Field Trip: Butler County Historical Society

Hubby was working down near El Dorado last week - Field Trip! El Dorado is one of those places that I always exit the Kansas turnpike on, but never really visit - that changed! THE place in El Dorado for museums is the Butler County Historical Society.  El Dorado and Butler County are known for their oil wells so the exhibits were fairly heavily slanted that way.  Which really was great, because my family's land that has the gravel bar attached to it has oil wells.  Now the kiddos have a new understanding of what's going on there!
  Now, this place made a really good first impression because the staff member who got us all checked in ($8 for all of us!) was homeschooled herself - bonus! She handed us some scavenger hunt sheets for the kids. Any place that has this kind of interaction gets extra points too!  They had booklets for the older kids and for Shorty, a laminated sheet with pictures he could mark off with a dry erase marker.

Bubby with his book

Shorty and his Scavenger Hunt

There were lots of hands on activities, the energy chutes were a favorite...

There was a kids area about halfway through for the littlest of our group.  Which was much appreciated.  It kept him busy while the big kiddos searched for the answers to their scavenger hunt questions.  But inside was not the end!  There were buildings and implements outside too!  We had to dodge some rain drops and take refuge in an oil derrick once but it was well worth it!

waiting out the rain in an oil derrick

When we finished, we drove around town for a bit. This will definitely be more than an exit on the turnpike next time for us.  Another great benefit of homeschooling - getting out of your ruts and seeking new paths :)
  We stayed overnight and the next day I was a party pooper mom.  I had kiddos who wanted to just swim and I didn't want to deal with wet kids and then jumping in the car for the drive home.  I was tired and a bummer.  I had one kid especially who let me know their disappointment.  So I compromised with a trip to the little playground next to the museum we had been at the day before (it has a lake and geese/ducks too!).  One small problem -it was cold and rainy! I had to find a quick fix.  So I drove down the road toward home and hatched a plan - the Emporia Zoo! Another exit for us on the turnpike, free and with a playground of its own.  Score!  We had been last year, but it had brought vows of revisiting so I knew it would be a hit. 
  It's a pretty basic little zoo, with a bunch of either rescue or aging animals but the landscaping is amazing and well, its a zoo :)

Bubby talking to the animals ;)

The kids were pretty thrilled because in the last area they saw the big animals (bison, longhorn and deer)  that can be found in our beloved Wichita Mountains . We'll hopefully be able to go and see the ones with freedom later this year.

The big 4-0

  So, I could pretend that this is going to be just another birthday.  When I turned 30 I tried decreasing my years, but Hubby just started adding more on when I tried to do that, so I'm sticking to my age.  Um, well, if I remember that is.  A while back I was looking at Facebook and one of my classmates was celebrating their 40th and I thought, "man, I didn't know they'd been held back a grade" - can you say denial?  Yes, that apparently was the word of the day that day ;) So, the big 4-0 this year it is. And really, we've been so busy as of late that I nearly forgot that my birthday was coming up until Hubby asked me what I wanted to do for the big day. He won't let me forget this one.  I think he may be relishing it a bit as he's a little older.
  I've never been too skiddish about aging.  I always said that I was going to be au natural, no dyes or additives, just me.  God made me who I am when I am. Now this may be that I had a grandma that had beautiful silver hair that fit her perfectly, or it could be that the other grandma had her red hair that didn't start graying until she was in her 60s, but I was contented. I even decided I wanted a gray streak like Bonnie Raitt.  That was until I started getting one, now I feel conflicted.  Yep, a streak down one side of my head, which is kind of cool because I can flip my hair over to the other side and you'd never know... ;)   The gray is kind of pretty when the light hits it, but curly - what in the world?  I guess I always wanted curly hair like my cousin, maybe I'll get it?
  I'll tell you one thing, if you wait for 6 years like we did, you automatically get put into a younger age bracket in people's minds.  Which is kind of fun.  I remember it happening to my folks when I was a kid.  They also waited for 6 years before I was born. I can secretly smile when people say how young we are, but that doesn't change where I am.
  And truly I would not want to go back.  I wish I had the energy I did when I was in my 20s. I wish could have a re-do on some not so great moments, but they've made me who I am. While I'm still a work in progress God used everything and every year to take me where He wanted me, so I am ... contented. 
  Now I may not readily admit my age, especially if it is mistaken for younger.  Or I may even adjust how I say things: like a few years ago when one of my college-aged buddies was asking me how long I'd been doing archaeology - I almost told her 20+ years (which was about how old she was) but told her since I was 12 instead (ha!).  But I'll admit it.  It won't scare me much.  Well, not much... ;)

Field Trip: A Visit with George

  A family trip took us to the Ozarks of Missouri.  We had a little time on the way home and made a side trip to take in a field trip destination: The George Washington Carver National Monument just outside of Diamond, Missouri.  I had always thought that GWC was a pretty neat guy, but I came away from this museum thinking he was pretty fantastic!
  The National Monument is a Junior Ranger site so the kids were really excited.  While we were there we picked up booklets for the Historic Preservation badge and the Bicentennial badge.  Those we can turn in at a local NPS site later.
  The site is a no cost site, which is always nice.  The galleries were very well done.  The kids loved learning more about George.  Mom had made them read a couple of books on him before this trip and so they were filling us in on some back story along the way.

The lab area was a neat place for on-site demonstrations.  We missed one just by a couple of hours - darn! No worries though, we were totally content to wander on our own.
   For this Junior Ranger badge, you needed to do a total of 6 activities.  We had completed all of them, but couldn't pass up the chance to walk the trail too! So off we went.  It's 3/4 mile for the main part with about an extra 1/4 mile if you walk around the pond as well.

When we visited the statue of George as a child, the kids spotted a little orange lizard which thrilled them to no end.  The little guy was a bit shy and refused to make an encore appearance ;) The walk was totally lovely: a beautiful spring, bridges, the Moses Carver house tucked into the woods...  Hubby had a great time playing "what tree is this?" with Bubby (who actually didn't do too bad).

And we kept Shorty busy on the trail with a game of Red Light, Green Light.  That idea will be kept for future reference for sure! 
The cemetery of the Carver family was a peaceful addition to the walk...

The last stop on the walk was a bust of George where he would "tell" you (via recording) his favorite poem "Equipment" by Edgar Guest.  I loved it! This is only a part...

"You are the handicap you must face,
You are the one who must choose your place,
You must say where you want to go,
How much you will study the truth to know.
God has equipped you for life, but He
Lets you decide what you want to be."

 And then the swearing in.  This part never gets old.  It brings a thrill each time to all of us.  Mookie dubbed this park her new favorite (as has been each successive one ;) ).  Over all, this was an excellent site.  Hands on, colorful and intriguing displays, a walking trail - this site ranks among the best we've been to.  We have our sights set on learning more about this fascinating man and are eyeing up new possibilities for Ranger badges in the upcoming year.  Oh boy!