A Little Something Light

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Well, instead of expounding about election results, I'm going to keep it light and fun today and bless you with a regaling of our trip to Springfield. The fun started with FOOD, of course, because we love trying fun new things as a family. There is a really fun restaurant, called Rodizios, if I remember correctly, which has Brazilian cuisine. In the evenings, they have all-you-can-eat almost everything! You start with soup and bread, then you get to go through the 'cold bar' which has all sorts of interesting new tastes to tempt the palate. They had sushi, calamari salad, shrimp, various bean, pasta, and vegetable salads, salami and corn salad. . .you get the idea. Destry even tried crawfish! He said it wasn't too bad, but there wasn't much meat in there! And here is Alan's plate from the cold bar. When you finish with the cold bar, they bring sweet potato fries (YUM!), red potatoes and pasta, then they start bringing the meats. Lots, and lots of meat!! Parmesan crusted chicken, garlic steak, roast, lamb chop, bacon-wrapped filet. . .the list goes on, up to 15 different meats!! Gaylene, did you call and tell them to throw on extra 'dogs' because Alan was coming?! He had to try every single one! We practically rolled out of there, but it sure was fun. Our big 'homeschooling field trip' of the week was to Wilson's Creek, site of a battle during the first year of the Civil War for the control of Missouri. (Both older children, ironically, have read 'Rifles for Watie' in the last couple months--Destry read it through, then immediately started over because he liked it so much!) This was FASCINATING and I highly recommend it. My kids (well the older ones, at least) couldn't get enough of it! We went through the nearby Civil War museum and looked at the exhibits, watched the movie, etc. on site the first day. This was a really neat exhibit, using fiber optics, to show the progression and locations of the troops during the battle. The kids were enthralled, and had to read every single word of every exhibit. I, on the other hand, was busy keeping a one-year-old and a two-year-old quiet and coralled while Daddy was in meetings. Why did I have to raise them to be such history buffs so *I* would miss out on reading everything! They spent so much time, we had to call it a day and come back the next day. The good news: Alan's meetings were cancelled for the afternoon, so he got to come with us (read: help take care of the little ones so I could learn, too)! The second part of the exhibit involved driving around the actual site, which has been preserved as a national battlefield. There were stops along the way, such as at the Ray house, where the owner of the farm sat on his front porch and watched the battle taking place in his corn field!! We also did lots of walking down various trails to see some of the sites. It was a GORGEOUS day, and we couldn't have enjoyed it more. I never could have done it without Alan! The fall colors were so beautiful, we got just a little camera happy! I love this picture, and just wish Destry was in the background, as well. And here is the lone picture of me that Daddy snapped (can you tell who takes 99.9% of the pictures?!). That's an awfully cute little girl, anyway! Kiana's favorite 'toy' of the day was a stick. Easton's favorite 'toy' was the little New Testament we bought at an outlet bookstore. He carried it with him constantly, had to sleep with it, and held it as he lay on the coffee table watching Dora the Explorer in the motel room. There could be a lot worse things!