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| Finally ,at the end of our trip, Naomi realizes there's nothing to be afraid of. Just more ways to be silly. |
So when the opportunity came up with Kalina's and Elise's scout troop to tour the Cosmosphere in mid-Kansas (so, west of us), we jumped on it. And when I learned there was a salt mine you could tour as well, we decided to pull Matt and Naomi into the plan as well. Fun!
We left on a Saturday morning, scrambling with last-minute packing since the packing list wasn't sufficiently large to worry much about before Friday at basically bedtime. We'd read stories, poetry, and non-fiction picture books all afternoon instead--probably not the best choice. We did, however, make it out the door within 6 minutes of when Matt wanted us to leave, so I count it a win.
Naomi and Elise gleefully pulled out their "car breakfast" of dry cereal as we pulled out of the driveway (Kalina prefers milk on her cereal, so had already eaten). Elise insisted she loved car rides because she can read as much as she wanted and look out the window and daydream. Kalina and Naomi didn't quite agree, but an audio book, plus the breakfast, got us well on our way.
Elise: Is it snacktime?
Me: No, you just finished breakfast.
Elise: How about now?
Pretty soon, we got a taste of the west as we gazed across brownish-greenish hills dotted with well-spaced cows, unlike the bunches of cows we'd seen further east. The west, in all its glory! We read ranch names and considered what we'd name our own (Kalina's would be Big Sky Ranch, and I think Naomi's would've had something to do with bunnies, despite her sisters' weak objections).
We eventually arrived at the Cosmosphere and tackled the mundane task of eating lunch in the car while the rest of the group showed up. And then it was time to start the party! We hauled all our gear through the cold rain, crossing a street, and claimed a spot in the large room we were directed to. Pretty soon, we had our sleeping bags (and my precious cot!) spread out and were looking around for friends.
Sweet Kalina has been focusing a lot on ballet, and has missed quite a few troop meetings, so it was Elise who found a buddy or two for the trip. Fortunately, Kalina still had a great time!
When the field trip really started a few minutes later, it really got going. We were whisked off in two groups to tour the highlights of the museum. The tour was amazing and, at least for Elise's group, the tour guide managed to hold everyone's somewhat rapt attention for more than an hour. I could've kept going, but all too soon, it was time to make rockets.
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| Elise made a space shuttle repilca with the careful and very thorough help of the most patient. tour. guide. ever. |
Back at the Cosmosphere, the adults, unsure of what our role was, chatted, stared at phones, wondered about the night ahead and helped when needed (not often). Eventually, we were ushered into the small dining area at 5:00 p.m., for a rationed meal of salad, pasta (1 scoop each) and breadsticks (1 each). Plus pop or water--Elise had grape pop, something you do have to have at least once as a child, and Kalina and I opted for water (plus a drink of Elise's grape pop, just for fun, since she didn't finish it anyway). Several smart adults--not sure white pasta, white breadsticks and iceberg lettuce would hold them over until the next morning, especially since bedtime wasn't until 10:45--ducked out to pick up some protein from nearby restaurants. It actually ended up being a good thing they didn't feed us overly much, as we had about 10 minutes to eat until we needed to clear the room for the next group.
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| Kalina's rocket! |
And then we were back to it! More crafts, information and a planetarium show that the kids loved, but that made me dizzy unless I closed my eyes. I'm still not sure how anyone was still awake after, but we were--awake enough, in fact, to learn about what it was like to live on the space station!
At this point, the kids had been begging me for several hours to let them go to sleep, and finally, it was almost time!
First, though, we had to air-launch the rockets we'd made earlier! Elise's went the second-least-farthest, a fact she seemed proud of knowing, if not of achieving, and Kalina's made it all the way to a balcony.
And then we were allowed to sleep! Which we'd all felt like we needed to do since about 4:00 p.m.!
The other troop in attendance had brought not only snacks for the evening, but also air mattresses for the grownups. My troop, on the other hand, went down for bed somewhat hungry, and looking forward to an evening on a very hard floor (since we drove separately as a family, I was one of the lucky few with a cot!).
As all the kids finally brushed their teeth and donned their jammies (and the grownups, too), the faithful Cosmosphere guides wheeled in a cart of animal crackers, fruit juice and water! AS they were brushing their teeth. Not before. And no one was told in advance. So we grabbed a snack, rebrushed and finally aimed for dreamland, among whispering, coughing, sneezing and at least one sob, I think, in the middle of the night.
"I got a terrible night of sleep!" -Kalina
"I don't think I slept all night!" -Elise
"Actually, I think it went pretty well for how these things go! And Elise, I saw you sleeping." -Me (Elise often doesn't believe she's been asleep when she actually has. As a 5-year-old she would frequently tell us she didn't sleep at all last night, and mean it. She is, however, my most wakeful child, so when she tells me she's been awake since sometime in the 4:00s, I am tempted to believe it.)
Back at the hotel, sometime in the 5:00s, Naomi popped awake, having been promised donuts by Daddy last thing before falling asleep.
"Is it time to go get donuts?"
"Honey, it's not even 6:00 yet--go back to sleep!"
Waiting.
Waiting.
"It's 6:00!" (She actually does know how to tell time on a digital clock)
I've made the same mistake before and now my rule is that reminding them of the super-cool thing that's happening the next day now only happens on Christmas Eve and possibly Easter Eve. They did pick up donuts, but not until after hotel breakfast, and were met with a reduced selection: blueberry or glazed. So maybe Naomi knew what she was talking about after all.
After dressing and packing up, those of us at the Cosmosphere hurried to the breakfast room to make full use of our allotted 30 minutes. As we'd planned to head out for brunch with Matt and Naomi when the program ended at 11:00, the girls and I were able to get away with not stuffing ourselves.
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| Daylight again! Finally! |
We were a bit relieved to be outta there--the Cosmosphere was cool, but the dim/flourescent lighting was getting to be a bit much. We squinted a lot in the sunshine.
After catching up over second-breakfast at Village Inn, we headed to a park along the Arkansas River, where we spied nesting geese (with eggs, a brave Matt discovered!) and geese that barely held back from grabbing our donuts out of our hands. Naomi was pretty freaked about that, and my inner Mama Bear made an appearance as well.And finally, we were off to the local salt mine for a tour! As three of us (not naming names...) "discussed" which image to get squished into a penny, our tour group was called (thus rushing the penny decision and creation) and we were led into a room where we watched a video telling us not to lick the walls in the mine, or any salt from it. They cited the fact that the salt has many impurities as the main reason, but we're all thinking of the real reason: "If everyone licked the walls..." they'd crumble? Wear away? We'd all get sick? That'd just be gross? Something. And while you'd think you wouldn't need a warning, but the temptation is actually greater than you'd think. Pretty sure Uncle Tom would sneak a taste, for instance. (Hi, Tom!)
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| Newly helmeted. |
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| Naomi still isn't sure about the train. I held her tightly throughout, and she enjoyed herself! |
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| No one else on the tram quite shared our ability to pore over chunks of salt. |
By the end, we were all thoroughly entranced by the salt, and making plans for displaying our salt rocks...somehow...despite the fact that they would eventually eat through pretty much all substances except possibly glass. We emerged from the mine into the light and again blinked a lot. I, for one, was glad to be done with strangely lit spaces for a while, and am not a candidate for underground colonization.
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| Tram! Slightly larger than the train, and didn't require rails. |
The way home passed peacefully, punctuated by astronaut ice cream and all the fun snacks we'd saved. We knew we'd have three tired girls--which worked well, as we arrived home right about at bedtime. No one protested turning off the light, and amazingly, no one melted down (any more than usual, anyway) the next day.
And no one licked the salt!!
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| Salt chunks, salt pebbles and fine salt sand. All fun to paw through, especially the fine sand. They sold it in the gift store but I just wasn't sure... |
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| Kalina and salt. She was so entranced. And see the grey streaks? They're why you shouldn't lick it. One reason, anyway. |
2 comments:
You bet I would! Sounds delicious. Who do you think I would have been able to convince to do it as well?
Tom: I would imagine Elise would be on board...
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