Busy Bees

Wow! Life can be overwhelming sometimes. After being busy getting the new home set-up, I was busy getting the homeschool into session. Now, I'm just busy! We are involved in weekly co-op out in a small town called Easton, both girls are taking ballet, piano, and horse riding lessons, and the oldest is currently finishing up the soccer season. Not a lot of time for side trips! Also not a lot time for blogging. To be honest, we're a bit too busy, and I will be ever so glad to finish soccer this year and we will soon be dropping the horse riding. (Really, why did I even agree to that?!)

A shout-out to Watkins Ranch in Atchison!

Getting to places is a bit more of a hassle here (for me, at least) so sadly there will be less outings than our last location. Also, on our free days I'm so tired from all the extracurricular stuff I don't feel like driving halfway to timbuktu to sight-see! Country towns aren't noted for their attractions. We had planned on going apple and pumpkin picking at a nearby orchard, but they ran out of apples and pumpkins. In the past few weeks we have managed to visit Science City and the Planetarium at Kansas City's Union Station, and a trip to the zoo with some friends. I didn't bring my camera for some bizarre reason to the science museum, but the girls had a blast until their fight broke out in the floor maze.

Some fall colors at the zoo.

Up close with a free range kangaroo.

Hopefully the pace will slow down and we can get out more before it gets too cold to leave the house!

Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead

This is a great place to spend the day with kids. You can read about it here, but we just went to spend a gorgeous day outside. I'll let the pictures tell the story.

'Milking' cows. We also saw a real cow milking
demonstration using a machine.

Feeding baby goats.

One room schoolhouse, where we listened
to a brief lecture on how it used to be.

Panning for gemstones.

We also went on a hayride and saw several other animals up close and personal and strolled through a small flower garden. It was really a lovely day!

Powell Gardens Butterfly Festival

While looking at a Kansas City attractions map, I found Powell Gardens. I always like to google search places first to see what other people have to say about them, and after googling the garden I found out they were having a butterfly festival that very weekend! How exciting. I got my directions, packed up the backpack and off we went. It was a 70 mile trip one-way, and if I'm honest I didn't feel it was worth it. If you are in the nearby area, such as KC, then I would recommend it, or if you just enjoy driving it might be okay, but I doubt I'll go back at that distance. However, since we did go, it really was a nice botanical garden. Of course, the butterfly festival added to the excitement for the girls.

Immediately upon walking up, the 'trolley' was departing for the barn, so the excited girls quickly hopped on for what turned out to be about a one minute ride. We were dropped of next to an old grain silo they have converted into an observation tower.

View of the quilt garden & more.

Observation tower in background.

Of course the big deal of the day were the butterfly themed activities. The girls got to play a few games, color a life-cycle fan, color butterfly wings, hunt for caterpillars, and go through the butterfly room. 

caterpillar hunt

Moth, not a butterfly.

The garden also has a Lego sculpture display going on with 14 sculpture displays made from Legos. This is supposed to be a really big deal as well. I can appreciate the time that went into these.

"Bison & calf"

"Tiger Swallowtail"

They also had a Lego activity center for free play.

City River Walk

The weather has been abnormally cool for summer (high of 80 today!) so we are eager to take advantage of it. Of course it was a perfect day for a picnic lunch after church. We decided to check out the local city river walk park. The walk next to the river is only about 500 feet, but the path bends around and goes under bridges until it takes you to the local downtown area and ends near the square where the farmer's market is held. It's not a notable scenic place, but it is a nice place to be out for a stroll and enjoy some time outside with a good picnic area.

The river looks to be uncommonly low right now and very fast moving. People were out fishing of course, and I did see a small motor boat. It is also the boundary between Kansas and Missouri, so once you cross, you've changed states.

While there, you might be able to catch a glimpse of a train! The girls were super excited to see one, even though they never seemed all that excited about the ones we actually rode on in Korea. I think the flashing and dinging crossing lights were more exciting to them than the train itself.

Along the river walk a cement sunken wagon; a nod to the pioneers of westward expansion. They are pretending to be the Ingalls.

A picturesque old wall we passed. I have to admit, my first thought was "Oh, we're next to the fortress wall...wait." Yes, still missing Korea!

The most exciting part - catching a crawdad. Some kind people searching for tadpoles let us use their net and we managed to snag this one. There were plenty more, but they were wise to us and hid very effectively. After the girls watched him for a while we threw him back with his mateys.

All in all, it's a pleasant place to pass some time on a nice day. Just across the street from the parking lot is a carousel museum, so we'll save that for an inside kind of day!

County Fair

Ahh, the county fair. What country-raised child doesn't have some fond memory of this? Carnival lemonade, funnel cakes, cotton candy, and let's not leave out the rides. And of course no county fair is complete without the livestock and local artisan's displays.

Oh yes, who could forget the racing pigs?! The same people also brought a petting zoo.

 A sunset view of a nearby pasture and mowed hayfield.

The girls had a blast riding the rides, and the next night dad took them back to watch a demolition derby. I'll sum it up with a assessment I feel free to make since our roots are grounded in Alabama: there are rednecks everywhere. 

Picnic Day

Kansas, home to some prairie winds, provided a great day for kite flying. We packed up a picnic lunch and off we went to a local park. The girls were easily distracted by the playground, so they didn't do much flying, but the hubs was enthralled. The wind was perfect, the kites literally flew themselves! (He attached one to a soccer goal on the field we were in and up it went!)

The same park also has a small fishing pond, which of course the hubs took advantage of. The girl out-fished him though!

T-Rex Cafe

In my quest to seek out new activities, I took every brochure at the hotel. One of them was for the T-Rex cafe, a themed restaurant in a great shopping area a short drive from our town. It was crazy loud and crowded, but a perfect place to take your kids for a fun dinner, which is something ours definitely deserved after days of driving and hotel living. Now, they keep begging to go back!

Korea to Kansas: our prairie home

Borrowing from the dauntless Laura Ingalls Wilder, I have decided to continue chronicling our family's adventures in new places. Still setting up our new homestead in Kansas, things are definitely different here than in Korea! We're not actually on a prairie; there are hills everywhere here, though not like the ones in Korea. Long and low, great for getting in running shape as I learned the other morning!

Life is much slower paced around here, and the lack of any language barrier is wonderful. I do miss the multiple options for dining and transportation. We went to a park the other day to have a picnic and fly kites and enjoy the outdoors away from home, and we were the only people there. It was actually a little creepy for me. I am not used to having all this wide open space and no people around! It is great to have our own space, our own backyard to have all to ourselves!

Today we checked out the local farmer's market. The girls' only experience with markets are the crowded pushing and shoving from Korea, so they were not happy about this outing. However, when we got there and things were spread out and their personal space was respected, they were quite content. I was pleased to be able to identify and know how to prepare all the foods for sale! We purchased some local honey to help combat some allergies and various other products; always nice to buy local. I also got some info on a local farm for a field trip, yay!

Life won't be the same here I know, but it can always be well-lived!