It Was a GRAND Time!

 

It was a GRAND time with our GRANDS! Just how many activities can you pack into a few days? We did our best to find out. Kinley and Brooke came to visit last week. We met Jill, Eric and the girls in Salina to start the whirlwind week of activities. 

None of us had been to The Garage, a fairly new automotive museum in Salina, so that was our first stop. Jill was able to use The Sunflower App to get their whole family in for free! If you're a Kansas resident and you haven't checked out The Sunflower App, you should. It offers free or reduced admission to more than 115 sites in Kansas as a learning opportunity for Kansas kids. What a deal! 

Of course, there were fantastic cars and trucks at The Garage.

When I saw the 1942 one-ton Dodge wheat truck, I told Randy he needed a photo. The truck was on loan from the Kansas Flywheels Museum, also in Salina. It had been purchased by Arnold and Theresa Swanson in Holyrood in 1950 for hauling wheat to the local grain elevator at Kipp. Neither of us drove anything quite that old in the harvest field.

Besides the automotive history represented, there were several interactive areas for the girls.

They used virtual reality to "paint" a truck door. (Their dad and grandpa had a turn, too.) I missed getting photos, but there was also a welding simulator.

Kinley tried "driving." She admitted it was a little tough to see over the steering wheel.

Grandpa, Brooke and Jill raced pinewood derby cars down a race track.

After saying goodbye to the parents, we took the girls to Salina's Center for Theater Arts to see their production of "Finding Nemo Junior."

Grandma couldn't resist a downtown mural in Salina with a couple of her favorite things - music and sunflowers ... and, of course, two cute girls.

While we had a great time in Salina, our time on the farm was packed to the brim, too. We took the girls fishing at the pasture on the Ninnescah. 

 

 Brooke was brave and touched the worms.

Grandpa said it was OK to use his jeans to wipe off dirty hands. We didn't catch any fish, but we enjoyed the evening anyway.

Jill had signed them up for swimming lessons at the Stafford Pool. (Thanks Candi and Michelle!) Grandpa was their chauffeur most days. That explains why there are fewer photos from those outings.

One day after swimming, he took them to the Stafford golf course for a little putting. Again, it was the only photo.

We had an outing to visit Great Grandpa and Grandma Moore.

The girls helped with the 4-H foods judging at the Stafford County Fair. Even though our days as 4-H parents are long gone, I still serve as the superintendent for foods at the fair. The girls were troopers. They helped me set up the day before.

And they also were great assistants during the foods judging and clean up. Kinley got to reunite with a friend from 4-H camp last year. Ironically, Kinley and Reagan were in the same cabin. Jill and Reagan's mom, Holly, were team demonstration queens back in their day. We certainly made a lot of pretzels and yeast rolls. So it was fun to continue to build that connection.

Kinley entered nine photos in open class. I'll talk about those more in an upcoming blog post. 

 

But the county fair provided some other activities and fun ... and a LOT of heat! The girls dressed up for Spirit Day. 

The Extension interns gave kids an opportunity to decorate their own tie-died t-shirts.

Grandpa put Brooke's name on the "tallest sunflower" entry. It got a blue. (Of course, it was the only entry, but a blue is a blue!)

Salina isn't the only town with a mural. Before church, I had the girls pose in front of this Stafford Main Street mural.

They also got to visit a new local establishment, The Frosty Bean, for a Frozen Trojan, soft serve ice cream topped with slushy

Thankfully, Grandpa didn't disappoint, and we had one kitten for the girls to admire.

They ended up naming it Muffin.

For our movie night, Grandma had to work in a little bit of nostalgia. I served the popcorn in tin bowls that I brought home from my Grandma and Grandpa Neelly's house. So they ate out of bowls that had belonged to their Great Great Grandparents!

Just how long did it take for a Grandma and Grandpa to recover? Well, we're about to head to join the girls and family for the Shawnee County Fair. So, ready or not, let's pack a few more days full!

Definitely a Treat!

Note the UNICEF tag beside the Jesus print. Photo taken June 26, 2011, at the closing of Byers UMC.

To some, it may seem sacrilegious to mention Halloween and church in the same breath. But at the little country church of my childhood, Halloween meant a time to trick or treat for UNICEF.

Byers United Methodist Church, Byers, Kansas

We ghosts and goblins at Byers United Methodist Church had school-lunch-sized milk cartons decorated with the UNICEF logo. As we collected our sweet treats, people would drop coins for UNICEF through the crudely-cut slots at the top of the carton.

Some of us would stay in Byers and go door-to-door. I always wanted to go on the northwesterly country route by car so I could have one of my Grandma Neelly's homemade popcorn balls in my goodie sack.

Unlike today, our parents (and grandparents) didn't have cell phones with cameras to document the festivities, so I couldn't find a photo from one of my childhood October 31 forays. There are still some churches that trick or treat for UNICEF. (A former pastor posted a photo last weekend of she and her two boys dressed and ready to trick or treat for UNICEF at their Nebraska church.)

But many more churches today now sponsor Truck and Treat events. This past Friday, Randy and I got to join Kinley and Brooke at Susanna Wesley UMC's version. And, of course, Grandma pulled out the cell phone camera to take a photo before we departed.

Before we arrived, I wasn't sure what to expect when Kinley said she was going to be a raccoon. The raccoons around here are more often on the "naughty" list than not. Grandpa Randy would say they are into tricks, not treats. But I could see the appeal after I saw Kinley's version. My mental photo of Brooke's princess unicorn was much easier to conjure up before the big day.

Jill and Eric decorated their trunk with an under the sea theme. They were told they needed to plan for 1,000 trick or treaters! I haven't had that many ghosts and goblins visit my rural door step in my lifetime!

Pinterest for the win! It turned out really cute.

The girls had quite the entourage, too. We were there. And so were Eric's parents.

 

Grandma Christy helped us get in the spirit of the event by providing ears. She had the kitty ears. I had the bunny ears. The minister surmised that both Randy and Alan were dressed up as Bill Snyder for Halloween.

The girls fixed my ears, and we took off through the maze of car trunks.

I thought it was fun to see Kinley's tail in this shot.

Then it was time for some games.

 Afterwards, Brooke joined Mommy to hand out the treats, while Kinley played with her cousins.

Brooke had to hide behind Mommy when there was a creature with a scary mask.

The next day was definitely a treat when our K-State Wildcats pulled out an upset over No. 5-ranked Oklahoma ... and we were there to see it. (Brent was, too: I just didn't get a photo of him.)

After the game, it was on to the Little Munchkin Pumpkin Patch near Alma for some more Halloween fun. Like Goldilocks says: It was just right!

There were slides ...

... and photo stops.

Jill says Kinley has been talking about a corn maze all fall. Even though it wasn't corn, Kinley was satisfied with her adventure through the maze. (And we didn't lose anyone.)

There were plenty of opportunities for sliding, bouncing, running and playing.

Grandpa bought some do-it-yourself s'more kits. He originally bought them for the girls, but then he "claimed" he'd never had a s'more himself. So he bought another kit. For the record, he says he's roasted plenty of marshmallows: He's just never put them inside a graham cracker and chocolate sandwich. He has evidently led a sheltered life. Now he knows what he's been missing.

The girls tolerated Grandma's desire to take lots of photos.

And Grandma even relinquished the camera for a shot with Brooke.

Even though we don't get to witness the girls' trick-or-treat festivities tonight, we were thrilled to get in on the fall fun this past weekend.
All the ghosts and goblins in our neighborhood have grown up. It doesn't seem so long ago that our two were making the rounds to Grandpa Melvin's and Grandma Marie's - where they were surprised by a couple of spooks.

I hope our raccoon and princess unicorn have as much frivolity tonight as these two did - once upon a time.