Hannibal, MO Boyhood Home of Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens)

We decided to take a drive up to Hannibal, MO to see where the infamous Mark Twain lived as a boy. It was a beautiful and scenic drive. We pulled into this historic town on the banks of the Mighty Mississippi and fell in love with it's charm. As always I researched and planned our visit so our first stop was at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home Museum. It's collection of buildings that are open for tours including Mark's home, Huckleberry Finn's home, Becky's home, and several more sites from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. We had a grand time exploring and peering into the past and what inspired such a great author. All that walking made us hungry so we pulled into the Mark Twain Dinette where we had house made root beer, a Maid Rite sandwich, and hot dogs for the girls. We were reenergized so we decided to make the 244 step trek up to the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse. While the lighthouse was closed we passed a pretty little park where the old Mark Twain Memorial Bridge was located and had a great view of the river. By that time we were all tuckered out and barely made it back to the Jeep as our legs were like jello after all those stairs! On our way out we pulled into Lover's Leap and read about the legend of two young Indian lovers who leapt to their death here in a Romeo and Juliet type ending. It was a site to see and thankfully there was fencing installed so we could safely view the incredible scenery from atop the mountain. Sprawling views of the great river and the tiny town that looked so small from us being up so high took my breath away. It was a marvelous end to our day time getaway!

http://www.hannibalparks.org/parks/mark-twain-memorial-lighthouse/
http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/index.php/visitor-information
http://marktwaindinette.com
http://visithannibal.com/index.php?lang=en

Update...

It's been about two and a half years since my last post, wow! So much has happened since then and I'm about to get busy with some new adventures! This past July we relocated to St Louis, MO for my hubby to take a promotion. It was a hard transition leaving a place we loved dearly and letting go of dreams we had for our life there. It took several months before I was willing to accept our new location but thankfully we found a great school for our girls, an awesome church, and we bought a house which has made it feel a little more like "home". I've been exploring the area, trying new coffee shops, and discovering great antique and thrift stores. You must try the Lavender Mocha at The Mud House, it's delish!

My next adventure takes place at EarthDance Farms and I'm happy to be their newest Freshman Farmie! I'm starting their apprenticeship next week and it'll run through September. I'll be taking classes and going on field trips to other local farms on Tuesday evenings and I'll be working my farm shifts on the weekend. I'm so grateful my hubby supports me and has agreed to sacrifice our Saturdays to take care of the girls so I can learn to be an organic farmer. I'll get a weekly box of produce from the farm and so I'll be sharing some farm to table recipes during the next several months. This is a bit of a dream come true for me since I've been longing to learn how to garden and I've been so overwhelmed with the many methods there are and not really knowing where to begin. I'm hoping I develop a vivid and brilliant green thumb so I can produce fresh food for our family and learn to live off the land. I can already taste my first farm fresh salad filled with homegrown veggies, yum!

Stay updated with our family here and on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/myadventuresinwanderland

Blessings!

Weston Applefest and Weston Bend State Park

I love fall and everything there is to do during this season! There are so many fall festivals and we decided to visit the Weston Applefest. Weston is a beautiful place to visit and we are no strangers to this area. We had a major Google Maps fail and it took us way out to the boonies, yikes! Thankfully neither adult lost their head and we simply turned around and headed back towards downtown. Hubby dropped the girls and I off right next to the entrance and went to park. Picasso, Princess Tiger Lily, and I headed to the kid's area in the park. There were pony rides, face painting, games, pumpkin decorating and so much more. The girls played on the playground and Hubby found his way back to us. We headed towards the vendors and found ourselves in the food court area. Fresh made corn dogs, bbq, kettle corn, tacos, root beer, and more tantalizing treats teased our sniffers and made our mouths water. Hubby thought it was a good idea to get a snack to share and wait until we were going to leave to buy anything else. After we chomped on a brat we made our way through the crowd and into the main craft vendor area. The girls both brought some spending money they had and purposed to spend it here. They each bought a necklace; Picasso's had a soccer ball on it and Princess TL's had a butterfly. I found my favorite candle maker's booth (5 B candles) and almost gave myself a headache smelling all the wonderful scents they offered. I settled on a frosted spruce, ginger pumpkin streusel, green apple, and a cake batter votive. Their candles have such a strong yet clean fragrance that lasts for a very long time. Meanwhile Hubby took the girls down the street and came upon a young girl whittling wooden tops. Both girls were amazed at her crafty skills and used the last of their money to buy one of her tops. We listened to the folk band that was playing and finished browsing the booths. As we walked back to the food court we bought some cinnamon sugared pecans and found the infamous Weston Apple Dumpling cart so of course we had to get a couple. Man oh man were they good!! We left the festival satisfied and ready to make a quick stop at the Weston Bend State Park. There's an overlook with a gorgeous view of a river and thankfully there was a photographer there who snapped a family pic for us with the amazing scenery in the background. We took in all the beautiful surroundings and soaked in the quiet stillness, grateful that we get to partake of such beauty that God created for our pleasure. It satisfies my soul to be in nature and draws me closer to the Lord viewing and appreciating His creation. We left the overlook and stopped at the old Tobacco Barn. Even though the interior is pretty much just storage at this point and the only original parts left are the walls it still smells strongly of tobacco. We found some kind of green grasshopper (I think) and Hubby put it on a stick for the girls to observe. They loved looking at it and we returned it to it's wall when it was time for us to leave. We had a wonderful day together and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to get out and make memories with my beautiful family!!

Abundant Life Baptist Church FREE Kids Carnival, Lee's Summit, MO

Let me just say that I am so very glad I made the effort to take my girls to this. It was the best, THE BEST, completely FREE, kid's carnival I have been to! From the time we parked and entered the "fair grounds" we were catered to. They handed us a packet with their church info and a map laying out all the booths and rides available for our enjoyment. Thankfully we arrived right when it started so it wasn't that crowded and we were able to jump around on some bounce houses and get some grub without waiting in long lines. We started with nachos, cotton candy, and drinks (all free). Then we played some more and Picasso and Princess Tiger Lily each got tatted up and had their faces painted. We walked around and waited for the train which every time would leave the "station" Princess TL would cry, "No, come back" with real tears pouring out. I suppose she didn't realize it just made circles and always came back ha! We ate hot dogs and popcorn and played at least a dozen carnie games and the girls each won prizes to all of them. Picasso kept exclaiming, "This is the best day ever!" We waited in the very long line for the swing ride and picked one more bounce house to go in. We also played a few more games and the last one was the dunk tank. Picasso actually dunked the kid on the second try! This was the icing on the cake! I have to give major kudos to this church for the crazy amazing organization and awesome volunteers. Everyone was pleasant and helpful and their heart to serve the community showed in a major way. I am going to put this in my calendar for next year so we don't miss this treasure! What a wonderful day we had!

Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska

Ok, I have heard about this place for several years and just haven't made the 3 hour trek up there. It's really quite simple, it's literally straight up Hwy 71/29 the entire way there. We decided to drive up Saturday evening and stay overnight so we would have the maximum amount of time before we had to head back home. The drive was smooth, the hotel was clean, and we all slept well ready for our fun day at what tripadvisor.com has labeled to be the best zoo in the U.S. Well, seeing this advertised had my standards set pretty high. We arrived and it was a gorgeous day! The weather was beautiful, it was sunny but breezy, and there was plenty of shade for when it did get a little warm. We paid our admission and I purchased tickets for the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit as well. We made our way through the Mutual of Omaha Exploration Station and saw so many snakes, spiders, amphibians, and other little creatures. The girls kept squealing as they moved from habitat to habitat seeing the creepy crawly critters. We saw the Lied Jungle and were amazed at the beautiful rainforest like atmosphere, it really felt like we were in a different world. There were all sorts of monkeys in the trees and Daddy took the girls over a rope bridge which Picasso didn't care for at all. We went into this huge Desert Dome and saw so many types of cactus and thorny bushes, then we made our way down into the Kingdoms of the Night. It was like we walked into a cave, there were nocturnal animals including bats, owls, and a night time swamp area complete with alligators, eek! Oh wait, I grew up seeing gators lounging in the sun on the bank of the lakes, these didn't scare me ; ) I had read about the amazing Scott Aquarium and was so happy walk through the underwater world. We viewed sharks and jellyfish, sea turtles and starfish, stingrays and the largest crabs I've ever seen with their legs spanning at least 4 ft across. The Butterfly and Insect Pavilion was awesome and we saw so many beautiful butterflies! On our way out we were treated to see a whole section dedicated to real cocoons in each different stage. There were even a few butterflies that had recently emerged fluttering around. We walked through a time portal and were transported to the Jurassic age with the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit. There were over a dozen animatronic dinos and the girls were in awe at how big some of them were. Thankfully we made it out alive and decided it was time for a late lunch. We ate hot dogs and grilled burgers at the Omaha Steaks outdoor cafe and since ice cream cones were $1 for Labor Day weekend we got one on the way out. We were there for 6 hours and still didn't see everything. It is definitely worth the drive and we will absolutely go back at some point and see the few exhibits we didn't get to this time around. I highly recommend making the trip north to visit Omaha!