Day 26, 27&28

Day 26

Scottbluff, Nebraska

To be honest, I wasn't too excited about Nebraska.

But turns out there is a lot to do in Scotts Bluff county. From the history of the Oregon Trail, Mormon Trail, Pony Express, and the North Platte Valley. There's plenty to learn. There is also many outdoor adventures too.

We started our visit to Scottsbluff by visiting the Scotts Bluff National Monument.

Scottsbluff is a memorable land mark of the Oregon Trail.

Between 1841-1869

More than 250,000 men, women and children passed these bluffs in their hard journey West.

We learned about William Henry Jackson.
A pioneering photographer who captured the first images of Yellowstone and the Tetons.

We got to see some of his work.

We imagined we were on the Oregon Trail with the pioneers...

Sometimes I feel as if we are on the Oregon Trail in this RV ha!

We listened to this man tell us about different things they used on the Oregon Trail.

For example:

Soak a rusty nail in vinegar and drink it. It would help with headaches.

Whiskey was used for pain killers and cleaners.

Rose water was used for skin softener.

Peppermint was used for tummy aches.

And of course Castor oil was what the mommy ordered when kids were sick!

We took up the whole bus, we left one spot for the Ranger....

on our way to the tops of the bluffs.


We enjoyed a small hike, kids finished their ranger booklets, Landen got bit by a dog(not hard he's ok), watched a movie on the bluffs, read about how they buried people alive that caught cholera and the kids added another badge to their road jackets.

Then we made lunch and ate it on our way to Colorado.....

Day 27

Colorado

We drove to the capitol in Denver, Colorado

Just missed meeting Lance Armstrong by a couple minutes.

We did get to listen in on the
Rocky Flats Nuclear Workers protest.

Many are dying of cancer. So sad!

Very interesting!

Kind of reminded me of Erin Brockovich.

An unexpected learning lesson!

From there we kept seeing bikes and thinking it was Lance ha!

We headed to go see the Mile High Stadium where our favorite new NFL player will be playing:)

Go Tim Tebow!

After the stadium we drove over to Heritage Square to have some fun on the Alpine Slide!

We took the ski lifts up and flew down the mountain on sleds....

I haven't had that much fun in along time!

Alpine Slides are a blast!

We don't mess around, we play hard! There was still daylight to burn so we headed to the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs...

No trip to the Colorado Springs area is complete without a stop at the Garden of the Gods!

Just beautiful!

Of course the kids did the Jr. Ranger program and then we drove through the garden.

We painted our faces with the red dirt and hiked a bit....

Daddy held up this rock, and it would of been nice if the guy standing next to him could of helped out a little.ha!

Doesn't it look like that?

He was just posing for his wife.

Come on dude,do something fun for a picture like my husband. ha!

Look how strong I am...one handed, baby on hip.

Thanks Faith for the help!

Then soon everyone had to have a picture "holding up" the rock:)

We enjoyed our time at Garden of the Gods...

We were tired, and hungry. I couldn't find my lighter to light the pilot for the oven so we just grabbed Del Taco.

We all felt sick after, it's been a lonnnnnnnnng time since we ate there. ugh!

Then we just parked at Walmart cleaned up, got ready for bed and rented a family movie from Redbox. Gotta love $1.00 redbox movies.

Day 28

Focus on the Family headquarters.

There are a lot of great ministries out there, but FOTF is one of my favorite. Along with AIG and MAF.

I love what Focus on the Family is doing and for what they stand for.

One of the things I enjoyed learning about was the Wait No More.

They believe Christians have a clear command to care for orphans, and there are many ways to get involved by praying, giving, mobilizing your church or adopting. Whichever God puts on your heart they help provide guidance and support. Their hope is that you begin to see the face of Christ in these children.

We also are a big fan of the Drive Thru History.

I personally would love to do a Drive Thru Science. I just need the money and brains to back my idea. ha! I would love to make movies like the Drive Thru History showing the evolution side to State Parks and give proof of biblical creation.

Wouldn't that be cool?

The kids enjoyed their 3 story slide and inside playground.


The older ones studying their scripts for the Odyssey taping.

While I went and did some damage in the bookstore!

We might have to turn around and head home because of my love for books.

I got some curriculum shopping done for this coming school year:)

I will be using MFW here and there but tailor fitting the curriculum as I see fit for each of my kids.

I'm excited to use The Prairie Primer as well. A literature based curriculum.

I'm also excited to be studying the original Heidelberg Catechism and the history of it.

What are you using?? Please share!

The kids had an hour before they had to be in the studio so we enjoyed a nice picnic outside.

The weather was perfect!

Landen got to do the sound effects with the help of Daddy

Faith played Jamie.

I think we found her special talent. She is an awesome voice over. Full of excitement in her reading!

Austin as Casey

We ended our day with reading some really neat books in the reading center....

and a small act on stage.

Then as we were getting ready to leave we were surprised to see it hailing!


So we made Daddy come pick us up and we waited in the parking lot for the storm to end.

Thanks for following....

We are enjoying Utah now.

See you soon....