About a month ago, we set aside a day to make the long trek to a pioneer-y national park together. But we were both swamped and overwhelmed and behind on everything. So, we delayed a month--hoping our hubbies could join the fun. Well, mine could, but hers couldn't, so Buck made sure to text him updates and a picture of himself by a firetruck (brutal treatment for a police officer, I guess :)
With a stack of Junior Ranger books about half a foot thick, we let the kids loose to explore the museum. The older kids (who are no longer badge-collecting enthusiasts) helped the younger kids manage their booklets. I worked with the six-year-old who is an excellent spotter of random items for the bingo-challenge page :) Buck and Graysen knocked out a bunch of pages, and then everyone compared notes and found miscellaneous items here, there, and everywhere. My NGF said it is the first time that Junior Ranger booklets haven't made her want to cry, lol! Also there was a guy who carves wooden stamps who demonstrated the printing process of a finished stamp for the kids. They're all such good listeners (years of training) they stood respectfully and absorbed the knowledge (or at least looked like they did :)
After the largest badge swearing-in ceremony ever (well, for us anyway :), we headed outside to watch the prairie fire. Quite an experience seeing a bunny race out of the burning grasses, just like Laura Ingalls Wilder described in her books. Less scary though, this was very well controlled by park rangers whose job it is to do controlled burns at parks across the nation. They watch the winds, the temps, the humidity levels, and countless other factors to choose the best time to light the prairie for a healthy burn off. Buck and Gabby chatted with the fire chief for a long time (he tried to recruit Gabby to the park service :)
In the meantime, I'd forgotten to pack the lunchmeat etc. I'd bought at the store, but thankfully my NGF was MORE than prepared. Used to buying for seven kids plus her brother (who is often mixed in among her crew), she had enough food to feed an army, and our family too :) It was a slightly smoky lunch when the winds shifted, but we managed just fine.
We took a few quick pics by the tiny homestead house replica (ten kids lived in that abode!!), and were somewhat bummed all the trails were closed due to the fires (understandable). Then we drove on to the second building, which I guess is the education center--with a room full of antique farm implements, some dress up items, another nice gift shop, some photo displays, and the kids' favorite thing ever--a podium.
They spent probably 30 to 45 minutes taking turns giving speeches about "hot" topics . . . I won't go into details, they were intentionally NOT p.c. (let's turn the Redwoods into countertops). They voted each other president, took lots of questions from the audience, and pretty much made me and my NGF laugh our heads off. She got a bunch of the speeches on video, so that probably counts as a speech credit. Right? They are certainly not shy "on stage."
The little one just wanted to dress up and take pics. She had about half a dozen poses in mind and her photographer mama obliged her wishes. I had to take a pic too, just because mine aren't little and don't do this anymore :)
Finally, we decided it was time to end the conference and check out the little one-room school house down the road. It was in use until the late 1960s! No pictures, because it was cold, but the kids were fascinated by the outhouses and actually managed to break into one--finding a toilet filled with soil and a couple of dead mice.
At this point, we discovered our NGF's fam has a good friend on the local fire department's team. He invited everyone over for a tour of the firehouse, and we tagged along. It was so interesting! They have a ton (probably more than just one ton ;) of bright, shiny, spotless ambulances, trucks, fire engines, and hazmat vehicles read to roll. We saw the chief's office, the workout room, the sleeping quarters, the kitchen (three fridges!), the t.v. room, and the firefighters load up for a rescue call. Exciting!
The building was constructed as an armory in the 1800s, so that was also a neat little fact we got to gather on our field trip. Later Brennen said, "That was really a very learning kind of day." Haha! Yes, it was :) And fun, too!
Not-so-fun, arriving home to puppy puke . . . which thanks to our new HVAC . . . equally distributed the delightful scent from the laundry room to every room in the house. It didn't take us long to throw open every window and door, turn on all the fans, febreze the downstairs, light a candle in the kitchen, and start the diffuser with a purification oil in the living room. It was so gross in here!!! This delayed our weekend trip to my mom's house, but it all worked out anyway, as you will see in a future blog post :)
1 comment:
I'm always amazed when I see pictures of this whole crew together! Glad you have a NGF to hang with!!! They are very special!!
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