Hannibal, MO--Mark Twain's Boyhood Home (and tasty Dinette)

The other day we spent the afternoon in what can only be called, super-cute Hannibal, MO.

In reality it was home and heart to Samuel Clemens, the writer Mark Twain.  Fictionally, it was the basis for Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher and Huck Finn and all the gang.  It's a cute tourist town with some sweet historical elements and on Thursday nights in the Summer they have concerts under the stars.  We watched a lovely blue-grass concert on the mall outside the Mark Twain Boyhood Home.

After a tour of the Mark Twain Boyhood home and the other historic buildings that make up the museum, the Fun Finding Family had dinner at the Mark Twain Dinette, home of the GIANT ROTATING ROOTBEER SIGN (insert monster-truck voice).  The Mark Twain Dinette inspired the Bug-man to compose a list of requirements for a dining establishment:  1. Homemade root beer 2.  Rotating sign  3. "Yummy food."  A fine list and not too much to ask.  Apparently the Mark Twain Dinette lived up to all three in his mind--he was particularly impressed by the tower of onion rings.

It was a lovely Summer outing--a little educational, a little kitschy and a lot of relaxing, down time for the family to share.

Fun in the Country

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.


It's 9:00 am and so far this morning I've snuggled with my guys, made coffee & fixed bagels, done some bird-watching, oh yeah, and played with some chickens!  I know that it will soon be nearly 100 degrees, but right now it's cool and bright and the dew is still on the grass.  What a beautiful morning in the country.

We are profoundly lucky to have the opportunity to house-sit/camp/squat at some friends house this week.  We get a week of free camping out in the country with the added benefit of a house-full of amenities.  They get cat and chicken sitting.  I'm pretty sure we got the better end of the deal.  And we are deeply grateful.

Signing off now to go read on the porch or commune with the chickens or play down at the pond.   Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Home on the Range

Free Range Parenting.  It's a better name than what I used to call us:  Play-in-traffic parents.  Both Papa K & I have always felt comfortable letting the Bugman widely explore his world and push the envelope.  Now I know not everyone is comfortable with that style of parenting for themselves, and that's OK by me.  But I love allowing Bugman as much independence as possible.  Everyone has their own threshold, ours is just a little further out in traffic so to speak.
Today, for the second time, the Bugman rode his bike five blocks over to the local donut shop and bought us breakfast.  After picking out the donuts and making change, he strapped his bag to his back and proudly returned with snacks for us all.  He is so proud of his adventure.   I'm proud of him and us, as parents, and our wonderful neighborhood.  He gets to have a special relationship with the local shopkeepers.  He learns, in a safe neighborhood and on relatively calm streets, how to navigate the world.  I want him to know in his bones that even though bad things do happen, the world is generally safe and wonderful.  And the donuts are out there waiting for him.

Having Fun Planning for Fun

I'm usually the travel agent in our family.  I'm usually the one who figures out the best route & the options for lodging & how we can afford our adventures & all the crazy fun along the way.  Recently that has changed and I'm a little thrown off by the whole thing.

My husband has wanted to go to Yellowstone forever and several months ago he decided that we were going to go this fall.   I told him that if he could pitch it to me and prove that we could afford it, I was game.  So pitch and plan he did. I'm totally convinced and really psyched!  He's got a great schedule and really cool campgrounds, but it's just weird that I'm not the one bringing HIM the info and asking for opinions.  It's usually the other way around.  But with the heavy lifting of budget and route and schedule and lodging out of the way, I'm free to scour the travel books and internet for fun activities to slot into the itinerary.    I love research.  The planning and preparing for our adventures is such a big part of them for me.  I truly have as much fun planning as actually doing.  I just love knowing what's out there in the world.  And as usual, I'm struck by how much there is that looks fun and how little time we'll have.  Never enough time.

Now back to my part of the planning.