We made it to Kansas on Monday. We stopped for the night in Abilene. Before heading to Junction City and Ft. Riley for the day, we spent all morning in Abilene doing a little sightseeing. We went to a little museum in Old Abilene Town and the kids LOVED it. There was a lot of history there and it was so interesting going through it and teaching the kids about the Wild West. We also got to enjoy some of the old buildings in Abilene and got to go through a cabin and see what life was like in the mid 1800's. One of the best things was the very old carousel that the kids got to ride on. It wasn't a replica, but a restored original carousel that was built in 1901. This very carousel used to travel from town to town on a horse drawn wagon. It was an amazing experience for the kids to ride on this carousel. Wow, the history there was great and the kids talked about it the rest of the afternoon.
After we left Abilene, we went through Junction City and I got to take the kids by my old elementary school where I went to Kindergarten. We also showed them around the town that I spent so much time in as a child. We even went out to Grandma's old stone house and had the chance to go on the property and look around since there is a business there. I couldn't believe how all of the original buildings are still there. It was a little surreal looking at the old house that I have some of the best memories of my life from. We walked inside the old boat store that ironically is a boat store again. When the older lady inside asked if she could help me, I told her that I was just looking around and that my family once owned this property and I grew up here. She gave me a funny look and asked me my name. When I told her that it was Roberson, she got so excited to talk to me. She is still the same person that bought this property from Grandma all those years ago. She also was Grandma and Grandpa's loan officer way back from when they first started that business. She went on and on about how special my Grandpa was and how much she adored my Grandma. We talked for a very long time and she told me to tell my Grandma that she sends her love. It was really a wonderful moment to get to talk to her and listen to her talk so fondly about my family.
After we were done in JC, we went through Ft. Riley. This is where Rob was stationed in the Army when we met. We had so many memories there from that summer we met and we wanted to go back on Post and look around. We were a little disappointed to see that so much had changed on Post that we really didn't recognize anything. It's hard to deal with change sometimes.
When we were done with our sightseeing, we headed East to Kansas City. The kids were very excited to see Gram and she was just as excited to see us. We have been enjoying our visit with her and the rest of my family here. We went by Uncle David's shoes store today and loaded up on some shoes. After lunch, we went to this amazing place called Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead. This place was incredible!!! You could go around and learn about and interact with farm animals. They also had a great playground, this neat little tractor racing area where the kids could ride on pedal-driven tractors. They got to ride a pony, too. It was so much fun!
Ethan and Emily got to experience lightening bugs for the first time. Emily got so excited when she saw one. She said, "Oh my goodness!!! I have read about them in books and I can't believe I get to see them." She and Ethan were running around the yard all evening tonight while catching these bugs.
Tomorrow we are going to Worlds of Fun. I haven't been there since I was a kid. Grandma used to take us there when we were little, but it has been so many years since I have been back. The kids are very excited to be going there tomorrow. And this is one of the places where we have the free tickets to because of Ethan's wish.
Despite all of the fun we are having, Ethan did tell me tonight that he is missing home. I told him we could skip going to Worlds of Fun and could head home early, but he was having none of that. Ha-ha! So, I guess we'll stick with our regular plans. We will go to WOF tomorrow, visit one more day with Gram and everybody else, and then we are heading out on Saturday. We will then start to head South and work our way back home. We are planning on stopping at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO on the way home. After that we will have a very long drive and then be home. This has been an amazing trip for us and we have really created some wonderful memories. The kids will have so much to talk about for a very long time.
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