~~WARNING: LOTS of PICTURES in this post!!!!~~

Wednesday night we decided we needed to take a break from the heat and sun.

After breakfast Thursday morning we got everybody loaded up in two vehicles and set out for the county road. We kept telling the kids that we were going on an adventure today. Little did we know! The first half mile of the journey was an extremely unmaintained stretch of county road. After making it past some deep crevices, over a small wooden bridge and through two locked gates, we finally found the main road.

We pulled up to the Children’s Museum in Seminole at about 10:45, I think. Since it was shaping up to be crazy hot we did the outdoor stuff first. There was a castle maze, a little town complete with traffic signals and signs and a train. After exhausting the town and maze we headed back inside to bide our time until the train departed. The kids spent a bunch of time at the Waterworks and climbing this crazy contraption they had.

The train ride was all of 20 minutes maybe, but it was fun and we were all glad to be back in the air conditioned building. Before the train departed the station the conductor told us that we could yell all we wanted in the tunnels. After the first tunnel Abbie turned to me and said, “Why are they screaming?!” She never did yell when the other kids did.

From there we split up into smaller groups. Mom took Nathan and Caleb. Dad had Luke and Abbie, I think, while I took Zeke. We just kind of explored everything and met up in various parts of the museum. There was a whole science/weather area, a hospital, and ambulance, a fire engine, an auto repair area, painting/drawing, a courtroom, grocery store, handicap area, dentist, schoolroom, a really cool mechanical ball maze (it mesmerized many of us for quite a while), and a Mayan area. Oh there was also a small aquarium, a news station, a puppet show, an airline cockpit, model airplanes, a Model T and a flight sim that went forward and backward. So much great stuff!!!

Here’s Abigail changing out the muffler on the car!

Nathan had to give it a try too.

In the newsroom.

She’s in a tornado tube. The wind got up to 78 miles an hour.

This ambulance was sticking out the side of the building. When Abbie saw it she was just enthralled. After checking out of she soon discovered that there was no way to get into it from the outside. After the train ride she kept asking to find the ambulance. Once we did she spent some time behind the wheel.

The bubble station was WAY cool!

They made bubbles around themselves!!

Caleb was on trial for something…can’t remember now what it was though.

This is part of the Mayan exhibit.

Around 1 we headed for a catfish restaurant. Yummy! Everyone but Caleb got the catfish…he had 5 enormous butterfly shrimp. Literally I have never seen shrimp that big.

After lunch we went back to the museum for another couple hours. This time the kids settled down and picked some areas to really study. The adults got to do the same. We left about 30 minutes before they closed. I never would have dreamed we’d spend that much time there. It’s definitely one of the best children’s museums I’ve ever been to.

We headed for Shawnee to do some shopping. Mom had some coupons for JC Penney’s that she wanted to use on the kids. The boys hated the idea of clothes shopping, but it really didn’t take us much time at all. Then it was time for ice cream at Braum’s. Oh my goodness…it was sooo good!

Seems like we got back to the cabin after 6. We kinda snacked around and stalled until 7:45. The kids were dying to get in the water. They swam for about an hour until it was nearly dark. We got everybody showered, started the laundry (again!) and did devotions. When Mom and Dad got ready to leave it was 20 minutes to 10. Long day.

Still more to come tomorrow…

The next morning we did a lot of running around the campground (back and forth between the motor home and the cabin). Then it started raining…a lot! Dad and Nathan had planned to drive the golf cart over, but got stuck at the motor home when the rain started. Mom drove back over in the truck to pick them up.

Mom and I spent the rest of the morning working on rocket making. She found a project in Family Circle magazine to make a rocket launcher from a 2 liter bottle, PVC pipe and plastic file folders. It took us all day but we finally got it made and it worked GREAT!

We went to Sparks for lunch at the Nutrition Site. Mom and Dad introduced us to all their friends. The nutrition site is at the old Sparks school. They have a library and several other “city” offices there. After lunch we looked around the library for a little while. They have an amazing amount of books for a little nothing town. We also went to the post office and took the “tour”.

Then it was back to the campground for swimming. Oh my!! The kids swam for a couple hours easy. They had so much fun with all the floaties that Mom got for them. No mishaps this time. The biggest issue of the day was right before we got ready to pack up and go to the cabin. Nathan went under the water and came up without his hat. Crazy kid wore his hat in to the water. We were hoping maybe the next day it’d wash up on shore. He lost the sole of his sandal the night before and Abbie found it the next day. Alas, no such luck. He had to buy a new hat when we got home!

Abbie got stuck in her floaty and she was none-too-happy that I was taking pictures of her instead of helping to free her!

Zeke helped Grandma drive the tractor back around the cabin.

We had dinner at the cabin and then played around outside for a while. We all took turns driving the golf cart, including Zeke. That was too funny, but I wasn’t fast enough with the camera to take a video. Mom and I laughed and laughed. Daddy pushed the gas and let Zeke steer all by himself. Good grief! He’s a wild man!

The kids swam again for probably an hour.
Not sure if this was a pleasure cruise in the canoe or a rescue mission. Dad paddled across the lake more than once to rescue escape floaties over the course of the week.

Isn’t that pretty?!?!

Then it was time for showers and devotions. The boys turned on the shark video to show Papa. They only made it halfway through…everyone was tired.

The third day was more of the same…shooting, swimming and driving.

After breakfast the big boys were given lessons on driving the ATV. They all learn quickly. Our only vehicular incident was with Luke and the golf cart. He took off a little too fast one time and Zeke fell over. He hit his head and was crying. While Luke was trying to make sure Zeke was okay he crashed into a tree. By the time we all got to them Zeke was still crying and Luke was hiding behind the tree. There was no damage done to the golf cart and he wasn’t in trouble. He got right back on that golf cart and took off again, more slowly this time.

Abbie was positively giddy! One time I saw her sitting on the back of the stationary ATV with her arms wrapped around Nathan, holding on for dear life and grinning away!

This is Luke…pre-crash.

That golf cart is great to drive. It feels a little squirrely on the gravel roads, but it’s a blast in the grass!

We had a weenie roast for lunch. The boys and Dad built the fire pit and fire then we all cooked hot dogs. We found a shady spot next to the fire ring and ate on blankets. Afterward it was time for s’mores. Everyone enjoyed those!

Abbie and Zeke decided to try out the paddle boat, on the grass.

While they were in it, Abbie found a frog! Can you believe she’s touching it?! Eww…

With all the driving and fire prep we managed to keep the kids out of the water until after lunch. Then they spent two hours in the water. We started over in a spot across the lake from where we were the day before. Daddy mowed a section under the trees so we’d have some shade. But the lake bottom was super slimy and dropped off pretty quickly. The kids weren’t having much fun there.

Luke decided he needed ALL the floaties…since the bottom was so slippery maybe?!

Dad got a couple things from the motor home and then we all headed back to the lake by the cabin. That was by far the best swimming water. It was warmer and the drop-off isn’t as severe. Abbie could go out a long way before she couldn’t touch bottom anymore. She got pretty brave when Mom and Dad were in the water with her…she was a long way from shore. Zeke was content to hang out around the shore and the dock. After 2 hours in the water I made them take a break for snacks and water. Then it was back in for an hour until dinner.

They didn’t seem to be itchin’ got get in the water as much after dinner. Daddy hooked up the hay ride wagon and took us on a ride around the campground. It was great! I really enjoyed the ride around the campground, even though Zeke fell asleep in my lap and made my right leg fall asleep.

It was 8:45 or so when we got back to the cabin and the kids were all ready for bed. We did devotions and most of them are out.

There’s still more to come…

There are 64 pictures in my exported folder (of the 216 that I took total) and with the pictures is plenty of commentary so I’m going to split it up over the next few days.

Our trip began at 6 AM on Monday, August 16th. We were actually ready to go at 5:45, but had to fill up with gas before we left. We were approaching the turn to get on E-470 when I began to question Nathan and discovered that he’d left some very important things at home…his bathroom bag! So we turned around and headed home. Fortunately we hadn’t gone more than 5 miles. After that little pit stop we were on the road at 6:20.

We stopped at McDonald’s in Limon and ate breakfast. While we were standing in line Jon and his carload (Bro. Randy, Robert and Austin) showed up. Then we saw the Thompsons pull into the parking lot too. We were all heading the same direction and needed food at the same time!

We made it to Mom and Dad’s motor home in about 11 and a half hours.

After taking a quick look around the motor home we headed over to the cabin. The campground is run by the Assembly of God church. The cabin is used by their ministry for a get-away. The man in charge of the campground graciously allowed us to use it for the week. It really is a nice place!

The boys quickly found the BB guns…there was even one for Zeke. They set up the cans and got to work filling them with holes.

It didn’t take long before the kids were changed into their swimming clothes and in the water. They’d been looking forward to swimming since I told them we were going!

Caleb’s life jacket was a little big!

In the midst of all the swimming Dad took Nathan, Zeke and Abbie out in the boat.

The kids had to have been in the water for an hour and a half! They all had to have showers before getting into their pajamas, but thanks to 4 bathrooms in the cabin it went pretty quickly.

After Mom and Dad went to the motor home for the night the boys watched a shark video while Abbie colored. Zeke was wired from being in the car all day and just kinda bounced all over the place!

Everyone slept well (and long) that night!!!

To be continued tomorrow…