Adventure along the way

  Yesterday we had an unplanned trip out of town. One of the wonderful things about homeschooling is that school can be anywhere!  One of the attractions along the way to our destination was the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan, KS.  It has been on my list to visit ever since it opened.

A look down from the second floor

  It did not disappoint!  While we were waiting for the intro film the docent explained the whats and wheres of the displays and a "thunderstorm" rolled through.  Made us all jump a bit.  The intro film was amazing!  Now usually any intro film is a little blah.  You're just waiting to get on to the main attraction.  This thing was panorama, had "prairie breezes" moving through, "smoke" and even "snow"!  It was my favorite part of the Center. 
  The kids' favorites varied.  Shorty loved the trains of course :)

 There were tons of hands on things for the kids.  Although Shorty's attention span was, well short, we took advantage of many of them.

Shorty "branding" a cow.  He won't give us a normal smile for the camera right now;)

Mookie loved the kids' interactive play area.  She's a more hands on/active learner so it was perfect. 

the tunnels in the kids' area

The kids area was complete with tunnels that showed the creatures that are found in the Flint Hills area.  There were also sounds of the Flint Hills, a book area, toddler area & a small rotating exhibit. 
  Bubby, well, in true Bubby form loved everything!  He looked at each individual exhibit & read all the captions!

Bubby & Daddy

the under the Flint Hills hall

We spent about 2 hours there and the kids wished we could have had more.  So if you're going, plan for 2+ hours for sure to take it all in.  Our family of 5 spent $30 on admission. 
  We made our way to Lindsborg and couldn't stop there without seeing Coronado Heights.  The Heights was built in the 1930s by the W.P.A. memorializing Coronado's trip through Kansas.  It holds a special place in our family's heart because the archaeological dig that Daddy & I started dating at was held near Lindsborg.  The Heights had been the place for all the kids on the dig to hang out at in the evenings.

Coronado Heights

It was cold and super windy so we didn't stay long.  Just enough to show the kids the buildings and point out where we had climbed into the tower those many years ago (there isn't a ladder, you have to scale the wall - we discouraged the kids from even thinking about it!) 
  On our trip home we stopped at the Brookville Motel in Abilene for a wonderful chicken dinner.  Yum! 
  We're definitely planning a lower key week next week.  Its been hard to get back into sit down school today - but so totally worth it!