Did you get that title? Of course you did.
I hadn't been on the campus of Kansas University in quite some time, and like many university campuses its layout is not conducive to efficient navigation for the unfamiliar navigator. The unfamiliar navigator was none other than myself, who also served as the driver, simultaneously. It would not be inaccurate for one to describe my manner of motor vehicle operation on that Friday the 13th, on the campus of Kansas University, as slow, hesitant, indecisive, and even ponderous. College students have important places to go and they have motor vehicles to get them there. Just before noon on a Friday the 13th in April, some of those college students grew impatient with my driving and expressed their frustration with exhibitions of acceleration immediately after extracting their motor vehicle out from behind my own. One little white pickup truck spun one of its rear tires really, really, fast going around a corner in the opposite direction as my own, after it crept up a hill behind me. I presume they arrived where they were going safely, as we did, only much quicker and in a must more perturbed state than us.
We parked on the fifth level of a five tier parking garage, which we entered from the ground floor, much to the amazement and satisfaction of our two oldest boys. They've watched a dvd at home multiple times which documents the different stages of constructing one of these, and it was their first time to actually experience one in real life, three dimensions.
The natural history museum was neat because it displayed a large number of stuffed animals and skeletons found not only in Kansas, but from all over the world. The boys liked the skeletons on display, and the fabricated skeletons. I liked the dinosaur...paraphanelia (is that the correct term?) It's difficult for me to imagine that world dinosaurs occupied. Of course it's difficult to attempt to comprehend the length of time involved in the geological and evolutionary processes scientists believe our Earth has gone through to present time.
One exhibit made an impact on our sons. It was the bee hive. On the third floor of the museum a hive of bees was thriving and producing honeycombs and honey in a fabricated tree with plexiglass sides in order to view the bees and their activity. A tube connected the hive to the outside world and allowed the bees to enter and exit through the window. The information referred to honey as "bee barf", because honey is technically, "regurgitated bee saliva". This has brought a great deal of enjoyment to our boys each time we've had a honey treat at the table.
The exhibit on germs was interactive, and quite impressive for an adult, however it failed to hold our sons' interest for very long. It was okay with us, because we felt we'd exhausted our usable time there in the museum. In other words, we felt the end of our sons' interest level approaching, and we made preparations to leave and go onto phase two of the day's activities.
Phase two involved a stop at the closest convenience store along the way for snacks and beverages. I say along the way, because I left out the part where we left the museum, Mare fed Henry while the boys ate birthday candy and I people watched, and we retrieved the car from the awesome storage building. We'd planned to travel just south of Lawrence to a place called "Wells Overlook". Wells Overlook is a four story wooden observation tower built upon a tall hill. It's a Douglas County maintained park which charges no admission or permit fee. Mare tells me during her childhood there was a playground there, however that playground and several "very cool" trees have been removed since. What remains on the tall hill, besides the observation tower, is a covered, paved, shelter full of picnic tables, and some short "trails".
The view the tower afforded was, needless to say, impressive. It seemed I could see for ten to twelve miles off, especially if I used the binoculars.The boys sure had fun going up and down the stairs about four dozen times or more after they discovered they could toss their plastic dinosaurs off over the edge and watch them from between the cracks of the railing fence as they landed on the ground below. Henry played on his back and stomach on a thick blanket we'd brought along for that pursuit. Jack spent some time hunting for insects to collect and examine with his new adventure/explorer kit. Then, we explored some of the trails in the park. We stayed there until nearly dusk, then traveled back into Lawrence to spend a couple of gift cards we had to Applebee's for supper.
The boys were worn out! The parents were worn out! We carried their dishrag limp bodies into the bathroom and scrubbed their little teeth really well to get all that birthday candy off their teeth, then dressed them in their pajamas and tucked them into bed. I went to bed. Mare stayed up making cupcakes for the birthday party which would take place the following morning.
Yes, that's right, there was more celebrating to come!
We took lots of pictures, and if I get really ambitious I might attempt posting them on here for your enjoyment.
By the way, carrying in a limp sleeping kid is about the best thing in the world, and I experienced a case of deja' vu remembering how safe and snug I felt when my own dad carried me into the house at night after falling asleep in the car. That's good stuff.
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It's the time of the preacher
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