Kansas History Field Trip (Day 1 and 2)

Where did we go? What did we do?

It was 5 weeks ago! I wish I knew!

So glad for pictures to help refresh the memory...

It all started at the home school conference where I attended a workshop about making history exciting. The speaker said he was planning a week long Kansas spiritual heritage tour for the summer, so we signed up for the informational email.

Next thing ya know..

August 11. We woke up in the pre-dawn hours to leave by 5 a.m. for Topeka.

First on the itinerary: tour of the capitol building. 

 

Shannon & Caroline climbed many steps above this dome (pictured below) to an exterior dome and walkway outside where they looked over the city from the tip-top of the tall tall structure!

inside looking up into the dome

The very old library had one solid bookshelf towering from the bottom level to the 2nd, glass floors, a dumb waiter, and neat-o lighting.

Details in the ceilings, furnishings, and wall paintings are amazing!

When the tour guide offered for anyone to sit in the big chairs for a picture, Meg quickly retorted, "I want to!" So Daddy escorted her to the front of the room.

such a handsome Daddy

Next on the schedule: Old Prairie Town. We ate a picnic lunch and wandered midst the old buildings. There was a garden behind the log cabin where the little girls picked and slurped cherry tomatoes. The unpicked okra was higher than our heads and 8 inches long! An old apple tree's low branches made a lovely shady perch for Caroline and her new friend. They gathered the windfalls and we enjoyed apples the rest of the week.

In front of the old barber shop, soda fountain/candy shoppe. Apple tree on the right.

A beautiful botanical garden was also on the property with winding paths, fountain, and sparking stream.

kaleidoscope of  living flowers

Then, we spent several hours at Brown vs. Board of Education national historic site learning about the role Kansas played in the desegregation of public schools. Very interesting, unfortunately both Annie's and my camera batteries were dead. There she he received another Junior Ranger badge.

The day was waxing old and the historic churches were closed. However we sat on the steps of the church where Charles M. Sheldon preached his sermons that eventually were compiled in the book In His Steps (WWJD) and listened to our tour guide give a short account of Charles' life and ministry.

We ate a picnic supper at the huge Gage Park where even the big kids had fun playing!

Cora met a new local friend and they moved from one play area to another, almost covering the entire park!

At dusk we arrived at our overnight accommodations: Topeka Bible Church. The children played in the gym upstairs and we settled our packs and bags on the basement floor, each family in their own corner.

Day 2
We spent all morning browsing through the Kansas Museum of History. Annie took a survey that likened her to William Allen White, a famous newspaper editor. She liked the Indian exhibits and the more modern displays. The younger girls liked the discovery center where they dressed up, had puppets, and hands on activities.

Most of our group stood for a picture next to the famous Kansan mannequins...Carrie Nation, George Washington Carver, Amelia Earhart,

Dwight D, Eisenhower, Kiowa Chief Satanta, and painter John Stuart Curry. Annie is in the back next to her similar personality, Mr. White.

The Pottawatomie Baptist Mission building has been relocated outside the museum.
We picnicked on tables nearby.

Then we drove 30 minutes to Lecompton and browsed through the Territorial Capitol Museum and Constitution Hall: places and events in history that our family knew nothing about because we grew up in different states that had different statehood significance.

mid-1800s jail

Next we traveled to Lawrence where we watched a  documentary at the Information Center at Santa Fe Railroad Depot. Just down the street by the river, some children had made mud forts similar to those built long ago. Our children played and pretended awhile before we walked downtown Lawrence retracing Quantrill's Raid.

Our second day of the tour ended with supper at South Park, Lawrence. Another homeschool family had joined our group for this afternoon, so we enjoyed more fellowship on a lovely summer evening!

Big Boy, Little Boy- celebrations of life and death

August 29, 2014

A little boy came into the world as part of our family. He was the fourth little boy to join our family in this way; not as a newborn, but as a tiny fetus. 

Too tiny to survive, too tiny to cry, too tiny to see the adoring eyes of his older siblings...

 

AND WE WONDER. 

This tiny person who has little fingers and little toes; 

eyelids that open and close; 

tiny ears and thin skin; 

a mouth that opens when we press on his chin... 

WHY 

did he die?

Bouquets and food from caring friends. 

Healing comes slowly, yet we mend.

As we ponder we say goodbye 

to our Tiny Redeemed who is with The Most High.

August 29, 2000

A big boy came into this world as part of our family. Weighing in at 9 pounds 3 ounces, he was a healthy little fella with a lusty cry and voracious appetite!

This year we celebrated 14 years with him. Alexander Riley. Our firstborn and only living son.

He chose chicken fried steak, potato salad, macaroni & cheese, and cherry cheesecake for his birthday supper. A filling meal for a growing man.

Happy Birthday Riley!

Thank you God, that Life conquered death 

and that joy cometh in the mo(u)rning.

Last weeks of August

We pulled all of the carrots in our garden; nearly 20 pounds.

For school, Caroline made little imitation boats of the Nina, Pinta & Santa Maria floating across the Atlantic Ocean bathtub water from Spain to America.

We put the canoes in at the river entrance instead of the boat ramp and paddled down the Ninnescah one evening.

Sooo tired after a big day of fun! Cleaned up & sacked out on the floor.

We picked apples and made applesauce. It has been several years since we've had enough apples to make sauce. We have an extra refrigerator in the garage, so we keep a bushel in there all winter long for fresh snacking. And they surely do get snacked...once, twice, three times a day!
  

 

We also dehydrated many batches of apples too. I have to keep these out of sight or they will vanish! They are handy to grab for a last minute snack on the road or when packing lunches. 

More apples for a friends' celebration of Shannon's birthday. Apple Crisp Pizza.

 Biscuits & Sausage Gravy supper for our family celebration of Shannon's 38th birthday.

peanut butter sheetcake for Daddy

Annie made fried won tons with some wrappers that had been in the freezer awhile.

 We had a few giant almost colorless cucumbers that made several pints of dill pickles.

Also...Annie went to an End of  Summer party and baked for Farmers Market again. Riley attended a basketball day camp and had a friend over for the night. Our first homeschool co-op Friday class started up for a new school year. We played softball and ate homemade ice cream at Lemon park on a Sunday evening.