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.