13 May 2008

On this past Saturday we dropped off the kids with their Aunt Christa and her boyfriend Javi in their new apartment, which of course meant the kids had a wonderful weekend of debauchery with much spoiling. Meanwhile, Aaron and I plus our friends Jake and Julie, Paul and Patti, and Brent went off to celebrate Aaron and I's upcoming marriage with a joint bachelor/bachelorette party. First, we saw a matinee of Iron Man. I really liked the movie although I think it is a typical comic book-to-movie type of flick. Next, we ate at a restaurant in Ames of Aaron's choosing. Aaron went to college in Ames, and that is where we held the majority of the bachelor(ette) party. Unfortunately, this particular Mexican restaurant no longer gives you a t-shirt if you drink their two of their mega-humongous margaritas. It would have been nice to get a couple of commemorative shirts... We followed up the food by visiting Aaron's favorite Ames bar, where we played darts. My favorite memory of that was when the person who was kicking all of our butts (Patti) accidentally threw the dart OVER the dartboard, and her and Julie had to crawl around on the floor trying to figure out how to get behind the machine. I think that cost her her lead, because Brent ended up wiping the floor with all of us. We finished off the night by driving 45 minutes to see one of our friends play in a band in some obscure bar, where my friends Sara and Eric met up with us. All in all it was a smashing good time, and I'm glad I had such wonderful company at our party.

The next day was my day, and I chose to spend it at Living History Farms. I can remember visiting the outdoor museum when I was in elementary school. We were instructed on how to make brooms and set type for newspapers. Even though Nate is not yet four, and Sammi is not yet two, I thought they might enjoy it and maybe have some memories in the future. Also, Aaron had never been, having grown up on the eastern side of the state. My sister helped us out and came along with us, and we all had a lovely time (I think).

Living History Farms has two major parts. The first is the "Farm" section where you go on a tour of an Ioway site with a bark lodge, tepee, and winter lodge. They tell you how the Ioway farmed and talk about how they went on the great buffalo hunt in the summer months. They show some of the utensils they used and how they lived. You walk on a trail through some nice woodlands to an 1850's farm complete with a log cabin, barn, smoke house, and other exhibits. There are real people completing tasks that would be done on such a farm such as wool spinning, field clearing, etc. It's a working exhibit. Next up is the 1900's farm with a barn, house (hey, our house was built in 1900...), animals, and all the necessary buildings. You end this section by seeing an exhibit of today's agriculture. The second part is an 1875 town with over ten different buildings, each manned by someone talking about how people lived and worked in that time period. The entire trip is extremely fascinating and one of my favorite places to go.

You can see all of the pictures at our Flickr site, but I'll highlight a few here.


Sammi's very first drink from a water fountain. She succeeded in getting a lot of water on her face and very little water in her mouth. Maybe next time?


A creek on the walk between the farms.


Some fencing at the 1850 Farmsite.


Aunt Christa & Nate, walking the trail. Someone is getting spoiled rotten...


This duck looks like he is drooling all over, but really it is water from the trough below.


Daddy & Sammi having a good time.


Windmill at the 1900 Farm.


The kids on the drive back home. I think they had a good weekend - and they are definitely exhausted!

My favorite part of the entire trip, however, had to be near the end of Sunday when Aaron went to change Nate's pull-up and the surprise he found. Nate had not been changed for nearly seven hours, and he was dry. That's right: I think my boy is finally toilet-trained. I asked Nate what he wanted to eat for celebration. The answer? Pizza. Num, num.

Labels: random