McKinley Turns 7 !!!

This wonderful thing had the BEST birthday! She loved every second of it. Her little face was just filled with absolute joy from the moment she woke up until she went to bed! She had her favorite streamer curtain on her door and mirror graffiti proclaiming her age in the bathroom, cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate for breakfast (though she got so full on hot chocolate that she didn't have room for one cinnamon roll, instead saving it for her after school snack), cookies for her class treat (my heart melted when she requested homemade!), came home to a pile of presents, cherry coke in a wine glass, and per her precise menu: roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts with bacon, garlic bread and to finish dinner off right a coffee-toffee-vanilla-caramel-oreo cookie-ice cream pie!!! Whew!

She was super excited about this after seeing Jones use his Amazon gift card!

Keeping the suspense when she opens her present from Jones...

One of her new favorite things: designing fashions!

Future gourmet chef!

Beautiful new outfit and horse purse!

She finally has a Lego set that competes with Jones' collection!

 

A girl needs a little refreshment break after so many presents!

 

The budding artist already planning pictures with her new giant pen set!

Magic! Her new passion!

 

7 candles!

Making a wish - although before she blew out the candles
she looked at her presents and said she already got everything she wanted!

 

Jones Turns 9 !!!

Jones had a laser tag/sleepover birthday party with his 2 best friends (his 3rd best friend had a death in the family and had to go out of town) the weekend before his actual birthday. I am so lucky my guy likes to keep things small! The boys had a blast. Jones had ribs for dinner (declaring "they were good, but not like Pops' ribs!"), carrot cake for his "party" dessert and cheesecake for his "birthday" dessert. He is so spoiled! He got tons of fantastic presents and was so happy with his special day, which actually ended up being more like a special week!

Blowing out 9 candles on his carrot cake!

Boys are goofy.

A Lego present from Kinley.

Disregard beer-drinkin' Mom in the background.

In order to draw a super-hero, he must BE a super-hero!

That boy and his Xbox games!

A rock polisher to pretty up his "treasures!"

Shatto Dairy Field Trip

Jones had another field trip on Friday, to a family run dairy about an hour from Leavenworth. They sell to some local chain stores but we've never bought their milk. I usually go for organic, and we aren't "milk" drinkers, anyway. Except when heated and mixed with chocolate :) HOWEVER, this place was so much fun!!! They sell their milk in glass bottles, and they have a variety of flavors that they mix right at their little farm. Only milk from their cows goes into their products, and the cows aren't treated with rsbt. So I could feel good about the purchase I knew I was going to make!

The cows getting milked. They let the kids put theirs fingers into the pump
to see what it felt like.

One of the baby girls, born just 7 days ago. So soft and sweet!

Jones doing some milking. He was a pro after our experience on the
farm in Georgia.

The bottling process.

Their little antique truck. The horn mooooo's!

Boys being crazy on the ride home.



We got to sample all their flavors. They also sell cheese curd,
ice cream and butter. Yum! Our selections from left:
Strawberry, Cotton Candy & Root Beer
Sounds weird, but they were all delicious!
Additional flavors were banana, orange, coffee and a seasonal pumpkin pie eggnog.

Walking Museum Field Trip

Last week I went with Jones and his class on a walking field trip from school to a couple museums that are in town: First City Museum and the Carousel Museum. It was so much fun! A great way to tour our downtown and get a little exercise.

The museum had an area of items taken from a closed prison. They had a cell
set up and this area for pictures, so I couldn't resist!

What a face! He refused to smile, saying that if he was actually in jail he wouldn't
be smiling....smart boy!

A top view of the restored carousel. This thing goes FAST!

Jones and his buddy before the ride started.

Goofing off, as usual!

Class picture down at the park.

Friends on the fence.

Another class picture.

Soccer Season

Well, truthfully, soccer season is one game away from being over for us. I had every intention of getting these pictures up sooner, but "stuff" got in the way as usual! Jones and McKinley were on separate teams due to their age difference. However, they ended up playing on the same days and had the same jerseys. Kinley's team voted on ORANGE FIRE  as their team name, and Jones' team is the TIGERS. They both love playing!

Jones is especially happy when he gets to be goalie.

 

 

The train that goes by several times during every game
and blows its whistle so the kids can't hear the coaches. I love it!
Jones says it was cool at first, but now it's just annoying :)

 

Waiting for the game to start.

Her field is right next to the post pasture, so sometimes we get to
look at this beautiful horse!

As usual, her team shirt is too big so we have to secure it in the back.

Water break!

 

Haunted Fort Leavenworth Tour

It ended up being the perfect night for a creepy ghost tour of our current post. We started in the park with stories around a fire pit, then headed out on foot to hear about the hauntings of this historic place. The sky was clear and the weather was cold...here are some photos of our tour, a sampling of some of the haunted buildings...



A period lady telling tales of Fort Leavenworth.

Gazebo steps.

Hot chocolate to warm those little tummies.

 

Light-up mouth pieces they got in their Halloween Advent. Perfect!



Our guide - he was great! - and his assistant.

 

This used to be housing and is now offices.
There are stories of uniformed soldiers riding their horses through the hallways.

This was a running theme throughout the night!

 

General Custer's wife has been seen in the top floor of this duplex.
This is where they lived after he was court martialed for an unauthorized visit home.

 

The lady in black haunts these duplexes.

 

This is the old disciplinary barracks (prison). When they were renovating it,
there were some strange forces working against them. No one likes to
work late at night here, especially on the 3rd floor.

 

The many residents of this residence have reported tea parties that
take place in the dining room.

And here's the sleepy lady, again. She did wake up for pizza when we got home.