Travelog for: MiniMarshmallow

Today's adventure involved playing with baby hedgehogs! They are so prickly, but adorable

Host mom's project today was to make 2 pairs of blue slippers, to go with the cosplay costumes she is making. They turned out to be adorable!

Today host mom took us to Chanute to run some errands. She stopped to show us the lovely, historic down town area. The yellow brick building called the Tioga Hotel has a wooden elevator much like the one featured in the old movie The Shining, but we didn't have time to go in and look at that part.

I was so excited to be on vacation with my host family, at Broken Arrow Ranch in north central Kansas. We are here for a week of family camp, with about a dozen other families. The first thing we did when we arrived was unpack and make ourselves at home in the cabin.  Next, we spent some time playing in the recreation area. In the evening, we enjoyed a campfire service on a bluff overlooking the Tuttle Creek Reservoir. Sunset was stunningly gorgeous!

On the second day of vacation, we started the day with a worship service in the Green Cathedral. Then, went to the beach. Later, we enjoyed an outdoor cooking lesson where we made foil-wrapped packets with olive oil, white potatoes, sweet potatoes,  yellow and red bell pepper, onion,  fri-chik (vegetarian meat substitute), sage, salt, and pepper, that we roasted on a fire.

We celebrated the Fourth of July (American Independence Day) with an All-American (though, all vegetarian) luncheon. In the afternoon we had another cooking with Travis lesson, and learned to make baked cinnamon apples on a camp fire. In the evening, we had a campfire worship service that was followed by fireworks over the beach!

The host family started the day with ziplining, but we didn't get to go because host mom was afraid she'd lose us. After that was a yummy lunch with veggie burgers. Then host mom took a picture of the view from the cabin on the way back to take a nap after lunch. After our nap we went to play in the recreation room

On our last day of camp, they brought us breakfast in bed... a basket full of cereal, milk, orange juice, and fresh, hot scones! It was a great way to end a wonderful week. After that we packed up, and we stopped to take a look at the tall grass prairie and the Flint Hills at a vista just outside of Broken Arrow Ranch.

The day after we got back from family camp, host mom took one of her sons to summer camp at Hidden Haven. Just outside the camp, she stopped along the road to show us the black-eyed susan flowers that were growing along the road. They are one of the many forms of sunflower that grow in Kansas.

We joined in the festivities at the Mad Bomber Run (a community event celebrating a piece of local history) by helping the middle and high school band booster club run carnival booths.

We had fun helping to get ready for the Sabbath potluck at church. There were so many fun people and so much delicious food that I had a fabulous time. We got to look at the To Save A Life movie kit that host mom shared with the church elders and got approval to show it at church and do a discussion group with teens this fall.

We got to go to a wedding! Host mom has been friends with the bride's mom for over a decade, and got to watch her grow from a little girl into a young woman. She was such a beautiful bride, with a country style wedding.

I was one of a few special TVs that the host family took on a bus trip to Wichita to see the Drums Across Kansas drum corps competition. We rode on a school bus with other local band kids (and a few parents) to the Cessna Stadium. We got there a little early so we got to wander around and see the bands practicing. Then we went into the stadium to see the show, which was was beyond amazing!!!!

We took a trip to Springfield, Missouri to go on a ghost hunt with the Paranormal Task Force! We stayed at the University Plaza Hotel, which has a reputation for being haunted, and visited the Pythian Castle for the ghost hunt. We didn't experience anything unusual, but it was interesting to explore anyway.

After an exciting night of ghost hunting, we stopped at the beautiful Precious Moments Chapel on the way home. Host mom said she has traveled to many places in the world, and this is one of the most peaceful places she has found.