Day 1,951 - Taking a Ride With the Pony Express

I’ve always kind of enjoyed learning about history. I realize that is not many people’s favorite subject though. For one thing, to paraphrase my lovely wife, history is all about just memorizing facts and dates and if that’s not something that a person is good at, then they’re not going to enjoy it. However, I feel like there’s a lot more to history than dates. For one thing, you’re learning about a bygone era. You never know; sometimes that bygone era may have even impacted your life and the life of your ancestors without even knowing it. Lucky for me, I’m not alone in enjoying learning about history. Ellie and Ethan also have a zeal for it.

Over the past year, Ellie and Ethan have gotten really excited about earning Junior Park Ranger badges at various National Parks and other important historical sites. When looking through the list of badges, we stumbled across one about the Pony Express. With the Pony Express Museum in St. Joseph, I figured that was a worthy addition to our list of summer activities and as we were already heading up that way to visit my grandmother today, it was the perfect time to check out the Museum.

When we arrived, I do have to say that Ellie and Ethan were a little disappointed to learn that the Junior Ranger badge was not actually at the Pony Express Museum. Instead, you have to fill out an online worksheet and e-mail it to an address to receive your badge. No worries though as there was a fun worksheet for the kids to work through as we toured the Museum.

I went to the Pony Express Stables as a kid but I’ll be the first to admit that it has changed a ton in the last few decades. For one thing, it’s become much more kid friendly. When I was there, it was largely just full of displays and written facts. Now though, there’s tons of stuff for kids to touch, feel, and experience.

One of the first things that stood out about our visit was a legitimate old well on the site. It’s been outfitted with a pump and visitors can work the pump and fill a trough with water. Ellie absolutely loved the pump and it was hard to peel her away from it. In fact, she found her way back to it on a couple of occasions to pump away.

Of course, it wasn’t just the pump that Ellie and Ethan found interesting. They were able to go inside a replica of the original stables (complete with statues of horses and riders), and a log cabin. There was even a facsimile of the Pony Express post offices where they could sort letters accordingly.

Their favorite part of the Museum though had to be the kids’ play area. It was absolutely full of activities and themed toys. Both kids were able to complete crayon rubbings of things like an official Pony Express seal and a Buffalo nickel. Then, they entered the play area, complete with kitchen, where Ellie found a period dress and put it on, while “baking” a fresh Cherry pie for the two of them to enjoy. Ethan, for his part, spent some time building the perfect house out of blocks.

All together, we probably spent close to two hours weaving our way through the Museum and answering everything on the kids’ little scavenger hunt. One of my favorite parts though had to be upon our exit when I caught an epic wave of nostalgia. You see, there nestled behind the Museum was an enormous lighted sign for the historic Pony Express Motel that had been relocated to the Museum grounds. Upon seeing that, I knew that there was no way that our trip could be complete without my snapping a picture for the road!

While we were able to check the Pony Express Museum off of our summer bucket list today, I’m happy to say that there are still three other museums that the kids want to check out before summer is over. I can’t wait to see if they like those as much as they did the Pony Express. Only time will tell!

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,936 - And Introducing, Ethan the Magician!

It’s here. The time has finally come. It’s the kids’ first full week of summer vacation at home. It’s not their first full week off of school though. That came last week when Bethany and I spent four days on Prince Edward Island, Canada while Ellie and Ethan spent the week in Nebraska. With it being the first full week of summer break at home, there’s definitely an adjustment process as we all learn how to handle not having a rigid schedule again. There’s also an adjustment period while we all learn how to hang out together and not drive each other nuts (That’s a work in progress).

During the mornings, we haven’t really had any problems filling the time since Ellie and Ethan both take part in a Vacation Bible School from 8:30 until 12:30. The afternoons are wide open though leaving us lots of time for adventures. On Monday, it was as simple as walking to the grocery store to buy stuff for dinner and then heading to the park for some play time. Yesterday though, was something else altogether as we made a fairly special trip to the library.

Our library is great about scheduling engaging events for kids throughout the whole year. One of those events would be Blake Bailey’s Comedy and Variety Show which we attended yesterday. While I’d had the event on our calendar for quite a while, I really didn’t think we’d be able to go yesterday when I backed out of the driveway to the sound of tornado sirens in the distance. Like any reasonable person would, I immediately pulled the car back into the garage and explained what was happening to two very disappointed kids in the backseat. Lucky for us, the storms cleared within 15 minutes and we were on our way.

This radar right here is why I didn't believe we would actually make it to the library.

When we got to the library, we checked in and headed into the community room where we took our seats on the floor in front of a large blue backdrop. We didn’t have to wait long though for Blake to make his appearance as he began to entertain us using a combination of magic, juggling, and puppetry. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy myself, especially during his routine with “Sealo the Sea Lion puppet.” Ethan was definitely enjoying himself which was obvious from his cackles of delight in response to everything that was unfolding. Ellie, for her part, was a little more reserved but was still obviously enjoying herself too.

Near the end of his show, Blake asked the audience for a volunteer to help him with his next tricks. I was honestly a little surprised to see Ethan’s hand shoot up in the air as he’s usually a little shy about things like that. I was even more surprised when Blake picked him to make his way up front. For the next ten minutes, Ellie and I sat happily watching Ethan play a part in the show’s closing act.

Ethan kicked off his time on stage by spelling his name for Blake so that he could write it on the back of a black and white poster that would be important later on. Then, Blake asked Ethan to hold a magic wand which broke as soon as he touched it to Ethan’s confusion. By the time they were done, Ethan had seen three different magic wands go completely limp in his hand. No worries though as he eventually helped Blake pull a six-foot wand out of a small paper bag. Not going to lie, the smile on Ethan’s face as he held a six-foot magic wand was epic. Then, he cast a magic spell on an empty paint can, causing it to expel yards and yards of multi-colored fabric. At this point, Ethan’s mischievous side was on full display as he excitedly continued wiggling his “magical fingers” while Blake flailed around wildly trying to collect the yards of fabric. Finally, the two of them successfully took the “paint” and magically changed the poster from black-and-white to full color.

After this, Ethan was gifted the newly colored poster, a magic wand of his very own, and a big red clown nose. It was pretty awesome to see the joy and pride on his face as he sat there holding his newfound gifts. While we’ve certainly attended many library events before, I would have to say that this was definitely a first to have an experience like this. All things told, it really wasn’t a bad way to spend a rainy Tuesday afternoon.

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,924 - The One Where Ellie Got Her Face Cut Open

This may not come as a huge surprise to people who know my family, but my kids are getting older. Ellie’s going to be nine years old in just under two months and Ethan celebrated his sixth birthday back in February. A part of kids aging is that they become a little more independent and generally don’t want to show their parents that they still need them. For the most part, Ellie and Ethan have both embraced finding those opportunities to prove their independence. However, today was one of those rare days when Ellie actually showed just how much she still needed the support of a parent, even if said parent was me!

First, a little background. A couple of months ago, Bethany and I were certain that Ellie had her very first pimple on her face. As a result, the only thing we knew to do was to pop it and get that nasty pus out. As you can probably guess, Ellie was less than ecstatic about that. We anticipated that the zit would heal fairly quickly. However, it didn’t. Instead, it lingered until we finally scheduled a visit to the pediatrician on a day off school where he diagnosed it as a pimple that had gotten infected. As a result, he prescribed her an antibiotic to take for a week with the caveat that we see a pediatric dermatologist if it didn’t improve in a week. Fast forward a week and it didn’t improve. Therefore, our doctor referred us to a pediatric dermatologist where Ellie was diagnosed with a small cyst that would have to be cut out and cleaned in a future appointment. That appointment just happened to be today.

Since the appointment wasn’t until after 11:00 this morning, Bethany and I decided to go ahead and send Ellie to school for the morning with me picking her up around 10:30 to make our way down to the Plaza. As we rode along, I could tell Ellie was nervous, both from her fidgetiness and because she kept asking more and more questions. Soon enough though, we arrived and checked in for our appointment. As we waited in an otherwise empty waiting area, Ellie killed some time playing on a large floor-based video game while I enjoyed watching Lucky Dog.

Finally, the time came for us to be called back. As the two of us sat in the exam room together, Ellie began hysterically crying and shaking due to the fear she was feeling. I took her in my arms and held her close as we started praying for the procedure that would be coming. Then, once we were done praying, I pulled up Encanto on our iPad for Ellie to watch for a few minutes while we waited for the doctor.

Before we knew it, Ellie’s dermatologist entered the room and had Ellie relocate to an exam table. Knowing that she was scared, they actually pulled the table away from the wall and moved a chair to where Ellie could look directly at me and I could hold her hand during the procedure. If I’m being honest, the first part of the procedure was probably the worst as Ellie received at least seven deadening shots in her face. With each one, I was told to gently punch her in the shoulder as the needle went in her delicate face to distract her from what was happening.

Finally, with her face sufficiently deadened, the dermatologist began carefully cutting away the cyst. As this point, I definitely felt tears welling up in my eyes as I watched my brave daughter laying on the table with one eye taped close and an abundance of gauze covering her face. Unfortunately, the only thing I could do was helplessly sit there holding an iPad aloft so she could watch her movie with her one uncovered eye while letting her squeeze my free hand.

Every so often, I would get brave enough to take a peek at the doctor’s ongoing work. Those peeks never lasted too long as I would inevitably get a little freaked out at the sight and would return my gaze to Ellie’s lone, uncovered eye or her hand as it squeezed mine. Finally, after about 30 minutes, the delicate procedure was done and Ellie had received a brand-new stitch along with two bandages covering the wound.

Brave girl with a big bandage!

With that, we left the office and hopped in the car to head home. Not knowing how Ellie would feel, Bethany and I had made it clear that it would be up to her whether she returned to school for the day or not. While I honestly hoped she would stay home, I was ultimately leaving it up to her. As we drove, she proceeded to carefully consider both sides of any potential decision before ultimately deciding she wanted to go back to school.

When we got to school, we went inside to sign Ellie back in to school. Before I left though, I made sure that she knew if her face began hurting or she just really needed to come home, I would come right back and get her. With that, she gave me a big hug and bravely headed to class while I exited the school.

If I’m being honest, today was definitely a wide-ranging set of emotions. For one thing, I absolutely hated seeing my daughter in pain. I liked the fact that I could support her through it and be there to help her in any way I could. Lastly, though, I felt immensely proud of her bravery for wanting to head back to school rather than taking the day to hide at home.

All of that being said, I don’t think it’s out of line for me to say that I hope we never have to experience anything of this ilk again anytime soon. We’ll see what happens though!

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,884 - Taking a Trip Through The Rabbit Hole

Have I mentioned how much I appreciate my wife lately? No, well that’s totally understandable seeing as how I haven’t blogged since September. For the record, I had plenty I could have written about but I just didn’t fully know what I wanted to do with my blog moving forward. Between working on our deck, substitute teaching, and a stint in physical therapy, it was kind of a busy fall. After meticulously checking a calendar though, I’m 99% certain that I am on Day 1,884 of being a stay-at-home dad (not counting days I actually subbed).

Anyway, I appreciate my wife. Right now, I’m appreciating her for all of the little ways she plans fun activities for our family to take part in and also how she manages to make the lead-up to said activity special as well.

On this occasion, our family activity in question was a trip to The Rabbit Hole in North Kansas City. If you’re not already familiar with The Rabbit Hole, the best way to describe it is that it’s an interactive museum based around generations of children’s stories. Basically, you wander from exhibit to exhibit with each new journey putting you right inside the story. Pretty cool concept if I do say so.

Bethany had known for quite some time that she wanted to take advantage of our family’s day off on MLK Day and visit The Rabbit Hole. In fact, in order to make sure that we all really enjoyed the outing, she checked out every single book from the library that is highlighted throughout the experience. Each night for the past few weeks, we’ve read through a few books once the kids were ready for bed in an attempt to familiarize ourselves with the stories that we would be experiencing.

Yesterday after lunch, it was finally time for our visit to occur. Once we arrived and placed our coats in the holding area, we proceeded to wander down a stone staircase that looked like something out of a magical cave. Once we reached the base, we then entered a magical tunnel which led us into something resembling a rabbit’s burrow complete with low ceilings, low lights, and lots of knick-knacks that had clearly been gathered by the rabbit over the years. Then, we wandered out of the rabbit’s burrow and onto a swirling series of ramps which ultimately led us to the heart of the museum.

As we had been reading some of these stories for weeks, we were excited to see displays for “Stega Nona” and “Anatole” right off the bat. The kids were enamored as they watched the displays move right before them. After that, we wandered into an open area surrounded by tons more stories. Shel Silverstein’s famous “Where the Sidewalk Ends” led us onto an elevated platform where we slid down a giant foot. “Blueberries for Sal” placed us right inside the blue and white kitchen of Sal. “Curious George” featured an awesome moving display of George’s entire city for the kids to gaze at, complete with a fire escape that they could climb. “Caps for Sale” had us sitting underneath a tree next to a napping salesman as monkeys overhead excited chattered at us.

There were three displays that really seemed to resonate with the kids though. One was a fire house straight out of “The Fire Cat”. In said exhibit, the kids could climb up a ladder, through a tube, and drop down a fire pole to the ground below. If that wasn’t enough, Pickles the Fire Cat himself occasionally dropped down another fire pole for us to watch and enjoy.

The second display that the kids adored was the Great Green Room straight out of “Goodnight Moon”. As part of the ambience, we actually had to slip off our shoes before entering the dark and quiet carpeted room. If you timed your visit right, you could actually hear the crackling of the simulated fire burning. In that room, Ethan found himself enamored with an extra-large version of his cherished stuffed animal, Cat, that he sleeps with every night. It was honestly pretty special watching him happily carry it around the Great Green Room.

The other display that really needs to be mentioned revolves around one of the kids’ longtime favorite books, “Last Stop on Market Street”. In this story, CJ and his Nana leave Sunday church and hop on a bus to go serve at the local soup kitchen. This display actually had us inside a simulated bus complete with stops and jerks as the story played out on the bus windows in front of us. There were even statues of Nana and other bus patrons that helped bring the story to life. I even got the opportunity to play the bus driver, Mr. Dennis, and you’d better believe that I proudly slipped on the accompanying coat and hat.

After we finished our bus ride, we told the kids to pick a few of their favorite exhibits that they wanted to see again before we headed home. With that, Ellie and Ethan began weaving their way back through the rabbit’s burrow, the fire station, the Great Green Room, and a few others. Sometimes, it can be a little hard to tell how much Ellie and Ethan enjoyed an experience. However, the fact that Ellie absolutely was crestfallen to leave at the end of the afternoon meant that she had definitely enjoyed this experience. Fortunately, The Rabbit Hole has plans to continue to expand and add new exhibits all of the time so I’m sure there will be another visit in our future down the road.

#DaddyWrite

Obviously, I missed the memo that it was blue shirt day in House Holt.

Day 1,795 - The Last Day of Summer

It’s finally here. The last day of summer. Tomorrow, Ellie and Ethan will begin third grade and kindergarten respectively. It’s honestly going to take a little getting used to for them to be back at school. That being said, they’re both excited and maybe a little nervous. The important thing for today though was to make sure that I helped give them a good last day of summer.

Last week, Ellie created a short list of things that she wanted to do before school began. There wasn’t a ton on it to begin with and we’ve been systematically checking things off. One thing that remained though was a trip to The Rush Funplex. Honestly, with all of our other fun activities that we’ve been filling our days with, we haven’t been to Rush much this summer. No worries though as we can go plenty of times once the weather turns cold.

There was one thing that we had to do this morning before we could head to Rush though. We needed to pack a lunch so that we could go have lunch with Bethany. As Mondays are generally one of her slower days in the office, it was the perfect opportunity for the three of us to go join Bethany for lunch. Therefore, I packed a lunch of chicken nuggets for the kids, a sandwich for myself, some apples, some carrots, and cookies for dessert for us to enjoy at lunchtime.

Before lunchtime though, it was time to head to Rush. We started off our time there in the bowling alley where Ellie and Ethan engaged in some fun arcade like games as they bowled. From there, we wandered over to the giant foam pit where the two siblings took turns flying off the trapeze into the blocks of foam. Our last event for the day consisted of laser tag. Lucky for us, the attendant was super nice and let me strap on a vest so that I could play with the kids even though I hadn’t paid for entry. If I’m being serious, laser tag had to be one of my highlights of the day. I loved sneaking around the course and trying to shoot other players while simultaneously putting myself in position for Ellie and Ethan to fire at me. Easier said than done if I’m being serious.

After Rush, we headed over to Legends to meet Bethany for lunch at DFA. While there was nothing big or special about our time there, it was just fun to watch the kids loving on their mom while telling her all of their stories about the morning. They also were able to get some big glasses of chocolate milk to enjoy as well which made them fairly happy. Unfortunately, we could only stay with Bethany for an hour and then it was time to come home.

As for our afternoon, it was fairly non-eventful. All we really did was spend a little time playing outside, watched a little TV, and made a quick trip to CVS to pick up some pictures. While nothing about it was super exciting, most of those things were what the kids wanted to do and I was not going to deny them the opportunity to choose what to do with the waning days of their summer vacation.

All in all, I would have to say that this has been a fun summer. It’s been super busy and feels like it has gone way too fast but it’s been fun. It’s interesting to see how much I’ve hyped this summer up in my mind. I feel like I’ve run myself ragged trying to make it a special one for both kids but especially for Ethan. With this being his last summer before school begins, I wanted it to be full of good memories. The weird thing is that with all of the build up that has been going on in my head for the last month, it feels like our summer ended on a rather tame note instead of going out with a bang.

However, now it’s time to shift gears and get ready for school to start. I’m excited to see what the year brings forth for both Ellie and Ethan. I know there’s a combination of nerves and excitement that exists in both of them. However, I believe without a shadow of a doubt that it’s going to be a great school year. for them!

As for me, I really don't know. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon enough.

#DaddyWrite

This is the look of a tired boy anxious awaiting whatever is coming next.

Day 1,793 - Find an Adult (and Go to the Zoo)!

Before Bethany and I had kids, our schedule was a lot more open. I’d say it’s that way for most people though. One way that we filled our time each week was by serving with the Wednesday night programs at our church. Bethany with the younger kids and me with the teenagers. Over the course of several years, I developed pretty close bonds with quite a few of the kids. Many of those relationships continue to exist well into adulthood for them which is cool to see.

I bring this up because I once had a parent comment to me just how important it was for kids to have someone in my stage of life (i.e. an adult who wasn’t a parent of a student) helping with the youth ministry. According to her, something about being an adult but not a parent makes one automatically cool. While I didn’t necessarily believe that at the time, now that I have kids, I see it and I appreciate it. While they aren’t yet teenagers like the kids I was working with, my kids already have someone like that in their life and I love to see it.

On Thursday, there were two agenda items for the day. Agenda item number one was to go to the Zoo and have a great day. Agenda item number two was to go to Back to School Night at Fox Hill and meet the kids’ teachers. If you ask me which of those two things the kids will remember longer though, it’d have to be our trip to the Zoo. I say that because our friend, Emily, was along for the trip. We first met Emily when Ellie was around two years old when she was part of the college student life group we led at the time. Since then, Emily and Bethany have met together weekly to talk about life and how God is working in them. It’s been cool to watch happen and see how their relationship has grown over the past five or six years.

Our original plan for this Thursday trip to the Zoo was actually to go to Worlds of Fun with Emily. However, I’m a scrub and had no idea that WOF closed for the season on Monday due to workers starting back to school. Lucky for us, the Zoo was deemed a worthy replacement to our plans for the day. Emily arrived at our house around 8:50 am and we all loaded up in the Traverse and headed to the Zoo.

There’s not a ton of specific animal-based moments that stand out about our trip to the Zoo (unless you count Charlie the gorilla happily picking his nose and eating his boogers). What does stand out though is watching Ellie and Ethan excitedly sharing their lives with their friend, Emily. They talked about school, vacation, games, TV shows, church, and everything else in between. What I like though is that it’s not just the kids talking at Emily. She’s actively engaged in asking questions too and wanting to know all about what they’re thinking.

It's obvious that as a young adult, I didn’t see the importance in having a young adult taking an interest in a kid’s life. I probably assumed that there were parents and grandparents around to do just that. However, now I see first-hand how much something like that means to Ellie and Ethan with their relationship with Emily and I just want to take a minute to highlight it as a really cool thing.

And yes, knowing Emily, she’s going to be totally embarrassed about me calling attention to it, too! All the more reason to do so, right?

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,792 - Eye Exams Aced and Ice Cream Overflowing

I'm the type of person that sometimes builds up things to be really big deals in my head. For example, this last week before school starts, I want to make sure that I'm giving the kids fun memories that will hang with them for a while. The fact of the matter is that both Ellie and Ethan are young and therefore likely won't remember a lot of particular things or events from this stage of life. What I do think they'll remember though is the three of us having fun together, even if all we're doing is working in the kitchen like we did Wednesday morning.

The beginning of our day was based around one thing though and it decidedly was not working in the kitchen. Instead, it was taking Ethan to the eye doctor for an eye exam before he starts school next week. I realized most people visit the eye doctor because they're struggling to see. For Ethan though, we were just trying to get a benchmark on his eyes prior to beginning school. Not a bad idea when you realize that Bethany, Ellie, and I all require some degree of corrective lenses.

Like the great big sister that she is, Ellie helped keep Ethan entertained by playing hand games with him while waiting for the eye doctor.

One thing that I must say is that it's always fun to watch someone Ethan's size sit up in the big chair at the eye doctor while looking so tiny. For the record though, he was feeling pretty proud of himself to be sitting in it. Once his exam began, he pretty much knocked it out of the park. He did everything he was asked to do with zero complaints and followed directions to the letter. By the time his appointment was all said and done, we had confirmed that Ethan has 20-20 vision and needs no corrective lenses at this point in time. While that likely won't last, I'm certainly happy for him that that is the case for the time being.

After we finished up at the eye doctor, we had to make a quick stop at Aldi before we could go home. Why you may ask? Simple, we needed to pick up the ingredients to make some homemade ice cream just like I had promised the kids we would. After picking up some half and half, some whipping cream, and some eggs, we were on our way home.

Once we made it home, I invited the kids to join me in the kitchen to start the process. Putting a big pot on the stove to mix our ingredients in, I helped the kids measure out each thing individually so that they could add it to the pot before we mixed it all together. While Ellie and Ethan sometimes bicker during times like this, both kids did a great job working together and taking turns. Before we knew it, they had mixed all of the ingredients together over a hot stove and it was time to place our cream mixture in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to cool down.

Two hours later, it was time to start mixing the ice cream. I carefully poured the mixture into the freezer and then let Ellie and Ethan put the mixing tool and the cover into place. With that, Ethan hit the on button and the mixer started spinning. While the ice cream churned away, it was time for us to get our toppings ready. Getting out the food processor, Ellie and Ethan took turns unwrapping Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and dropping them into the processor where they were obviously chopped into tiny pieces.

Fast forward about twenty minutes and it was time to add our toppings to the ice cream. While I carefully scraped the pulverized pieces out of the food processor, Ellie and Ethan took turns dumping handfuls of Reese's Pieces candy into the churn. Finally, we had all of our toppings added and it was time to step away and let the mixer churn.

Here's where I share an important life lesson with you. Never take the recipe card for gospel when making homemade ice cream. Even if it says 45 minutes to churn, one should probably check it after 30 or so. As it so happens, I had left the churn going for too long and the ice cream actually overflowed out of it and created a melted, sticky mess all over our counter. I'd be lying if I said that it didn't take quite a while to clean up.

Later that night after a dinner lovingly prepared by Ellie (with a little help from me), it was time to taste our ice cream. Despite the messy conditions created by our churn escapades, the ice cream tasted fantastic. Not only did it taste great, but the kids were absolutely elated to have played such a big part in making it. It's just like I said; making ice cream was a relatively unexciting thing but it will likely help create a memory of us having fun together. That's not a bad thing at all if I do say so myself.

#DaddyWrite