Visiting the K family

After hitting the Eastern most point in our journey it was time to turn around and head back out West.  We took another route so that we could visit Rob's sister and her family.

The kids had a great time having tea parties...

Decorating cupcakes and cakes (we celebrated some birthdays while there)...

and Uncle L even made balloon animals!

Thanks for the fun visit!

The Boonshoft Museum (Ken Kinetic)

While we were in the area we took the opportunity to visit The Boonshoft Museum which has a piece of my Dad's art on display.  We were in no way dissappointed to have taken the effort to get there.

Dad's piece was to the right, just as we walked in.  All of the kids enjoyed getting to move it around and just to see it on display in a museum.

 

It was a special moment for me to get to see one of Dad's pieces in a place he would have loved so much.  He used to take me and my brothers to OMSI when we were little, and took my kids there as well.  The Boonshoft Museum reminded me of OMSI in many ways.  Our visit was made all the more enjoyable by the staff who welcomed us so warmly (I had made contact ahead of time; they were expecting us).

 

We took a couple of hours to explore the museum.  We could have stayed all day (but time did not permit).  My kids soaked in every bit that they saw.  Each and every one of them enjoyed their time there, from the 12 year old Miss E right down to nearly 2 year old Mr. K.

Creation Museum! (part 2)

Part 1 can be found here.
One morning before heading to the museum we were ready quite early and decided to surprise the kids with doughnuts.  While there I asked Mr. K where my kisses were?  He likes to pretend he does not know.

Then he gives me big hugs and kisses!

One of the favorite parts of the museum was exploring the gardens outside as well as going to the petting zoo.

Miss E had studied up on what animals we could expect to see there and told us about all of them.  She was especially looking forward to seeing the Zonkey and the Zorse.  (crosses between zebras and donkeys/horses)

 

I loved seeing Mr. K interact with the animals.  I was impressed by how well he did at feeding the goats.

Miss C loved feeding the animals, but the fish and ducks seemed to be her favorites.  

Camel rides were a big hit.  Miss C and Mr. K skipped them, but everyone else got to go!

Why would we go so far to take our family to the creation museum?  Why would we teach our kids about creation when many think that science proves evolution?  Why is it even important?

 

We believe the Bible to be the inerrant Word Of God that we can trust from cover to cover.  We see through the consistency of scripture (though written by 40 or so men over the course of 1500 years), the archaeological verification, and the amazing preservation that we can indeed trust His Word.

We believe that it takes more faith to believe in evolution and life happening by chance than to believe that our all powerful God and creator could speak this world we live in into being.  There exists much scientific proof to contradict evolution and much evidence glaringly lacking that might support evolution, but facing that requires admitting that there is indeed a God to whom we owe our very being and are accountable to, so we are not surprised that such considerations are ignored out of hand. 

^{Romans 1:18-20.} For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

It is important to us to teach this to our children because if they cannot believe the first words and chapter of the Bible what other parts will they doubt?  We desire to show them through logical thinking and science that they can indeed trust His Word, live by it, and obey Him.  How can they find salvation in a God they do not trust?  How can they obey His whole word if they doubt it?  The Christian walk is not a life of ease, but it is a blessed one.  We desire to equip our children to walk this walk.

If you have never heard a coherent argument explaining the scientific basis for a rational belief in a Creator, we recommend you visit Answers in Genesis and the Institute for Creation Research. As you study critically, you may see how low some scientific fields have sunk since Darwin. It saddens us to see what constitutes "proof" nowadays; it doesn't bode well for the future of our courtrooms if the standards for evolutionary "proof" find their way into popular thinking!

Creation Museum!

The motivation for our road trip was to get out to the Creation museum.  After leaving Uncle D and Aunt M that was our next stop!  We spent two days there and could have stayed longer!  We had a great time.  Yes, the whole family, young and old, loved it.  It was great for everyone!

Our first stop was the Planetarium for a show.  It was exciting just standing in line (though we did let the kids out of line to go see the turtles swimming in the aquarium).

There were plenty of live animals in aquariums and terrariums.  Because we had been studying not only creation and the flood, but also what to expect at the museum the kids knew they had poison dart frogs there.  They were quite excited to spot them (in all of their bright colors) right away.

 

As you enter the walk through portion of the museum (the bulk of it) you get some lessons on fossils, sin, the Bible and creation.

 

Next you get to head into the Garden of Eden.  Everyone loved spotting various animals as we walked through the story of the first days.

After sin and corruption enters the world (and an area on such things) we head over to the ark.  There is a portion of an ark so you can see how big it would be and how it may have been made.  There are also many displays in another lower room.  My kids really enjoyed this area.

 

There was an area with many dinosaurs (large models) and information about them.  There were also many fossils throughout the museum that the kids enjoyed seeing. 

 

We kept returning to the turtle aquarium near the entrance.  Mr. K loved it and would sweetly ask "more?" several times each day.  There was plenty to see in that area and there were a couple of theaters located there (as well as the food) so it was an area we needed to be in regularly anyways.

continued.....

Visiting Uncle D and Aunt M

After leaving Oklahoma we headed out to visit Uncle D and Aunt M.  They told us about a huge candy store that they thought the kids may like that was on the way to their house.  There were HUGE billboards for about 18 miles advertising this store.  Our kids have learned over the years that we know they would like to stop at such places (and that we like to bless them) and that it is wise to just stay quiet and not ask (asking and begging is not the way to go).  The silence was deafening in the back of the van as we approached the exit.

Everyone had a great time exploring all of the candy, and got way too much.

 

Uncle D scuba dives and had just gotten some new tanks that needed to be filled.  Everyone but me and Mr. K (he needed a nap) went to the dive shop.

Then they came home to try out the equipment and play in the pool.

 

Aunt M had the great idea to do a "drive-in-movie" one night.  The kids each decorated a box as a car and pulled up into the living room in front of the TV.  We watched Dumbo, had pizza and took a break to make up ice cream sundaes.  What fun.

Thanks Uncle D and Aunt M for the visit!  It was wonderful getting to see you!

Old friends

Our first stop on our trip was just one night in New Mexico.  An old friend happens to live there, so he stopped by our trailer in the morning to say "hi."  It was great to see him after such a long time.

 

The next stop was Oklahoma City where we were blessed to see two dear families.  One family also happened to be in town at the same time as we were.  Angelica is a photographer, and I've been drooling over the pictures she has been posting on line for months.  Our families met up and she was so kind to do a photo shoot for us.  I'm excited to see all of the pictures, but the best part was getting to see her and her dear family.  They are in the process of adopting to little ones from Colombia, catching up with them and hearing more about this process was great!

 

That afternoon we headed over to see my dear friend her family.  We were neighbors long ago in Florida and have kept in touch ever since.  It had been 7 years since we'd seen each other.  Our whole family had a great time catching up and playing with her family.  Being in the military means we must pick up and leave friends (who truly become like family), and that is hard.  Being in the military also means we have dear friends far and wide, and we make an effort to keep in touch and see one another when we can.

 

On the road!

We're on the road from the South West to the Mid-west and having loads of fun along the way.  This is our first big, long road trip with the trailer.  Figuring out the logistics of this sort of trip with the trailer was a bit of work, but well worth it.

We try to spot fun rest stops and truck stops along the way so that the kids can get out and stretch their legs.  This stop had a fun, FREE, car museum.  While all of the kids had fun there; Mr. K seemed to be in little boy heaven!  Cars everywhere!

Sometimes the stops are not quite as exciting, but it is nice to get out of the car none the less.

 

We're trying out a new "game" along the way.  Miss E suggested it after reading about it in a travel games book.  The book suggested giving each child a bag of tokens (We are using little craft wood shapes).  For poor behavior kids would have to hand a token over to mom, dad, or the offended sibling.  The kids also earn additional tokens for behavior above and beyond what is expected (so, mom and dad each have a bag of tokens as well). We've assigned a monetary value to the tokens (25 cents) and at the end of our trip they will turn in the tokens for cash (everyone started out with 10 tokens).  We're all enjoying this little game, it is a great way to encourage and reward their good behavior and gives an immediate consequence for poor behavior as we are driving down the road.

As we go along we listen to books on tape (well, they are not actually on tape.  They are MP3s, most downloaded from LibriVox).  We alternate between books that appeal to the younger set (animal stories), and those that are more interesting to the older group.  Sometimes we listen to sermons and podcasts as well.  They help the time go by, and fill our heads and hearts with good material as well!

We also picked up a set of travel bingo cards for the kids to play along the way.  Even Mr. K got in on that fun, he was the first to get "black out."