Springtime in Missouri

 For ONCE we timed it right! It wasn't freezing cold like it was in March, nor was it 104 (actual temperature!) like it was in August. It was pretty much perfect weather the whole trip. Which made it awesome for...

Bella and I took a day trip to Mansfield, MO where-you guessed it-we visited Laura Ingalls Wilder's home (and museum). We had started reading Little House on the Prairie, but didn't get a chance to finish it. I thought we'd take a chance on the museum. On the way there Bella said, "Oh, I hope they have Pa's fiddle!" I didn't want to burst her little bubble explaining how improbable it would be to have kept track of it after all these years.  We walked into the museum and it was the very first display. She ran from case to case pointing things out and asking what things were.

We were not allowed to take pictures in the house, but we could take them outside. This is where Laura wrote books 5-9. It began as a two-room house that Almanzo built and eventually turned into a 10-room house. Bella wanted to live here. (So did I-it was beautiful.) She lived until 1957, and it's weird to see her home with a refrigerator, or pictures of her standing in front of "classic cars." Just seems wrong.

This is the house their daughter Rose had built for them (she was a famous writer before her mom!) and this is the house where Laura penned the first four books. A pretty swanky 1930's style home.

Not too far from there, in the middle of Nowhere, Missouri (not the real name, but so far out we had no cell phone service), was a pioneer town so Bella ("Please, Ma, call me Laura.") could see a bit what it was like. All the stores were unmanned; if you wanted something from, say, Harriet's Mercantile, shown here in the picture, you walked it across the town to the seed shop.

Bella was excited to see this wagon, as it gave her an even better idea of what Laura's life was like. The pencil illustrations Garth Williams did for the books only goes so far, and she hadn't seen the Little House TV show yet.

Is the theme song playing in your head yet? Bella/Laura picked up the sun bonnet at the mercantile. She wore it a ton.

And then Dad wore it. But that's a whole other blog post!

No trip is complete without a boat ride! Each kid got to drive.

Does anyone else see the resemblance between this scene from Forrest Gump and my two men? (Not in any way implying that Joshua is like Forrest!)

And Bella caught the biggest fish!

And there are always trips to Braum's for "Birthday Cake" ice cream.

Bella put it on her nose on purpose-just for the shot.

This is, quite possibly, my favorite picture of the two of them!

Joshua and I got to enjoy our anniversary dinner-a big pail o' crab at Joe's Crab Shack. It was Queen Crab (not King) and it was the best crab I've ever put in my mouth!

And my "Shark Bite" drink wasn't bad either, complete with grenadine "blood" mixed in for effect.

We took the kids mini golfing for the first time. This picture is after we convinced Ryan not to use his club like a pick ax as he did on the first few holes.

Ever the "star", Bella is giving me a tutorial on how to play. She asked me to record it as well!

We picnicked in a park near these tracks. The kids were SO excited that they got to actually WALK on the tracks! Bella wanted to follow them as far as they went. That's so her.

And if I live to be 100, I will NEVER forget the picture of my Dad on the swings!