Park Visit #9...

For Park Visit #9, I set it up as a surprise to Luke and Kate.  Don't get too excited.  They're young.  It doesn't take much to surprise them -- Ha Ha!

I obviously didn't tell them what we were doing.  I merely got them out of bed one morning and had them get dressed.

We then headed to our local, AWESOME little donut shop, Druber's, and then took the donuts "to go" to eat at "Midtown Arboretum" -- our 9th park visit.

For you locals, this park is at 8th and Main -- across the street from St. Mary's Church.  It's the little walking path/arboretum next to "Midtown Towers" apartments.

It was slightly drizzling that morning.  In the park, there's a nice little gazebo.  It was a great little place for us to eat our donuts and stay dry.  (Kate was being "Kate" and was not wanting to pose for the picture with her compliant older brother -- Ha)!

After the donuts were eaten, the kids spent quite awhile running around the paths.  There is no playground equipment at this park.  Look closely in these pics to see the kids running in the distance.

Most of the plants in this park are labeled.  I had a hard time getting Luke interested in plant names.  That's ok because honestly, I'm not super interested in plant names.  Kate, of course, had zero interest as well -- which is also ok since she's only three years old.

I was thinking that the kids probably wouldn't very much enjoy this park since there was no equipment.  Admittedly, the donuts helped, but the ability to run free around the park helped just as much.  They had a good time just being kids outside!  I was proven somewhat wrong in my thoughts.

And now, when we pass by this park on an almost daily basis -- even Kate says, "we went there and had donuts".

Park Visit #8....

Park Visit #8 took place way back on June 5 -- our 11th wedding anniversary (YAY) and the day before Kate's 3rd birthday!  Marc had taken the day off of work for those two celebratory days; therefore, he went on this park visit with us.

This park visit was to "Plumbrook Park" -- located at the intersection of Plum and Brookside for you local people.

The day was hot and humid, and the mosquitoes were awful.  I'll elaborate in a bit, but so far, this visit was our least favorite.  Luke and I both agree that, on a cooler day, we need a "park re-do".

It started out ok, though...(Kate was being "Kate," though -- not wanting to smile or look at the camera)...

You might notice right away in this pic that there is NO shade, picnic tables, etc...

Nevertheless, the kiddos had fun climbing on and exploring new park equipment.

Aanndd --here would be where our visit went south...Luke went down this slide. It had rained the night before, and at the bottom of the slide, unbeknownst to any of us, there was some water at the bottom.  Luke is the child of our's who does NOT like to get wet in his clothing.  In all reality, that trait isn't bad, but it is a problem in situations like this one.  This would be the exact reason why this overly-prepared Mama always keeps extra clean towels in her car.

I, by no means, want to embarrass our son.  So -- I will say that, though he didn't like it one bit, he did handle it well as an almost 7 year-old careful, non-risky child.  Yes -- there were a few tears, but after shedding those few tears, Luke kept going.  This Mama has hope!

SO -- at that point, neither child was in the mood for equipment.  We were all four getting hot.  We decided we'd walk back in the trees a bit to see the nearby creek.

The mosquitoes were AWFUL, and I mean AWFUL, back there by the water.  There are potentially great exploring areas back there, but I wouldn't recommend going back there without some serious application of insect repellent on your person and on any person in your party.

For whatever reason, at this point, Kate was crying because, you know, it's Kate.  A "Friesen Family Park Visit" would not be complete without a pic of Kate crying...How about two of them?

SO -- at some point, perhaps in the fall, we'll have a "re-do" at this park!

Park Visit #7....

I need to "keep on keepin' on" with my park visit posts.  Park visit #7 was WAY back on June 4.

This park visit was to a park our kiddos have been to MANY times -- Athletic Park!  If you're local to us, you know that this park is the biggest in our fine little city.  It's the park that not only has 3 sets of playground equipment but also the high school football and soccer field, tennis courts, the city pool, etc.  It's also located right by "Sand Creek" with the nice accompanying bike path!

We stuck to the familiar equipment because we like (read: I) the lack of sand underneath the equipment. BUT, there's a sand volleyball pit right by the equipment.  And -- the kids spent most of the time in the sand.  That's ok, ultimately, because you know, they're kids!

While at the park that day, I ran into a friend who just had a baby (her 3rd child).  I hadn't yet seen her new baby.  So, rather than paying extremely close attention to our kids and taking copious amounts of "helicopterish parenting" pictures, I chose to talk and catch up with her!  Good choice!!!  The adult conversation was fantastic!

BUT, true to any park visit, Kate cried (I don't remember about what)....

And lastly -- if you didn't notice in this post, that day, Kate's hair was put in a ponytail. That would be because she LET me that day.  It hasn't happened since that time.  SO -- I'm glad I took pics!

A Little Museum Visit...Part Two...

Feel free to scroll down and check out my previous post about our little museum visit in little Goessel, KS, last week.

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Our next to the last part of our tour involved going through a "warehouse" of farm equipment.  There is quite a bit of machinery. My only problem was that I'm very farm illiterate.  Many of these equipment pieces were not labeled; therefore, I had a hard time answering Luke's MANy questions.

BUT -- I *think* that maybe, just maybe, Luke learned a little bit about how far farm equipment has come.  I'll save the information about dangerous farm accidents for when he's a bit older....

In the meantime, here are some pics...

Overall, if you're local, I would tell you that a visit to this little museum is worth your time!

A Little Museum Visit...Part One...

Last week (I think), I noticed on "Instagram" that a friend had posted a few pics of herself and her kids at a small museum in a little town located close to us.  It looked like something Luke would enjoy and that Kate could easily "be along for the ride". I looked it up online.  The hours and the admission prices were awesome.  I said, "Let's go check it out before Luke turns 7 in July (when kids get charged admission)".

This museum is called "The Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum".  It is located right off the highway in little Goessel, Kansas.  I'm relatively certain we were the only visitors that morning...maybe, between "Instagram," "Facebook," and this blog post, I can spur a few more of you to visit.

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They have an old one-room school house.  We visited it first.  Luke was actually very intrigued by the schoolhouse.  He's seen a one-room schoolhouse on "Little House on the Prairie," but I think now that he's been in school now for one year, it intrigued him even more.

I thought the "Rules for Teachers" were extremely interesting...

There were a couple of old houses to go in and look at.  One was a house from 1911 called "The Friesen House".  I had to get a pic of the kiddos by this sign for obvious reasons...

There was an old barn to look at. Luke enjoyed climbing up in the hayloft....

Luke also liked seeing a wagon -- again, like "Little House on the Prairie"...

We then went into the BIG warehouse of old tractors, a few cars, and other miscellaneous old farm equipment.  The kiddos enjoyed sitting in a truck from the early 1930s....

I have a fair amount of pictures of the kiddos with or on farm equipment.  I'll put those up in another post.  In the meantime, here's my obligatory picture of Kate crying....Nope -- we don't get through too many fun events without tears from Kate...

After our visit (I'm skipping ahead here), I suggested to the kiddos that we try a little local restaurant called "The Branding Iron". (I actually ate there about 1 1/2 years ago with some other girlies from church). I was SHOCKED (and extremely pleased) when our very picky-eating son said, "Ok -- I'll try a new restaurant". This little small town burger joint did not disappoint....And, Luke didn't venture too far in that he ordered a grilled cheese (a safe entree).  But hey -- it was a new place!

Optometry and Zoology....

Yesterday, the kiddos and I had two major things to "accomplish" -- Luke had his once a year routine eye appointment, and we braved the heat and went to the zoo.  (Yes -- it was HOT at the zoo)!

Luke did completely awesome at his eye appointment.  Going to any appointment with him is not nearly as bad as it used to be.

And Kate, well, she was showing Luke and me that she is indeed 3 years old (as of last Saturday).  Kate was her usual *spunky* self (I guess)...to be honest, I don't enjoy having her with me during Luke's appointment (or any appointment, for that matter).  Here she is telling me "No" for something (I'm choosing not to remember)...sigh...

Luke's prescription changed slightly AND his existing glasses were getting a bit worn; therefore, we stayed after his appointment to pick out new glasses.  These will be his new frames in 7-10 business days (they're blue in color)....

While Luke was trying on glasses frames, Kate was helping herself to glasses frames for girls. Though, at this point, she does not need glasses, I thought they were cute (these were "Hello Kitty" frames).

After Luke's appointment, we went home for lunch.  Then, we headed to the zoo in the Kansas heat (highs in the upper 90s...sigh)...

Despite the heat, we had a good visit.

**A bull snake (Kansas native) had found its way into the Australian/South American exhibit areas.  One of the zookeepers was carrying it out of the area, and he stopped to explain to us that bull snakes like to eat bird eggs in the exhibits.

**When we were feeding the fish near the bears (after eating our cold ice cream to cool off), Luke spotted a cute turtle in the water with the fish. The turtle ate some of the fish food.  It was fun for the kiddos and me to watch it swim around.

**The zoo had some new baby chicks, and another chick was just about out of its egg.

**In the "Reptiles and Amphibians" building, the zookeepers had a snake out for visitors to see. Both of our kids touched the snake (I chose not to).

**Right now, Luke is fascinated by Longhorns (cows).  He was excited because "Red" was out (this is his name at the zoo; Luke asked)....

**AND -- the best part of this week's visit was in the South American exhibit.  They have an animal called a "Baird's Tapir". (Google it).  When we went by his area, he wasn't there.  We kept walking and eventually ran into a zookeeper.  Luke asked her where the tapir was AND another question (I don't remember what it was).  She answered the question and then proceeded to ask Luke if he wanted to go in the back (over the roped area) to see the tapir up close....YES!!!!!!  The employees at our zoo are always friendly and helpful!

Here's one last pic with which I *think* demonstrates how hot we all were...red faces and all!

Park Visit #6....

Park Visit #6 was last week.  It was "Springlake Park" or the "Sprinkler Park" or the "Splash park". (Yes -- I'm well aware that sentence was a run-on and needed some punctuation).

BUT -- in our little Friesen Family of 4, it is called the "Sprinkler Park".

I have to say I thoroughly enjoy this park this year because BOTH of our kiddos get in the water without complaining.  I get to soak in some Vitamin D while watching them!  If I get hot, I can simply put my legs and feet in some water.

Honestly, this is one of my favorite parks! (And -- we've been back a couple of times already since this visit, and I'm just *guessing* we'll be back multiple more times this summer).

As a side note -- if you haven't been to this park, it does indeed have some playground equipment.  I never let my kiddos play on it because we're there for the water.  And, the equipment is not "Kate-Friendly" in my opinion.  (Better for elementary kids)...

Also, there is a small, covered picnic area, which we have personally never used...

AND -- on this day, Marc showed up IN swimming trunks after work.  Luke was THRILLED because Marc will play cool games like "dump water on one's head," etc....

The "Good" about this park:

***Sprinklers are well-maintained, in our opinion

***Covered picnic area, if needed

***Playground equipment for older kids

***Small walking/bike path around nearby pond

The "Not-So-Good" about this park:

***No restrooms

***No shade

***Not too much off-street parking

***Not enough benches for towels, etc at sprinkler area, in our opinion (I personally solve this problem by bringing a lawn chair for myself)...