Sunday, June 17, 2012

Day Fourteen.....Our Adventure is winding down.

Today we visited the children's museum in Wichita Kansas. This was the best children's museum that I have seen. And the visiting exhibit..... Wait for it....STAR WARS!!!!! From original props to interactive droid
programming to friendly Tuscan Raiders fun was had by all. Elyse and Paige loved the Chubacca costumes. Doug thought the Yoda puppet was cool. Dalton is quite the droid engineer. I think he could have stayed there all day.
The museum also had an entire castle complete with catapults, a moat, coat of arms design, dress up, puppet show.... And more.
They had an entire room full of manipulative puzzles. It was great to watch the kids use their problem solving skills. Brooke really surprised me. She obviously gets her spacial reasoning from Doug. I loved watching him challenge the kids to see things differently to solve the puzzles. He really is brilliant.
I think Doug and I are getting tired because we both thought a hotel sounded great. We ordered in from a great BBQ restaurant, swam and the kids watched a Netflix movie on Paige's laptop. Tomorrow just driving home. It's been a great trip but I miss our family and am ready to be home!
Oh, the tornado pictures are for Grace. When she heard we were in Kansas she was worried about the tornadoes. While I was driving Doug sent pictures from the Internet describing the tornado we were "experiencing". No worries, we are all safe and sound.
I don't know if you can tell by the pictures but Elyse LOVED the turtles; so much that she was compelled to kiss them!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Day Thirteen....Don't Mess With Texas!

More driving today. In the small town of Santa Rosa, NM we found The Blue Hole. It is a naturally occurring artesian spring. It is 81 feet deep and the water is 64 degrees year round. The kids waded in the creek that is fed by the spring. Just like the ocean, I should have put them I their suits. One will never learn. Paige was the most hesitant, she is more of a chlorine pool kind of girl. Brooke and Dalton however had a blast! After seeing the scuba divers there the kids want to learn. Maybe that can be part of our next vacation. After a quick change of clothes we were on the road again.
Goodbye New Mexico hello Texas. Dalton asked why they have the saying "Don't mess with Texas". I honestly don't know why. Doug thought maybe because they have big guns to match their egos.
The next stop was Cadillac Ranch. This was made by a group of artists in 1974. It is supposed to represent the evolution of the car line. I saw it as an opportunity to teach my children the art of graffiti. Why not give your children spray. Even Elyse got in on the fun. How do you get spray paint of skin anyway?
Camping in Oklahoma equals bugs, heat, humidity, and women who smoke cigarettes in the shower room. Even a poor little cockroach couldn't stand the smell. Ahhh I love camping! Second hotel card please!
Tomorrow on to Kansas.