Random Picture Extravaganza!

I'm not lugging my computer to Buffalo tomorrow, so I just want to get a lot of these random iPhone pictures up on the blog before I forget.  We've had a lot of fun this summer and here's the proof:

Fourth of July

Better late than never!  Dan and Ben had a BLAST (pun intended) on the Fourth of July.  Two years ago, we moved into our house in Leavenworth on July 3rd, so we didn't do anything except unpack for the 4th.  Last year, we had just arrived in California, so again, we didn't do much.  Plus, all fireworks (even sparklers) are illegal in California because of the drought and wildfire risk, so Dan and Ben have never really experienced fireworks.  This year, we changed all that!

We went to a local fireworks stand and bought $20 worth of fun to light off in the driveway.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much we could buy for $20.  Between our small fireworks and our neighbors giant (and probably illegal) ones, we had quite a show on the cul-de-sac.

Sedgwick Co Zoo

The day after our trip to the Cosmosphere, we stayed closer to home and hit the zoo on Thursday.  Dan and Ben always love a day at the zoo and even Hannah is starting to pay attention more to the animals.  She's not a huge fan of dogs or cats, but she seems to understand that the zoo animals are behind a glass wall or a fence, so she can trust them.

It was a perfect day, weather-wise, especially for July in Kansas.  We had a great time, walking around and seeing everything.  Aunt refused to go in the snake house, but Dan and Ben told her all about it so she wouldn't feel left out.  How considerate of them!

Kansas Cosmosphere

We moved from Hutchinson to Wichita in the summer between 8th and 9th grade.  Hutchinson is the home of the Kansas Cosmosphere, an awesome space museum where I went at least once a year for school field trips and more often than that just to see IMAX movies (before every movie theater had an IMAX).  Dan and Ben are really into astronauts and spaceships and planets, so I knew they would love the Cosmosphere just as much as I used to.

And I was right!  My dad and Unc and I took the boys last week and they were really interested in a lot of the exhibits, especially the lunar module, the rover, an actual moon rock, and lots of other things.  Their favorite thing, by far, was the space toilet and the explanation of how astronauts go to the bathroom.  (Which happened to be my favorite thing as a kid too.  The apple doesn't far too fall from the tree.)