Staycation: Day 5

Tuesday we headed to the Transportation Museum. We arrived as soon as it opened so we could go to the first Creation Station session. We had never taken the kids to the Creation Station room so it was a new adventure for all of us. I think the kids had a good time but they were really wanting to go on the train ride. So if we did it again, we'd do the train ride first. The miniature train ride was the highlight for them. They loved the trolley ride to the train and then the two trips around the track. Once we got back we walked around and looked at the big trains and got on as many as we could. It was another SUPER hot day so after that everyone was DONE. We headed to Bread Company for some lunch then home for naps. 

Somehow they all ended up wearing blue 

Construction Worker Matthew

Police Officer Andrew

Firefighter Molly

Cleaning the ship

Train Ride

After naps we headed to Target to get some of Andrew's Kindergarten school supplies. We also grabbed the ingredients for smores and got water balloons for our evening activity. The smores were pretty much a fail because my strange kids don't like marshmallows but the water balloons were a HUGE hit!

Matthew came up with the idea to bite the balloons

Staycation Day 4

Monday, our day started with a trip to Suson Farm. We had never been so we didn't really know what to expect. As we pulled up their were horses and a donkey roaming in a field. We went over and visited with them for a little bit. Then we headed over and saw a cow named Philip and a John Deere tractor. Then we walked past the stalls of the barn and ended up walking right into a "cow milking" demonstration. Talk about perfect timing! After we watched the farmer milk the cow we walked around and saw a lot more animals. I was most amused by the biggest pig I had ever seen, it was crazy! Molly enjoyed watching the chickens because they were quite active and interactive.

Drew's favorite, an enormous hourse

Seriously?

The perfect "vacation" picture

After a fun but hot time there we got in the car and started thinking about what to eat for lunch. Nothing says vacation like Cracker Barrel! We had a very enjoyable lunch and the kids really liked the store on our way out.

Sleeeeeepy

During nap time, Drew, Andrew, and I filled up the van with donations for Goodwill because after naps we headed to Toys R Us as a special treat. We usually stop at the Lego store on our trip to the beach so this was taking its place. Andrew picked out a Cars 2 Leapster game. Matthew picked out a Captain Rex helmet. And Molly picked out a baby with accessories. Everyone was thrilled. Then we came home for Andrew's favorite meal, Dominos. 

Staycation Day 3:

Sunday was more of a recovery day but still a lot of fun. We went to church in the morning then on the way home bought colored hairspray and face paint. For what, you ask? The final game of the Women's World Cup. While Matthew and Molly napped, we spray painted Andrew's hair and painted his face. When Matthew woke up we did the same for him. Unfortunately they had a few moments when they forgot about the paint and hair spray and it ended up on the couch and smeared on their faces but we had fun;). The other unfortunate thing is that the US lost in PKs. It was a very exciting game and a great World Cup for the US.

After the game we headed to Whitmoor for some swimming and dinner. The kids had a great time in the pool and the adults enjoyed a calm(ish) dinner. 

Staycation: Day 2

Saturday, July 16 we took a road trip to Potosi, MO to the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch. We didn't really know what to expect, it was an adventure. Once we arrived we went into the gift shop and waited for our tour to begin. The first part of the tour was a video about how the ranch started and facts about bison. The owner of the ranch is Skip. He was very entertaining and of course a big fan of bison.

Some fun facts we learned during our visit:

Bison is 97% fat free and has 40% more protein than beef

Over 1000 bison roam the 4,000 acres at this ranch

Bison have 1 calf at a time and if it is breech, the run around in a circle to get the calf to flip.

After the video and a picture with the famous bison, Thunder Bear, (he's now stuffed) we headed out on a wagon pulled by a hummer through the ranch. Skip brought along feed for the bison so once we came up to a heard, he stopped, put the feed around the wagon and the bison came right up to us. It was amazing. I think the kids were a little intimidated at first but they thought it was cool too. 

Thunder Bear

 

After the beautiful ride around the ranch we headed to a local place, Boo's Market and had some Bison burgers. After lunch we stopped at our friends farm for some swimming and fishing. Everyone fell asleep on the short drive to the farm but of course they boys woke up as soon as the car stopped. Molly continued to nap in the car while the boys swam. They had a great time and even had enough courage to go down the slide. After swimming we headed down to the river in the little farm truck for some fishin'. Andrew spotted a snake and from that point on hung out very close to me and Molly. He didn't freak out but I could tell he was not excited about it. Molly was all out of sorts from waking up in the car so she was a bit of a handful but luckily no one seemed to mind. We headed back up to the house after Matthew and Drew did a little more fishing, got cleaned up and hit the road. Matthew fell asleep again and was out cold until he smelt McDonalds...dinner. It was a fun filled day, everyone was worn out but we had a great time!

Andrew with his stuffed bison