Mmmmmmmm in Jefferson City

Or, "What's wrong with a banana split for lunch?"



Really, we did it. We don't do it often, so I'm OK with it. We had ice cream for lunch. We'd heard the serving sizes at Central Dairy are RIDICULOUS, so we arrived with an empty stomach! I mean look at the banana split monster on the table in front of me. Jason and I split it. We chose coffee, strawberry cheesecake and moose track ice cream scoops and traditional toppings. Amelia wanted a "strawberry shortcake" (i.e., cheesecake) sundae with chocolate sauce. Nate opted for a scoop of peppermint ice cream in a traditional cone. YUMMO!

It was a Jefferson City road trip today--our first trip down to the capital (about 45 minutes from Columbia) since moving to Missouri. We've been meaning to get down to the Runge Nature Center in Jeff City for a little over a year now. We met a few of the enthusiastic staff members and volunteers at one of Columbia's Family Fun Festivals our first week in Missouri. We finally made it to one of the hour-long Little Acorn children's events.

Amelia wanted to sit on the turtle and even posed for this photo on the way into the center. However, she got a painful surprise on the way out! After three hours in the August sun, the turtle was too hot to handle! Ouch! Painful lesson on heat conduction....CHECK.

Today's theme at the Runge was "Fish is Fish and That is That." Hmmmm, I don't know anyone in our family who would LOVE a lesson about fish! ;) There was an introduction to fish (what makes them special, habitat, what they eat, etc.); story time ("Fish is Fish" by Leo Leonni); and three centers--science exploration (minnows and nets at a water table), a craft (Japanese fish prints), and a game (a fishing pond and identification game). With the treasure hunt on the trail (we were looking for a 5-lined skink) and the Missouri wildlife habitat exhibit, we stayed for about 3 hours. We look forward to going back soon.



My friend Christi took a photo of this same sign hanging inside the Runge center. Her fb quote sums up what I feel when I read it, "I hope we can expose our children to many things so they can learn, understand, love, conserve and be good stewards of the earth God has given us." If there is one place where God's wonder is evident, it's nature.

Here are the kiddos, following the clues on the Nature Trail to find the skink and its keeper. This was a juvenile skink, so it had a brilliant blue tail!

The exploration stations:

"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder without any such gift from the fairies, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in."
--Rachel Carson, naturalist, writer, environmentalist

And finally, as we drove out of town, we decided to explore swing by the capitol building to get a quick peek of the downtown area (it's not a giant metropolitan area after all). It looked liked a very popular main street. We'll plan to eat lunch downtown next time we come (unless we chose to eat ice cream again)! As we drove by the capitol, we noticed a koi pond in the park between the capitol and the governor's mansion. The kids heard koi pond and it was over. They wanted to go explore some more. We ran around the little park and splashed our feet in the pond for almost 30 minutes before packing up for the drive home.




We all managed to stay awake for the drive home, listening to the last part of "The Magic Tree House: Blizzard in a Blue Moon" on CD. However, the entire house took a long nap after we arrived home--including a certain six-year-old who repeatedly told us that he wasn't tired and didn't need naps.
(See below.)

"No Cavities!"

Back-to-school dental appointments for the kiddos today!

Nate was complimented several times on his brushing and flossing. I guess the Delta Dental Tooth Wizard that came to speak at Nate's school this spring had some impact! He's been very diligent in his plaque-fighting efforts ever since. ("Mom, I need more floss; I'm out!" "No, it's not time for my book yet, I haven't rinsed!" "Are my teeth shiny?")

As Dr. Scott was complimenting Nate on his teeth, he pipes up, "And I have big muscles, too. See!" Now imagine a lanky six-year-old reclined in the dentist's chair, wearing the too-big-for-his-face black plastic sunglasses to protect his eyes, very sincerely flexing his biceps for the female dentist and her female assistant. Then he continues in his matter-of-fact tone, "My muscles are even bigger than my Uncle Jeff''s." The whole office was cracking up!

Amelia had her very first visit today and did great. She had her teeth polished with a "tickle toothbrush" with birthday cake-flavored toothpaste and flossed with "silly string." She just couldn't get the second x-ray tab to sit in her little mouth without gagging. We'll try again next time. Ms. Meghan said Amelia had great teeth, too. Dr. Scott liked all the space between her teeth. ;)

They left with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, floss sticks and two tokens to the GIANT PRIZE MACHINE in the lobby...a big hit with the kiddos! "Keep up the good work!" was their parting report.