We flew to Cincinnati on July 4th and arrived to rain and temps in the high 50's. They'd broken a new record for the "lowest high" temperature on Independence Day. Across the Midwest, towns and large municipalities simply canceled all celebrations, including fireworks shows. We drove into a subdivision near our hotel and watched neighborhood fireworks. Every cul-de-sac was alight with major artillery, the kind that's illegal back in Seattle. It was pouring rain but we had a good time regardless.
Here are the girls in our hotel near the airport. K chose to read each night, and A kept a journal during the trip. Since we arrived in Kentucky late in the evening, we stayed in a hotel before starting our drive to Indianapolis the next morning.
When we're in the Midwest we stop as often as we can at Sonic Drive-ins, getting real fruit slushes. The girls love how the carhops come out to our car on rollerskates.
One thing we're always in awe of is how large things are in the Midwest. Houses, lawns, SUV's, people... everything seems Walmart-sized. We stayed with my cousin's 75 year old mother-in-law, in a subdivision of mega homes on half acre+ lots. Her $150,000. house would cost over a million in the Seattle area. I kept fantasizing about the garden I could have if I had a half acre of flat backyard!
Whenever I travel I love to meet people and learn how they live. Here, the vegetable garden of the elderly parents of my aunt's housekeeper. I'll use any "friend-of-a-friend-of-a-cousin-of-an-acquaintance" kind of connection to get a tour of a stranger's garden!
Here's a house in downtown Kokomo, Indiana. It's an older home on a city lot, but the owner has built a beautiful stone wall, and lattice fence and arbor, and lushly landscaped along the sidewalk. The stunning hanging baskets are two of hundreds gracing every lamppost in downtown Kokomo. Even though the unempoyment rate there has hit 20% thanks to the collapse of the US auto industry (several auto parts plants are located in Kokomo), home gardens and parks continue to shine.
It was a hot, muggy evening when I drove by this firehouse and noticed the firemen sitting in a circle around the base of the flagpole, shooting the breeze.
There are many Amish communities in Indiana, and I always love seeing the buggies out and about. We don't have any Amish out West where we live, so it's a novelty the girls enjoy observing as well.
We usually visit an Amish family that my Aunt and Uncle know, but I'm never really comfortable taking photos while we're there, since they don't appreciate being photographed. I took this one on the sly, from the car as we were leaving. It was the Sabbath and this little girl saw my little girls in our car and wanted to come outside, but was not allowed.
This was an Amish family we saw in Peru, Indiana. The girls had a lot of questions about the Amish life, and I answered them as best I could. I admire their simple living, close communities, non-violence, strong family values, and of course their amazing vegetable gardens! I'm too artistic, too in love with my camera and the internet, to ever be Amish myself, but I appreciate many of their ways. I've had a taste of communal living, and I recognize the benefits a strong community can provide for your emotional and spiritual happiness.
While in Indiana we always visit Conner Prairie, a fantastic hands-on living-history museum with historical houses and educators dressed in period costume and engaged in activities from the Pioneer days. The girls are at the perfect age for this and enjoy interacting with the people and learning all about churning butter, weaving, quilting, cooking, carving, and more. We spent the entire day there, leaving when the place closed for the night and we were told to leave.
A helping to prepare a meal in the kitchen of an 1880's house.
At the general store.
In the one-room school house.
Playing an old-fashioned game.
Another must-see is the world's largest children's museum in downtown Indianapolis. It has 400,000 square feet of exhibits! Like Conner Prairie, we spend the entire day there, from opening to closing, and we still can't see it all.
They had a wonderful exhibit about children who had faced extreme adversity in life, and inspired change. The three children profiled brought up some sensitive issues, shameful parts of history that I've only just begun to expain to the girls. The exhibit did an excellent job of presenting these injustices in a non-threatening and thoughtful manner.
This is a replica of where Anne Frank lived, and inside was a screen with film footage of the war, explaining in simple terms a very complicated time. All around were hands-on activities and questions that asked kids to consider what they might have done, felt, or thought if they were alive at that time in history. This was the first time my girls had heard of WWII and the Nazis.
This is a replica of Ruby Bridges' classroom. Again, you could go inside and watch a short film about the times, as well as explore many hands-on displays. Both girls had heard of Ruby Bridges, knew her story, and knew of the civil rights movement, but this made it even more real for them.
Finally, here is a replica of Ryan White's home in Indiana in the 1980's, when he was denied the right to go to school because he had AIDS. Inside his bedroom was recreated, with many of his favorite toys and clothes and posters. And then, a special surprise...
Here the girls are sitting with Ryan's sister and mother, live and in person! They live in Florida now, but were visiting Indiana that week and decided that day to sit in the exhibit to answer questions. I couldn't believe how strong these women were, to sit surrounded by Ryan's personal effects, and deal with a curious public (like me). While we were there an actor hired by the museum performed, pretending to be Ryan as a teen, and describing the hate crimes and injustice he endured. It brought tears to my eyes, and I couldn't imagine sitting in a replica of my own dead child's bedroom, hearing an actor recreate the pain and suffering. Most of the kids visiting the museum had never heard of Ryan White, but their parents remembered. This part of the exhibit dealt not with a health issue, but more about anti-bullying, and not letting rumors outweigh facts.
The "Power of Children" exhibit was by far our favorite, and we spent over an hour taking it all in. If you'd like to know more, click here and follow the link to "virtual tour." The website gives excellent tools for discussing the holocaust, civil rights, and discrimination.
On to other parts of the museum... the dinosaur dig is still a favorite!
Many exhibits had tunnels so you could crawl into the exhibit and pop up in different places for a closer view.
Can you see Little K inside one of the model train exhibits?
In addition to the King Tut exhibit, which was geared more toward adults, there was an exhibit on modern day Egypt.
Again, lots of hands-on activities for kids
Museum staff actors depicted a ceremony of welcoming a new baby into the community.
There's also a fantastic Chihuly glass exhibit (also hands on, of course), but this piece is the most impressive in the collection. It's 5 stories tall. I did mention that this children's museum is the largest in the world, didn't I?
There's even a carousel!
Well, that's all for part 1. I have much more to share, but it will have to be in another post. Stay tuned!
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