They asked, "What do you want to do for Mother's Day?"

...and I said I wanted to go to the castle at Ha Ha Tonka State Park. It's been on my list of things to see for years.

What a lovely weekend with my family.

It was perfect!

7.4 Minutes from Across the Pond

Sharing the photo slideshow that my daughter put together of highlights from our trip.

I've been back at home for just over three days now and am suffering a bit from that post event let down. Munchkin #1 and I spent a lot of time planning for this trip. If you consider the years I spent dreaming about doing something like this before my daughter was even in the picture, it's a whole lot of expectation and looking-forward-to now behind me.

Short story: we had a fabulous time.

I filled nearly half a journal with the long story, so chances are you'll see more of it here as time permits.

A brief overview:

We were gone from Kansas for 10 days. We traveled via Toronto to England. Arrived in London at about 9:30 AM on a Friday and immediately began sight-seeing. We not only mastered the underground (the oldest subway system in the world), we fell in love with it. I had not expected to enjoy public transit quite so much. I now dream of rocket trains connecting all my favorite parts of Kansas.

Day One - Travel: Kansas City. Toronto. Red eye flight to London.

Day Two -  London: We took in Highgate Cemetery and the Sir John Ritblat Gallery in The British Library. Unfortunately, we were too tired to properly appreciate the gallery as we were going on two days with approximately 2.5 hours of sleep. It's too bad because it houses one of the most impressive collections of books I've probably ever had the opportunity to see.

Day Three - London: Visited Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, saw Westminster Abbey, had lunch at Somerset House (where Elizabeth I spent much of her childhood, now a center for the arts) and went to the play, Our Boys, at The Duchess Theatre. We walked the Thames River and visited Covent Gardens (think huge market/craft fair). We visited Buckingham Palace, too.

Day Four - London: Toured the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garrett. Walked over the London Bridge and made our way to the Tower of London where we did, in fact, eat Fish and Chips. Took the touristy tour there and walked and walked all over London until we were exhausted.

Interesting London Facts: Metro area has about 13 million people and 300 languages are spoken within the city.

Day Five - Left London via train to the city of Salisbury: First made a quick stop at the Sherlock Holmes Museum Gift Shop. Took a bus from Salisbury to the Stonehenge. Peeked at Old Sarum from the bus. Upon return to Salisbury, took a train to Bath where we arrived and wandered the streets in the dark until we found a suitable place to stay for the night.

Interesting Salisbury Fact: Though the residents were in constant fear of it, Salisbury was never bombed in WWII. They found out after the war that the Germans had been given instructions not to touch the city. The steeple on the cathedral there (the tallest in Great Britain) was the landmark the pilots used to figure out where they were. The five rivers that come together in Salisbury were the roadmaps the pilots used to make their way to the cities they did bomb.

Day Six - Bath: Toured the Roman Baths and climbed to the top of Bath Abbey where Munchkin got to ring a bell. Shopped at a store called Wool. Zipped through the Jane Austen house. Watched US election coverage on British news station.

Day Seven - Bath to Edinburgh: Woke up to Obama's Victory speech! Boarded a train to Bristol Mead Temple where we caught the Cross Country train to Edinburgh, about a 7 hour ride.

Day Eight - Edinburgh, Scotland: Breakfast at the Elephant House (coffee shop where JK Rowling reportedly completed much of the first draft of the first Harry Potter book). Walked the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. Walked around the perimeter of the castle site to the lawn market where each Saturday, a large farmers market is supposedly held. Unfortunately, I did not learn this until after our tickets were purchased and our travel plans did not allow us to visit the market. Tried haggis, neeps and tatties. It was good -- honestly. Visited a working woolen mill, which wasn't actually running any of its machines while we were there. Took at very entertaining "haunted" tour of the vaults, or Scotland's underground.

Day Nine - North Berwick: We took a train from Edinburgh to a little town on the coast called North Berwick. There we had planned to take a bus to the ruins of a castle, but the bus driver drove right on past the stop without stopping for us. So we walked the three miles to the castle. It was well worth it. Had the place pretty much to ourselves and got to climb around and in the ruins of an actual 14th century castle called Tantallon.

Day Ten - Edinburgh back to the US: Spent a very long day making our way back home via flight from Edinburgh to Newark, then Newark to Kansas City.

Have Voted, Will Travel

I was going to share a picture of my "I voted" sticker, but now that I am home I can't find it. I know I had it on for quite a while because I kept getting comments. Vote early and wear an "I voted" sticker if you want attention. People will ask.

There is a little story behind my early vote. Munchkin #1 and I have been planning a trip to England. We've been planning this trip since she was about 7 years old. We've been planning in earnest since about this time last year. We settled on a date range early in 2012, and finally committed to the exact dates several months ago. It's going to be a 10-day trip. One of the problems in scheduling it turned out to be election day. I kept trying to figure out how to get the trip in and get home before the elections. At one point I had decided I would vote and then go jump on a plane. Of course, I knew voting early was an option, but I'd never voted early before. I was kind of stuck with this idea that I needed to be here.

I actually went and spoke with our county election clerk before committing to plane tickets. Once I was satisfied that voting early would not be an issue, I was ready to proceed with the travel plans. I've had "vote" on my calendar for weeks now.

It's funny that I had kind of envisioned myself walking into the courthouse this morning to be the first person to vote in our county. I didn't make it there until afternoon, however. It turns out I was the 101st person to vote. I actually had to stand in line. I don't think I've ever done that in this town. I usually just walk right in, sign my name, get my electronic card and cast my ballot. It made me proud, to have to stand in line. That sounds odd, I know, but a line means you are doing something that other people feel is important, too. It made me feel like my initial stressing about trying to schedule this trip around an election was somewhat justified. (It sounded like most of the other people in line were going to be out of town for one reason or another, as well.)

Anyway... now I am free to start packing for England. This will be my first big trip out of the country. Technically, my third if you count a few days in Canada when I was a kid and several days at a resort in Mexico in 2004. I am giddy/anxious/excited to be on my way.

And now I'm looking forward to another experience. I will be in England on the day of the Presidential elections. I'm very curious to see how the story plays from there.

Waiting for the Sun to Shine

I gave myself a vacation this week. Sometimes I forget that I can do that; take time away from the to-do lists and the meetings and the preparing for the next market. My job(s) are such that I am the one setting the schedule. I have orchestrated this work life by design and I have to remind myself, sometimes, that I am still in charge of the orchestrating... it is not in charge of me.

Aside from one road-trip, the week has pretty much ended up being about being home, hanging with the kids and getting back in touch with my house. Dishes. Laundry. Some writing for pleasure. Some reading for pleasure. Pleasant and relaxing. A nice change from vacations where you get home and wish you had time for a few days of rest.

I had hoped for some sunshine. It's been many days since we've seen sunshine. The weather forecast is promising partly sunny today and maybe almost warm this weekend. I think I'll go outside and find that ray of sunshine and just stand in it. Soak some up to save in case the clouds come back, as promised, next week. I'm tired of feeling chilled to the bone. I'm tired of looking out to see drippy, sometimes icy, occasional snowflake looking stuff falling from the sky.


Scenes from the Road...

Blue Skies in Newton, KS.

And a little bit of sun!

One of the many Dalas in Lindsborg. This was one of our favorites outside the senior center.

The castle north of Lindsborg, KS.

The Internet Means Never Having to Say Goodbye

A couple of weeks ago I drove a couple of hours to say goodbye to my friend Justine. Only, it wasn't really saying goodbye. We more-or-less met online, through an email group and then our blogs, and because she had ended up in Kansas not too awfully far away, we were able to get together in person. We met at a few homeschool playgroups over the years and managed to work out a couple of road trips so that we ended up at the same destination. It was never as much or as often as we intended to get together, but it was enough that I learned the sound of the voice behind the words she shared through email and online. It was enough that I know that if I see Justine walking down the street one day, I will recognize her immediately and I will shout out her name and give her a big hug.

In a way, I was a bit sad that Justine was moving away.

On the other hand, great distances are just not what they used to be. Wherever she ends up, my friend is still just a keyboard away. Between email, our various blog efforts, and Facebook, Justine and I can continue to keep in touch in much the same manner we have through the years when we were sharing a state. Once upon a time people had pen-pals and it was thrilling when they would maintain correspondence over the years and maybe eventually get to meet in person. I think Justine and I would have made great pen-pals back in the day, and now we have the Internet to ease our ability to keep in touch with one another. Perhaps our chances of getting together in person have lessened, but our chances of getting to know each other and to share and keep in touch have not.

My circle is not limited to the neighbors I can reach out and touch. I like this about my world.

  

Tracy & Justine -- until next time, when I take her up on that invite to visit IRL someplace other than Kansas!

A Hike in the Rain

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain. That's pretty much all it has done since we have been here. I don't usually mind the clouds and the rain, but the sky sure is looking awfully gray. And there's enough of a chill in the air that getting out is proving to be more difficult than usual.

Today we decided to take the Illinois Scenic by-way, up and down the Illinois River... even though it was cold and gray. We even stopped for a short hike. It was up and down hills. Beautiful, but that trail was awfully slippery in places. My sister and I each took turns taking a spill. Nothing more than sliding on our backsides for a few steps. Got muddy. Had to pick the stickers off. But it was fun and just the getting out of the house we needed.

Spent the Day on a Train

How to spend the day on a train:

• Squirm and fidget, because you've never been able to successfully sleep on a train.
• Read an entire book.
• Scratch notes on a small notepad about the book.
• Play 6 games of Hangman and 8 games of tic-tac-toe.
• Listen to favorite songs M through Y on your MP3 player.
• Start reading another book.
• Appreciate son's post-it-note art (now stuck ALL over the train window) and the stories that go with post-it-note art.
• Watch the world pass by.

Even though I've done it a few times now, I think train travel remains more romantic (and relaxing) in my head. The truth is, I like being at the wheel. I like driving. I like stopping every hour -- if I want to -- to check out the world's largest pecan or some off-the-road covered bridge.

I have this image of myself kicking back on the train and just letting my mind wander, be still, or whatever it pleases. But as soon as I got seated this morning, the voices in my head started saying, "Well here you are, stuck in this box for the next 7 hours."

I wanted to watch the sun rise, but we were stopped behind Union Station in Kansas City for what must have been the most picturesque point of the morning.

Now that I'm out of the box again, I'm glad we came by train (I think). My sister took us the scenic route to her house -- via an old cemetery, a covered bridge, the world's greatest sundial AND a stop at Sonic for a Hazelnut Java Chiller.

Today I decided my next trip by train is going to be a LONG one... where I get a room in a sleeper car and I travel a great, great distance. Will it be an improvement? I don't know. But I want to try it before I swear off train riding all together.

I should take the time to load some pictures, but my sister has a piano here that is begging to be played.

More from Wamego

Ceres, the goddess of grain, is above the window of the Old Dutch Mill in Wamego, Kansas.

When I was a kid, this was a HUGE windmill... and it was wooden instead of stone... and you could go inside and watch the wheel turn as it ground the flour...

...which means I need to go back and talk to my dad about where we saw a huge wooden, working windmill because the mill in Wamego -- though picturesque and with a cool story of its own -- is not the mill in my memory.

Wamego's mill was built in 1879, 12 miles north of the town, and was moved in 1925 by mule and wagons to the spot where it currently stands. The mill was taken apart, the stones numbered, and reconstructed exactly as the original. I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the interior workings, but it was pretty, and now I can stop telling stories about watching the working mill in Wamego.

I did enjoy our glimpse of Wamego this weekend. I love that the town has embraced the whole Oz concept and it looks to me like they do a pretty good job of keeping Oz alive.

We almost ate at Toto's Tacas, but drove down the road to Alma, Kansas, to eat instead.

The Oz Winery looks fabulous. Area grapes bottled with a theme! This Dorothy's table wine. I shall have to go back and visit when they are not so busy.

Just Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Yesterday, the hubby and I rode the "Toto Route" of the Yellow Brick Road Ride as part of Oztoberfest in Wamego, KS. It was a little chilly at the start, but overall a beautiful day to be enjoying the scenic countryside between Wamego and St. George Kansas.

We did the 15 mile route this time. Next year I think we'll go for the 27 mile route. There are also 41 and 81 mile routes. Always something to look forward to!

I Went to Warped Tour and Found Some New Tunes

I did not do the concert scene as a kid, and aside from the one Prince concert I attended (and loved) as an adult, my preference remains cranking the volume on my radio or CD player in my own kitchen as my mood for music moves me. Always up for a new experience, however, I was more than willing to take my daughter and her friend to their first concert, the Vans Warped Tour, a touring music festival.

The Warped Tour was in Kansas City on Tuesday and my understanding is that there were 70-some bands there. It was hard to tell as there were multiple stages going at once and thousands of young people milling about for the 8+ hour event.

Fellow parent attendee, Shane Schneider, summed it up best. “It’s crazy, isn’t it? How doing something that makes your kid so happy makes you happy.”

There aren’t many activities (except sleep) that I would volunteer to do for eight hours straight these days, but for my daughter, the eight hours (plus travel time) were totally worth it. As well, it helped that she and her friend split the cost of my ticket, so I was mainly in it for time and gas.

Initially, I was a bit worried that the music would be too far from my tastes to be enjoyable, but early in the day I came across a band called Echo Movement that gave me a whole new attitude about the potentials of the day. Listen for yourself…



I even bought their CD... and had it signed by the band members. What can I say, my inner teen thought the lead singer was quite a cutie.

I spent far too much time wandering through the heat of the day. I took a break in the “reverse babysitting” tent, kindly provided by AT&T. There they had air conditioning, movies with headphones, electronic games and lots of magazines. Finally, I settled on a stage where I could stay out of the direct line of the speakers and just listen to the music and watch the crowd with my friend, Melissa, whose kids were also attending the event.

Some of the bands were truly what I had feared, the screaming into the microphone to a backbeat of drums and guitar that sent my fight or flight reflex into high gear, but I would say that more than half of the bands (that I heard anyway), were entirely tolerable if not pleasant to listen to… I would categorize most of them as rock. But there were a few very pleasant exceptions, such as Streetlight Manifesto. They had more of a jazz beat with a saxaphone, a trombone, and a trumpet in the band.

I was a little disappointed that I only saw one girl band, Meg and Dia. I had never really thought about it before, but the music business seems to be exceedingly heavy with testosterone.

What I spent much of the late afternoon thinking about was how often I was hearing the F-word. Apparently it’s a noun, verb, and an adjective in the music business. I had to wonder how many of the band members would benefit from sitting in the audience for a while, to hear how seriously unoriginal they sounded between songs… F-ing this, F-ing that. How the F are you Kansas City… if I had a dollar for every lead singer who led with that one… I figure these kids pride themselves on their creativity, right? Do they have any idea how much their schticks just kind of blended?

Ah, the band with the potty-mouth… yeah, like I remember that one.

Aside from the group who started off with “Hello Kentucky” there were only a few that really got my attention between songs. And guess what. They were the singers who said things you could imagine them saying in front of their grandmothers. One actually addressed the negativity… the F the world attitude that seemed to be so prevalent. Hearing how much the other bands sucked did nothing to make me want to remember a band’s name or look up their music when I got home. That singer then talked about a new group that had recently joined the tour who was full of positivity and just plain fun to be around.

I’m pretty sure he was talking about this guy, the last act of the day, and one I am glad I stayed for.



The band is Never Shout Never and this kid did not drop the F-word once. Not only am I going to remember him, I‘m going to be buying some of his songs and cranking up the volume in my kitchen.

Weekend at Cottonwood Falls

This past weekend, the kids and I went small town touring with my good friend, HeyMom. (She has better pictures and one even includes me!) Our destination was Cottonwood Falls, where they were having the re-opening of the oldest still-operating courthouse in Kansas.

Chase County Courthouse was build 1871-1872 and they've been working on the restoration since 2000. It's very picturesque, and cool for the kids to see because this is one of the counties the hubby travels to as an attorney on occasion.

As part of the opening ceremonies, they fired cannons. Little boy thought this was way cool and got to view the cannons up close later on and get his photo taken with a real "soldier" from the 3rd Kansas Light Artillery, Battery B.

Here the kids pose in front of a miniature of the courthouse.

Trying out a room in the historic jail. It was pretty dark and creepy.

Cloud Cover

I drove across the state of Kansas in the rain yesterday. Not all the way across, but from the far west to the Flint Hills, which is quite a lot of driving. It started raining Saturday morning in Dodge City and the natives were out on bended knee, arms reaching toward the sky, faces drinking in the rain. People in western Kansas are always thankful for the rain.

We crossed the Arkansas River at one point, and I had to point it out to the kids. The weeds were deep and thick. Trees of all shapes and sizes filled the river bed. "Where's the water?" they asked. And I said, "Exactly." This is why the hubby and I still get giddy at the site of water. This is why the Cottonwood River, where we live now, topping its banks is so mesmerizing to us.

The sky was filled with so many shades of gray yesterday. We experienced everything from big slow drops of rain to fast pittering sprinkles. I'd switch the windshield wipers from a delayed rhythm designed to wipe away the mist to the quick swish-swish to wipe away the hard, driving rain. We saw curtains of water in the distance that changed the sky from silver-gray to purple-blue. There were periods where far-off lightening shows entertained us. Occasionally, the sun would sneak through, lighting up giant clouds of fluffy white and sending the colors of rainbows dancing to the ground.

The kids drifted in and out of quiet. Four days of adventures with cousins, sleeping in beds that were not their own had left them subdued and without a lot to talk about. The hours at the wheel gave me much needed time to sit quietly in my mind, to reflect, to process the events of the long weekend.

As we neared the end of the journey, the biggest rainbow yet seemed to be pointing directly to the place I now call home.

The Rock Climber

A girl thinks long and hard before publishing a picture like this for the "world" to see. It may not be my best side, but the fact that I am 2/3 the way up that climbing wall is enough to make me go ahead and show it off.

I've always wanted to try this. I've watched my kids tackle the "rock" wall again and again for a number of years, but have always found excuses to keep my own feet on the ground. Maybe I'm too busy taking pictures or just don't want to look silly by joining the crowds of kids who typically frequent these things.

While in Illinois, I decided it was time to get over myself and just do it. So I cinched up the little harness thing and began to climb. It was harder than I expected, yet I was pleasantly surprised at how far I was able to climb.

... until I looked down.

Then I began to feel sick and had images of myself stranded up there. I wonder if they would call a fire truck in to get a lady peeled off the top of the rock climbing wall?

Anyway, I had trouble letting go (as the boy suggested) to just drop to the bottom. Though I knew the cable had greatly slowed the descent of my children, I was quite sure that with my weight it would simply zip me to the bottom where I'd end up broken (or deeply embarrassed at the very least).

I had to go buy myself a Slurpee to recover.

VROOM

More fun from our trip to Illinois!

Green Thumb

I like plants. Or, at least, I like the idea of greenery in and around my house. But I can never seem to tend a plant often enough to keep it full and pretty and alive. My current plant projects are two geraniums potted on the front porch... very sad and spindly little things. My record is an avocado seed that the munchkin girls and I sprouted sometime in the early 2000s. That little "tree" managed to travel with us AND stay alive for almost five years.

I think the reason all my plants die is pictured above.

My big sis.

I blame it all on her.

I figure there was a limited amount of green gene in the family and she took it all. Or most of it anyway. (My brother must have inherited some, as well, as he maintains some pretty impressive plants of his own.)

Here da' middle munchkin is helpin da' big sis water plants at her greenhouse in Illinois. My sister's whole world looks like this -- work and home! She doesn't just specialize in green, either.

Hanging with the Lincolns

Did I mention how much we enjoyed the Lincoln Museum? They have some cutting edge 3D movie setups that really blew me away. This was so far beyond the cheesey stuff I remember from my childhood. I actually believed, for quite some time, that the man on stage was live!

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.

Abe Lincoln's Toilet

We're home after a lovely long weekend in Illinois. Springfield was the highlight of our trip home. We planned to stay a few hours and ended up staying the entire day! We visited the Abe Lincoln home, as well as the presidential library and museum. This is an attraction that is well worth the road trip. Springfield was a lovely town.



The big question of the day, of course, was this...

Do you think the president and his family really all squatted in the outhouse at the same time?

Three toilets! No curtains! My munchkins were appalled.

Motivation

I'm going on two solid weeks now of feeling very little motivation to do anything. My to-do list is down to things I've been putting off for one reason or another. I've still not finished sending the novel to my sister. That's my hurdle right now... and it doesn't even seem to be a tall one, just one I'm having trouble making myself cross. Everytime I sit down to look at the novel, I see everything but the novel. I see how my house could really use a deep-cleaning. I see all the wonderful things my kids are doing... and I just want to sit back and observe. (I'm not even dying to write it all down, what's up with that?) I see pictures I want to take and books I want to read. I see naps I want to take. I see the clouds in the sky and dream about that loud, thundering storm that might be on the horizon.

This weekend I took the kids to the Electric Cat Cafe in Paxico, Kansas. Paxico is just the cutest little town, home to numerous antique shops. Evie Green, a friend from Kansas Authors Club, gave a talk on Kansas fossils and the kids were thrilled with all she passed around to see and touch. Then she sent them home with all kinds of goodies. It was great... and we're dreaming up more fossil hunting trips. (We spent some time last fall looking for fossils -- it was one of our projects for a while.)

I suppose I should be content to let this be a go-with-the-flow time of life. No guilt. No self-created stressors.

The kids are making a movie. I'm going to go watch.