Glimpses from Grandma's house

We love this home. Our kids didn't want to go anywhere else the entire week. These were my favorite shots of the week.

We all had watermelon for a treat one afternoon. Daniel disappeared from the kitchen with his bowl of watermelon, and this is where I found him. He was perfectly content, and was splashing in the water with his feet while his chin dripped with sweet juices.

This was Uncle Ben's first morning home from his 2-year mission in Bulgaria. 

Sarah really loved playing with Grandpa Kingsley's new iPad. 

(This last picture I just had to include. It was just so bizarre. Nathan and his brother Sam were cleaning the tops of the cabinets in the middle of the night.)

A day in Lincoln Country

Sarah had completed a very in-depth report last year about Abraham Lincoln's life. When I discovered that his home of Springfield was quite close to our travels in Illinois, I couldn't resist taking the family there. It would be a perfect extension of her studies. We rented a cabin with 2 lofts and brought along Nathan's brothers Adam and Sam.

I love renting cabins for our trips instead of doing hotels. We prefer the KOA campgrounds and have never had a bad experience in the few years we've used them. The cabins are always clean and I love the fact that customers bring their own bedding. I never have to wonder if the sheets are actually clean. The campgrounds also have playgrounds for children (Have you ever seen a hotel have that?), fun games to check out at the front desk, swimming pools, mini golf, and other fun activities. I LOVE the porch swing that is a staple at every KOA cabin. Who doesn't feel drawn to swing on a porch for a while and listen to birds?

This particular campground was fantastic. It was nestled in some beautiful tall woods. That alone is a great selling point to me....I love being in nature and out of the city.

They had a great swimming pool that we all enjoyed for a few hours.

Our favorite part was an AIR PILLOW. I had never heard of this before. It's a giant inflatable rectangle that you can jump on, very similar to a trampoline. It was SO much fun!

The children really loved roasting marshmallows by the fire. Daniel was so eager for the candy that his method was modified by haste. He would promptly thrust the roasting stick deep into the flames so the marshmallow would immediately catch fire. He'd blow out the flames and eat the burnt-outside-raw-inside candy in delight. He never had the patience to discover the pure joy of perfectly-toasted marshmallows! Luckily for Dan, Matthew was generous enough to toast several marshmallows into perfection and share with him.

We enjoyed playing games in the lofts late into the night. I love being with family! It's so deeply rewarding!

When we were visiting Springfield, Sarah decided to do the Junior Ranger program (Lincoln's home is a National Park site, so remember to look into the JR program there.). The Lincoln Home Tour was particularly educational. I loved it!

Our family going into Lincoln's home

 We explored a historic district hosted by costumed interpreters. There were some ladies demonstrating laundry techniques of the 1860's. They sweetly asked Sarah if she would like to try doing the laundry, to which she replied, "Sure, but I already know how to do it. I teach people how to do laundry at my farm, too! I washed all the clothes I could find in our cabin" Ah well. We had fun anyway.

A really fun part of the district was learning how to play children's games of the period. This was the first time I've seen 'Graces' played, even though I've read of it several times. It was very fun, so we purchased a set for ourselves to play at home.

There is so much more to see and do in Springfield (Lincoln's tomb, the Presidential Library, several history and art museums, etc) we could have spent a few days there. Unfortunately, the children spent the entire day repeating one thing: "We want to go to Grandma Kingsley's house! Can we leave yet?" 

I was very disappointed to leave Springfield so soon, but honestly I couldn't be angry at the children. Grandma Kingsley's home is so magical and heavenly, I can't blame them for wanting to go there without delay. Everything else pales in comparison with her home. 

I want my home to be just like hers.

Quick highlights of our family vacation

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.