Grandpa and Grandma :)

Mom and Dad surprised us by stopping here for a night on their way back from Arizona.  We had a great time with them.

We went early to church that morning so Jess could do the slides for choir practice.  Samuel sat in the booth with Jess.  The other two drew on my post-it notes.

Philip used 8 post-its to create a detailed and accurate account of his weekend.  Neat book!

Meanwhile, I enjoyed the music!  :)

Nature Center Field Trip

All three of the kids felt really important to be using real microscopes and slides.

visiting Uncle John

 watching Yogi Bear and Hello Kitty while the van gets worked on

 helping Uncle John hold the van up

 sitting on Jess' feet like penguin babies do with their fathers

We love you, Uncle John!

Goat Dairy Farm Field Trip

 One of our friends with us here is from Czech Republic.  There was a funny discussion about what we say the hens, goats and sheep say and what the Czechs say.  Isn't it funny that each language describes animal sounds vastly different?

 This is a '68 tractor that our friend who works here actually uses in the field.

Springfield field trip #2

 We happened upon this little old museum down the block dedicated to veterans of the Civil War.  They even had the very flag that John Wilkes Booth had caught his spurs on and tore as he jumped off the stage after shooting Lincoln.  It was in a frame on the wall.  He had his spurs on because he had a man standing out a back door with his horse so he could make a quick get-away.

 After we picked up Jess, he suggested we see the capitol building.  We had a great time walking around it all together.  (It had stopped raining by this point!)

 I couldn't believe Jess took a photo of the boys by Stephen Douglas.  That man makes me mad--saying that the constitution meant every "white" man should be made equal.  

 This was a neat fireman statue dedicated to firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

 Samuel wanted us to take a photo of him like he was climbing the building.  :)

 a sun dial in front of the capitol building

 Philip was acting like a statue.

Springfield field trip #1

 Jess had to take a test for his Nat'l Board Certification in Springfield one day last week so we carefully planned a "Lincoln Day".  Here, the boys are being silly at McDonalds.  We stopped here for biscuits and gravy.  We had to leave the house at 5 am so we hadn't eaten yet.

 After we dropped Jess off to take his 3 and a half hour test (!), we headed over to the Lincoln Home.  Before heading inside, we stalled in the van (here I am braiding Sophia's hair--Philip was entertaining himself with the camera).  We finally realized that it would not stop its steady rain so we headed in as they opened the Visitor's Center.  It rained until we were done with all our walking around.  Funny.

 Philip really was fascinated by the model of the area during Lincoln's time.  It had buttons that lit up the paths Lincoln took.

 Before heading to Lincoln's home (the home he lived in for around 15 years, raised kids in and left for the white house from), we watched the short video presentation.  Here, Philip is holding the beautiful ticket.

 I was in awe at the thought of cooking on that stove and using those irons.

 The park ranger (Lincoln's home is actually a National Park--the only one in the whole state--and the rangers are in the symbolic get-up of ranger hat, boots, olive green shirt, tan pants) said that certain articles in the home are the original artifacts from Abe and Mary.  This cake stand is one of them.  I was rather excited by that as Mary Todd Lincoln's cake is famous.  I hope to someday try the recipe I have for it.  This was quite a highlight for me.  :)

 Lincoln apparently did some paperwork at this little table.  However, the plaque said that, most of the time, he could be found sitting on the floor as most of the furniture in the home was too small for his 6' 4" frame.  That made me laugh to picture it.  Then, I felt bad for him that nobody thought to make a chair for him that he could fit.  (If he had known my father-in-law, that would not have been the case.  I am sure he would have quickly noticed the problem and made one.)

 I don't know why I am so interested in the bathroom situation but the fact remains that I had to stop here for a moment to ponder having to get up in the night and sit on this wooden chair with a round hole in it--and then dump it in the morning in the outhouse!   

 Here is the chair Mary sat in sewing at 1:30 in the morning, when Lincoln came home with the good news from the election, according to the video.

 The outhouse

 the backyard

walking back to the visitor's center in the rain

Balloon Animals

 Each week, my friend and I get together in our home for our Bible Study.  This time, her daughters brought balloon animals they had made for our kids.