I prefer to plan our vacations around education highlights. As an example, last year we did a 2 week vacation hiking and exploring the National Parks such as Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Carlsbad Caverns, and a handful of historical sites.
We visited the Science Center of Oklahoma City for a day. We were there for 6 hours, which was just about the right length of time. Our favorite activity was the Segway obstacle course.
The biggest highlight was the Science Live show, where a scientist explained the chemistry and physics behind explosions, then he proceeded to blow things up on stage. The children all loved it, and Matthew exclaimed, "I want to be a scientist now! It's SO much cooler to blow things up instead of playing with a dumb baseball."
I'm happy with that.I much prefer the power of the mind over the power of muscle.
There was a wide variety of activities exploring laws of physics in the neatest ways. Other favorite exhibits included a planetarium, mirror maze, photosensitive walls, a theremin, a crime scene to solve and forensic science labs. I was too distracted to take pictures...everything was too much fun! Matt and Nathan also enjoyed building a Colosseum out of cups in the Engineering Garage.
We stopped by the Independance, Missouri LDS Visitor Center for a bit. The children loved playing in the kids' center. There were fun activities and games from the 1800's.
At the Liberty Jail Visitor's Center we made a teeny corn husk doll out of blades of grass while we sat under a tree.
The boys were too restless and energetic to attend a tour of the jail, so we let Aunt Rachael and Sarah take the tour while I waited with the boys outside on the lawn. It was a lovely quiet moment with the birds singing in the trees, and the boys enjoyed playing on the soft grass that grows everywhere except Texas. It was such a treat to lay on the lawn!
We picnicked for lunch at Adam-Ondi-Ahman, which was a beautiful wooded park. As soon as we were out of the car, Daniel was on the hunt for a stick. Anywhere he goes he carries a stick.* (see story at the end)
Earlier that morning the boys had happily collected armfuls of sticks and asked if they could bring the sticks along on our journey. I told them there wasn't space in the van to accommodate extra sticks. Matthew asked if he could bring them IF he could find space for them. I reluctantly agreed. We drove away from the cabin that morning and I didn't notice any sticks. "I'm glad he saw the futility of trying to wedge anything extra between all our luggage," I thought to myself. As we drove down the highway, a semi truck honked at us and motioned to our car. Thinking we had a flat tire, we pulled over and Nathan investigated the outside of our van. On top of the van was a collection of large leafless branches and sticks wedged into the luggage rack! There were dozens of them! The boys had been very industrious that morning!
In an attempt to stem the flow of lumber that was accumulating in our belongings, Nathan presented a rule he remembered from his childhood: Each boy could have ONE stick for the trip. If they found a better stick along our way, they could discard the previous stick and keep the new one.
On this afternoon Daniel very proudly dragged an 8 foot branch up to our picnic blanket. He stood there with his chest puffed out and his chin jutting forward with a pleased smile on his face. I was speechless. Nathan and I just looked helplessly at each other and laughed. Nathan pointed out that it couldn't fit in the van, so Daniel compromised and we broke it in half so a 4-foot section could slide into the van. We took it with us everywhere for weeks!
The views of the valley were peaceful, and we enjoyed a leisurely family hike. I planned the hike as a way of having fun and simultaneously exhausting the children so they'd nap in the van while we made a long drive across Missouri into Illinois. It worked. The only one awake was Nathan.
* Quick side story- In church last week Daniel whispered into my ear happily:
"I brought a secret weapon so I won't be bored. It's my STICK!"
With a great flourish he presented a twig he had hidden in a pocket. True to
his word, he contentedly played with it for 90 minutes, peeling bark off with his tiny thumbnail. I took a picture with my heart.
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