10 Days Away (well, 9 1/2) - Part One

EIghteen days ago, the kids and I left home for a 10-day adventure. The bookends of our trip were two family reunions, and in between we hung out with Grandma RL and went to VBS at her church.  Big J was able to join us for part of our travel - and we sure missed him when he was back at home working!

We hit the road to Grandma's on a Friday afternoon, with Big J following us in his car.  After meeting for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants for some yummy shrimp and grits and a chicken salad and fruit plate, we waited out two thunderstorms and navigated around flooded roads to get home and get some sleep before the family reunion on Saturday.

Sunday was another busy day - we said our goodbyes to Daddy, went to a baby shower for my cousin, and then headed off to the first night of VBS!  At Grandma's church!

With a Western theme!  

And saddles!

And wagon rides!

(And waiting in line!)

And popsicles!

And then it was Monday - and we rested.  Just kidding!  We tried out the new ice cream maker!  Miss M was a great help preparing the ingredients for churning.

And then we waited...

(You can find the rest of the story in my post from that day!)

On Tuesday, we visited friends in the town where we used to live.  We spent the morning at the local children's museum, which opened around the time we moved away - so it was a first for us!

Fire truck/man/safety exhibit.  And an itchy nose.

Both kids loved the farm exhibit - 'driving' a tractor, harvesting crops, picking peaches, milking a cow, and collecting eggs.  I think that about covers it.

The grocery exhibit is a hit no matter where we are!  (We've been to three museums with similar exhibits.)  Kudos to this museum for having adult museum-workers to help keep order.  

A couple of exhibits about air power that day.  This one had several styles of 'parachutes' to test - and again, adult museum-workers to supervise (or maybe summer interns - still, my kids listen well when it's someone other than Mom giving instructions). 

Awesome 'put the teeth where they belong' model in the background.  Weirdest-looking mannequin mouth ever on the 'patient.'  Kids didn't seem to mind. 

And on to the outdoor exhibits!  It was a warm day, but thankfully there was a bit of shade out here.  Oh, and some water.  

Fantastic pulleys and cranks and more for the kids to play with.  Oddly, there were no smocks available.  Thankfully, I had a change of clothes for Miss M.

Mister J was able to light the CFL bulb with his own crank-power.  The incandescent bulb was out of the question - so he asked me to give it a try.  I got a little bit of a glow - out of the bulb, and on my forehead (whew!).  If I wasn't a fan of CFLs before,  this was enough to change my mind (though I still prefer the color of an incandescent bulb, I'll sacrifice for the power savings).

Cool art in front of the museum - mom's token 'landmark' photo.

After lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, it was back to VBS for more cowboys! and singing! and Bible stories! and colored punch with dinner!

You know that my kids skipped the lemonade and went straight for the mom-would-never-let-us-have-this-at-home blue drink, right?

Sixteen photos to document the first six days of a ten day trip that began eighteen days ago.  I'll wrap up the trip in another post - coming soon!  (I promise!  I've already written and scheduled it!  But I'm going to make you wait.  Sorry.  But patience is a virtue!)