking forward to the next to do.  Every time we'd let them in on the schedule, he'd say "I've read about that place and have always wanted to go!" and tell us some odd fact about it.  

  The funny thing about this trip was that the kids asked what we'd be doing about school since they were missing it.  They thought we were weird when we told them that they'd been doing school the whole time!  But really, all the intensive Jr. Ranger research, all the math figuring out ETA and how long the trails would be, P.E. (the hiking), geography, history, etc.... it was the ultimate in school! 

   Who knows when we'll have the opportunity again for something like this, but we'll be ready when we get it! :)

 

  

The Great National Park Adventure pt. 2

  The second part of our second day included Agate Fossil beds.  This is a high concentration of fossilized mammals.  Bubby's favorite part was a trail that had several Daemonilix which were the corkscrew shaped burrows of Paleocaster (ancient beaver). 

Paleocaster daemonelix

Hubby likes torturing me bringing back pics like this

The kids would get after me if I didn't include the right names, they were pretty rabid about their Junior Ranger duties;)  We arrived at Agate's visitor center with just an hour to spare, so it was the most hurried we were on our Jr. Ranger quests.  You can't go wrong with kids and fossils, so it was a hit nonetheless:)  They also had a super cool Native American exhibit.

  Thankfully they also had a great hands on kids area where I entertained Shorty.  He was in high gear due to lack of nap time, and other than glances at the exhibits I didn't absorb too much while I was chasing after him! 

   Our night's stay was one that we wished would have lasted more than just the single night.  It was this super neat bed and breakfast out in the middle of nowhere in NW Nebraska, the High Plains Homestead.  The drive out was through a badlands looking area which was just beautiful.  We were the only guests that night, which was nice :) They had a couple of buildings for the sleeping quarters and several buildings that made up a Prairie Town furnished all in antiques. By far Mookie's favorite was the old school.

  Shorty loved the "buffyloaf".  There were three and he stood at the fence saying "Buffyloaf, come, come" and motioning to them.  They never did listen:)

Bubby's main excitement was the possibility of fossil hunting, which was free to young kiddos.  We tried after supper (which you can get at the cookshack there) without much luck. So Hubby and Bubby headed out after breakfast (which was provided and as yummy as the supper!) for another go.  Success! 

Bubby & his tooth

He found a paleo bison tooth, and fossilized turtle shell fragments.  I have never seen him more thrilled!  He was just grinning from ear to ear and had to go show Miss Linda, one of our hosts, what he had found.

  That was not the last of our fossil adventures.  After scouting out where the Hudson Meng buffalo kill site was just a couple of miles down the road, we were off to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota.
  The Mammoth Site is where a giant sinkhole formed containing a nice hot springs with steep sides.  Because of this it trapped numerous mammoth and other critters that are now being excavated.  The building is only over part of the large site on a hill on the edge of town.  The kids were fascinated.  Shorty kept asking to "diggy", but we had to tell him that it wasn't Daddy's site so he couldn't dig this time:) 

"I diggy"

We had to have fun with the short faced bear exhibit:)

  The last trip of the day was to Wind Cave National Park.  Hubby was interested to go because it was a CCC project.  This was the most intensive of the Junior Ranger badges - we worked forever on it.  Shorty was excited to see more "buffyloaf".

  Ranger Clayton, that lead our tour of the cave, was from NE Kansas just like us!  That wasn't the only reason we liked him.  By the time our tour happened, Shorty was done for the day.  Ranger Clayton had a cool trick that he would take his flashlight and flash it on the floor near any of the toddlers (there were 3) that were getting a little fidgety or he'd take it and shine it under his hat while the kiddo was looking - so cool and such a blessing to us!

Our night was spent in Custer State Park.  Did you know that many state parks have cute little cabins for low cost?  This one had a heater even.  The kids loved the bunk beds!

After a good night's rest we were ready for the main event the next day - Rushmore!

The Great National Park Adventure pt. 1

   Hubby has been on call with his present job for the better part of a year, not knowing when he will be needed on the work site.  He heard that he wasn't going to be needed for a large stretch and we had been itching to take a family vacation so we jumped at the chance!  It ended up that it was the week after Labor Day weekend, which I guess is one of the slowest tourist weeks of the year - woohoo!  One of the perks of homeschooling! :)  We had several directions that were on our wish list of places to go, but one that kept cropping up was Mount Rushmore.  The kids had picked out National Treasure 2 (one of our family favorites) one night, and the next was a documentary on Rushmore on PBS.  Was it a sign?  Well, it didn't dissuade us:) 
  When we left it was working on being another terribly hot day in NE Kansas.  We had high hopes of reaching cooler weather when we got north.  Our first overnight stop was to be Scottsbluff, Nebraska.  We found some places to stop and stretch our legs, some of which Hubby and his buddies had already visited on field trips on their way to yearly conferences.  The first cool place was Windlass Hill in Ash Hollow State park.  We didn't get up on the hill (you needed a park pass), but we did explore the "soddy" down below.  The actual hill was where they lowered wagons along the Oregon Trail down the steep hills with a windlass (you can still see the marks in the rock where they did it). 

the sign on the fence says watch out for rattlesnakes!

   Almost to our destination that first night was Chimney Rock, a famous landmark along the trails.  The kids were super thrilled to get up close to it!  And it was cool out by the time we got there - ahhhhh!  It felt so good!  They even have a little cemetery right next to it - beautiful!

can you tell the kids were cold?  :)

  We pulled into Scottsbluff for the night, and took in some local fare - an excellent ice cream/dairy called the Platte Valley Creamery.  Goodness gracious, it was yummy!  It was started in the 1930s and still had the original building and it looked as if not much had changed since the 50s, but that was ok!  Our lodging turned out to be horrible and we had to switch hotels, which turned out to be a blessing.  There were only rooms left just down the street at the  Circle S Lodge, a small mom & pop hotel.  I definitely wanted to give them a shout out because not only did they check us in at a late hour, help ease our minds, but the night manager also said that she'd be praying we had a good night's sleep :)  We definitely ended up where we were supposed to!
  The next day we made our way to Scottsbluff National Monument.  It was a destination on the Oregon, and Mormon, and California trails.  It had been 20 years since I'd been last.  The kids were anxious to participate in the National Parks' Junior Ranger program.  If you're going to a National Park and have young kids it's definitely something to try (kiddos aged about 5-12).  The kids have booklets to fill out.  They contain various challenges for their age ranges and it differs from park to park on the amount and difficulty.  I really liked Scottsbluff's because it was very hands on and not just read the booklet to find the answers. 

The bluff in the background

You can drive up to the top and see the spectacular views!  There were several trails to walk, the largest of which was the Saddleback trail which had a tunnel through the bluff.  Hubby took the two older kiddos down from the top of the bluff while Shorty and I took a ride in the car so he could take a nap.

Saddleback trail tunnel

 

  After all their hard work, the kids had a swearing in ceremony before they received their badge.

We also went to Agate Fossil Beds National Park that same day and fit in another Junior Ranger badge.  More on that later.  I would have loved to journal these along the way, but had forgotten my cord to download my pictures!