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!

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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.

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