Field Trip: Museum of the Great Plains

  We reached our primary destination near the Wichita Mountains.  Hubby and I were going to be deeply entrenched in research so we had a variety of trips for the family to go and visit.  It turns out we only needed one ;)   The Museum of the Great Plains was not open when we had visited this area a couple of months ago, and it had actually just re-opened after renovations just a couple of weeks prior to this trip, so we were among the first to experience all that it had to offer. 
  All I can say is wow!  Now, that's me speaking as one who did not set foot in the museum galleries.  The kids spent approximately 8 hours over two days in the museum and really only stopped when they had to eat something.  They went on and on in the evenings about all the activities they did, what they saw, and what they wanted to do again.
   From the printing press...

printing press

where they could make signs for the mock town that was set up for them.  The town featured actual historical figures from the area and told their stories.

The kids with one of their store signs

Each area had a docent which was on hand to assist the kiddos and give them more details.

Shorty getting some help with a wind tunnel from one of the docents

One of the areas they went back to several times was the buffalo that you could dissect.  Shorty dubbed him "Buffy" and gave him a hug before they left :)

The kids removing Buffy's organs

They even had fun things like a huge LiteBrite...

I could go on and on about the animatronic dinosaurs to the tornado shelter that made you feel like you were going through a tornadic storm.  I. am. jealous.  I have resolved to go into the museum the next time we're down south.
  I asked the kids which they liked better, this museum or the Illinois State Museum which we visited earlier this year and is the closest in comparison for hands on learning.  They refused to choose, but they did say that this one was way more hands on. 
  Just as a comparison, our local history museum (the Kansas State Historical Museum) charges $6 per child, and the Museum of the Great Plains charges $8, the Illinois State Museum was free.  All do fantastic jobs of telling the story of their state and areas.  All have a majority of permanent exhibits.  The Illinois State Museum and the Kansas Historical Museum have some age to their exhibits, the Kansas one being the older.  The big difference between these museums and why the Kansas Museum doesn't even come close is the interaction.  The other two make you an active participant in history all through your museum experience.  Want to make what most consider to be the most boring subject in school come alive to a child?  Have them feel it! Draw them in to the story, don't just tell them it.  My most favorite teacher in school was my junior high history teacher, and I give him a huge credit for my love of history.  He would "preach" history to us and give us a "hallelujah" when we gave him the right answer.  He would take one of the students, lay him on a table and reenact Meso-American Indian sacrifices (this happened one time when a group of Kindergarteners was walking by our classroom door - you should have seen their eyes get big! But I digress...).   I am so thankful for museums like the Museum of the Great Plains.  We'll end up there again, and it might be hard for the kids to branch out to the other sights in the area now ;)    

Field Trip: Wichita Mountains

  Hubby and I's work project ultimately took us to the Wichita Mountains.  Have you heard of them? They are located in southern Oklahoma and are encapsulated in a wildlife preserve.  As homeschoolers this was a a schooling dream!  Geology, biology, history and more, not to mention all the hiking too!

  The wildlife includes buffalo, longhorns, and elk all of which are herds maintained for preservation purposes.  These guys are everywhere.  You see them on the roads and on the trails.  It is super cool!  The boys even heard the elk bugling while they were out hiking one afternoon!  The kids got chased by prairie dogs, poked at millipedes, and saw these wonderful little lizards too...

The kids had seen pictures of them prior to our trip and it was their goal to see them before they left.  We saw the biggest concentration at the Holy City of the Wichitas.  The Holy City is neat, it was and is the site of a large passion play every year.

The neat thing about the Holy City is that it is not only the setting for a play, but for those that come to wander the grounds, they have little dioramas amongst the set that tell the story of the different stations of the cross.  The kids loved exploring here!
  Our explorations also took us to the Wichita's dams...

And to the summit of Mt. Scott its highest mountain...

While we were up there we saw another fun member of the wildlife in the mountains, a roadrunner...

One of our favorite treks was to the "watchtower" at Jed Johnson lake.

It was about 1/2 mile to get back to it and when we did we felt like this...

*disclaimer* we did not write this, but it was funny :)

Well, some of us did.  Some of us were just content to pick up "treasures" aka. pieces of glass (notice the bulging pockets?).

One of our favorite places that is on the edge of the Wichitas is Medicine Park.  It was created as a resort community to the Wichita Mountains.  Its architecture is fun with the cobblestone boulders...

The building in the background of the picture above is the Plantation Restaurant - excellent food!
The neatest part of Medicine Park was the "Creek Walk" which took you along Medicine Creek.  There was a swimming area...

and just fun little park areas...

We spent a full week in the Wichitas.  The working vacation kind of wore us out, but we were having so much fun we were not too willing to come home.  I'm hoping our schedules give us another chance to return and explore some more!

Field Trip: Oklahoma City

  The last couple of days have been filled with a little work, and a little play.  The play was especially fun!  Field trip days and places have to be flexible when your work takes you on the road!  This week: Oklahoma City. 
  The kids have loved visiting our state capitol so much, I thought it would be fun for us to take in another one and compare (can we say writing assingment?  Shhhhh!  They don't know it yet!).  We could have taken a guided tour, but it was going to be too structured for some little guy who needed a nap ;) We grabbed a self-guided tour book and it took us up to the 5th floor to work our way back down again.  We exited the elevator, started taking in the elegance of the dome and met this gal who volunteered to take our picture.  I don't get to have my pics taken with the kiddos much on our field trips, so it was a treat! 

Turns out it wasn't just another person who took our picture, it was State Senator Anastasia Pittman!  She took us to the Senate chambers, told us fun stories about the goings-on there and then took us back to her office and introduced us to a WWII vet, her lovely assistant and her intern. She gave us lots of handouts for the kids about the workings of the Oklahoma government, and this excellent book on African-American history in Oklahoma (um, that was right up my alley with my research on the US Colored Troops!).  Ms. Pittman was an excellent ambassador for Oklahoma!  Her love for her work and her state just poured from her :) When our tour was all said and done Mookie declared her favorite part of the capitol was meeting the Senator!
 

The whole thing was lovely.  Bubby wanted to look at every.single.piece.of.art.  And he may have gotten it done :)

No governor here, but we did get to see her in conference via a door that was open to the rotunda!  Super cool!  I don't know how many times I've been to the Kansas State capitol, but I've never seen the governor while we were there or chatted with a state representative. 
  On our way out we checked out the working oil well on the grounds. 

  That evening we got to revisit a OKC favorite, Hideaway Pizza. Yum!

  Today we started with Will Rogers Gardens.  One of Hubby's hobbys is researching the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in Kansas.   The CCC was involved in establishing this park, so we had to take it in!

   Our next stop was the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. It has been 3 years, almost exactly since we'd been and Mookie especially was excited to go back. 

The galleries were fantastic.  They are just stuffed full of western and cowboy heritage! They're set up a little funky, and so there's not a great flow from one end of the exhibits to the next.
  They have a great kids play area with lots of hands on activities...

Definitely worth the second trip.  If we get back to OKC, Bubby's requested stop is the Osteology Museum!  I definitely see that in our future :)

Bubby and Buffalo Bill

See you later Oklahoma!