Emily's birthday

     Most of these photos have to do with Emily's birthday in one way or another so we'll just go with that for a title (always the hardest part of the blogpost!). She turned 7 on the 6th of November and reminded us daily for at least a month before. Our children always look forward to their birthday date with Eldon. Emily took it up a notch and even chose what clothes Eldon should wear 😂.

She chose Applebee's, because she wanted wings.

     The campground has 6-7 full-timers here right now but other then that it's fairly empty until Friday night hits. We were delighted to have the Tressel family (we met at the Balloon Fiesta 2018 and spent a lot of time together earlier this year) spend nearly a month here while working out the technicalities of a new job and move to PA. The children have ridden miles and miles on their bikes around our loop! It's been such a blessing to have them here.

Playing circus.

Emily's birthday party

She wanted a fruit platter so......

Presents are so exciting!

In addition to this, she got money from both grandma's and a Bible case from us. Also, a beautiful angel figurine and toys for our cat from friends in Montana.

Putting that cupcake maker to good use!

She did such a good job!

Sunday afternoon walk.

Time for a break.

Ethan has suddenly started playing doll again - so cute!

Birthday flowers from daddy-after the pink roses died.

Mrs. Tressel spent 30 minutes curling her hair one day, just for fun. It was so cute but only lasted a little while.

A swinging bridge in town. Slightly scary!

We were fascinated by these Hedge Apples.

Imagine that falling on your head!

The Wichita Falls of Wichita Falls, TX.

A common scene these days. We're working hard to finish 3rd and 5th grade by New Year's so we can swap out Teacher's Guides from our storage shed before we move to the next place.

We're on a coloring kick these days. I love it!

     We recently learned about dental colleges and their wonderful rates if you are willing to let a student work on you. Makayla and I went for a cleaning and it was so worth it! $40 for both of us and they did a fabulous job. They took their time but not once did I want to punch them in the face for jabbing me with a metal tool. Makayla was more excited than I expected her to be when we met up in the waiting room afterwards. The dentist had asked her what book she was reading then proceeded to take it and find the name Richard Cox. "That's my tenth great-grandpa that was the tutor of Elizabeth I." She was pretty happy about that encounter!

The book!

     Our weather has been gorgeous - most days in the 60's. But there was that one week that it dipped below freezing for 5 nights and stayed that low for 24 hours. All y'all from Montana are laughing right now but I don't care :). All that to say, we love the library here (except that they limit us to 15 books only) and can spend hours there. I even broke my no computer rule one day.

Emily was fascinated with paintshop.

     A huge advantage of neighbors is the ability to swap childcare. Eldon and I have LOVED the chance to go out once a week with no guilt at all that we are infringing on the babysitter. I'm more than happy to take my turn because our children really do entertain themselves (mostly). Most of the time we run all over town getting groceries and other necessary errands. We've had time to go on long walks and even go to a coffee house. It's so fun again!

Hook & Ladder Coffee is in a fire station that was established in 1887.

Last but not least, Eldon's birthday cake!

Guardians of Freedom Airshow

     Wichita Falls, TX is home to Sheppard Air Force Base, the largest and most diverse training base in Air Education and Training Command. We've gotten used to the frequent sight of fighter jets circling low in the sky and have come to anticipate the dull roar. 

     We were happy to attend their open house and airshow a few weeks ago. The children did get a little bored watching all day but after the Thunderbirds they all agreed it was well worth it.

A drone .

    Several planes and helicopters were on display and we were able to go inside and explore. The Airmen were all so kind to the children and offered all kinds of information.

Taking over the cockpit.

These planes are so huge!

Inside a helicopter. 

     Much to our surprise, the bouncy houses were all free so we spent time in that section. The children loved the theme!

Big Bertha

The NASA blow-up was a huge slide!

Michael bouncing high.

There was lots and lots of jumpers.

Sky writers

Emily playing with the airplane an Airman gave her.

The Jelly Belly Plane was the comedy part of the show and he did a fantastic job! He landed his plane of the roof of his truck then took off again.

The B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber was cool. 

It was almost to loud for Ethan, even with headphones!

The Jelly Belly plans making us laugh again. They had Airmen passing out free Jelly Bellies to everyone so that was cool!

And the Thunderbirds! 

I don't have many good shots because they were so fast but mostly because I was to fascinated to take more!

The noise was incredible!

In some of their fly-bys, wing tips were only 18 inches apart.

Dedicated to family members of military members.

All 6 Thunderbirds together.

     So yes, we had a good day and all learned new things about planes, helicopters, and the military. Michael and Makayla were impressed by how many jumps the jumpers had - a few had over 500 to their name!

Museum of North Texas History

     It's really neat how many towns have a museum chock-full of local history. Even more amazing is how admission is often donation based. This has quickly become one of our favorite things to check out wherever we are. So one cold and windy day, we went into town and visited the Museum of North Texas History. 

     The Heritage Hall featured the cowboy/rancher life and held one of our favorite exhibits. It is home for an amazing collection of western hats known as "Nat’s Hats." Clay County native Nat Fleming was owner and operator for more than 50 years of a western wear store called The Cow Lot. When a customer bought a new hat, Nat kept the old one and then put it on display in the store. When he finally closed the store he donated those 500+ hats to the Museum. Each hat is identified with the owner's name and each certainly had character! All were stained and most were filthy, but we sure do wish they could talk!

Nat's Hats

A scale model of the town -many, many years ago!

The Native American Collection was huge.

    The medical displays are always of particular interest to Eldon. This is the first time we'd seen an "iron lung" the machine that breathed for those who had Polio. Several stories were on display of patients who lived for years like this - 1 lady for 60 years! We're thankful for advancements in medicine that have put the iron lung out of work.

Imagine your child having to live in here?!

Emily loves to check out all things girly!

It makes one feel old when a museum has toys on display that they've played with!

     Wichita Falls has a large air force base so several rooms were dedicated to local war hero's and many items they donated. Most impressive to us were the Navy vessels on display. The detail was stunning!

So many tiny pieces!

     We will have to go back since the model train exhibit was closed for Christmas decorating. We did see a glimpse as we walk past and I'm positive it will be well worth the wait!