On our drive home from lovely Colorado, we decided to spend one day seeing the sights. Leaving dear friends behind is always a hard thing to do, so we ended up leaving later than originally planned. We stopped in Topeka the first day we were on the road, and then decided to go to the Kansas History Museum on Wednesday. We spent about four hours in there, and if you're ever passing through, we highly recommend you visit there! I can safely say that we could have spent the entire day there and still not have felt that we had seen it all! So, without further ado, I present to you some pictures from our day's excursion...

All of the McDonald children aboard the train in the indoor play area. I mean, we are still children, right?

Dale Evans and Roy Rogers wannabes.

They were really hoping the horse would come off it's stand and help them win the horse race. It happened in Mary Poppins, didn't it?

A cowboy in plaid shorts...now that's something I've never seen before!

Aren't they just too cute? *smile* I just love my parents...

My, what big eyes you have...

Awww...look at the ham holding the piggies! :)

He likes buffalo. I think I want one as a pet. If only I could find a place to buy one...

She's a hard worker, honestly!

My thoughts are worth more than a penny. So sorry. :)

So long! Farewell! Auf Wiedersehen! Goodbye...wait, the train is leaving without me...

"No! Stop! Don't do it, Caleb!!"

Oh, Starbucks is a nice addition, Mom. Not sure how I could have missed that neon sign out there with all the other shops... :)

This is definitely not something she should be in the habit of doing.

Well, you see, the oxen joined the choir invisible, so we put our strapping young men down there. Caleb looks thrilled.

Some of the McDonald children at McDonald's.

Decisions, decisions...which way should we go?

No lions, and tigers and bears, oh, my...it looks like a ghost is aboard the train!

Eeeek! And another one!

*happy sigh* It looks like we've found a new home...should be cozy and rather chummy inside, don't you think?

During our stay in lovely Colorado, Mr. Chapa took us on a private tour of the Air Force Academy. We had a wonderful visit there and were able to see many things that people don't usually get to see when they tour the grounds. Afterwards, we took a quick drive through the Garden of the Gods and made a few stops for pictures. I'd love to write pages on both places we visited, but time doesn't allow for that right now, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Mr. Chapa and Dad in front of the Air Force Academy

Dad decided that Abby and I needed a picture in front of the Air Force Academy. :)
(Photo Credit: Dad)

Funny sign in one of the test rooms.

Jessica and her...hat? :)

The amazing "Hush Room."

The dent in the wall of a wind tunnel where a test object almost came through. I can't believe how black it is from so many people touching it. Purell anyone? :)

A funny sign in a classroom.

The gorgeous chapel.

Lt. Colonel Chapa and the plane he flew.

The organ in the chapel.

The group...notice the reflection in the floor.

Rolling down Liberty Hill, I think.

The Sisters in front of the plane and the chapel.
Photo Credit: Abigail

Beautiful Pike's Peak. Dad and the boys were able to go to the top one day.

"Helping" to get the girls out. :)

Dad and the Little Man.

Jess, William and I on the rocks.
Photo Credit: Dad

The Sisters at the gate.
Photo Credit: Dad

Part two of the trip comes soon!

The plan was to leave at 5:00 a.m...okay, so 4 a.m. was the original time we were hoping to be gone, but we decided 5 would be better. As usual, we didn't make it out as planned, but we did leave at 6:00. :) Food was packed for the entire trip to eliminate extra stops. Did it work? Well, no, not really...but we never ran out of gas! The trip was uneventful, except for one thing...

As we neared the Kansas/Colorado border we stopped, again. In the foot mart, antique store, gas station thing, I overheard an elderly couple talking about how they had just come from the Denver direction and had to pull over because of a tornado. I checked the weather on the handy-dandy iPhone, and sure enough, Colby, Kansas was under a tornado warning, and Denver under a Tornado watch! Where were we headed, you might ask? Oh, we were going towards the Denver area...no big deal, right? Well, we pitied Jeremy for not being with us, made sure the camera was charged and ready, buckled seat belts, and hit the road! While spotting a tornado would've proved for some fun photo opportunities, we were very thankful we made it through without having to deal with them. But, we did get some pictures I thought y'all might enjoy, especially Jeremy the storm-chaser-wanna-be... :) I hate to rub it in, but I promised to update frequently, and these are the most prominent pictures from our trip so far. :) So, enjoy!

I think he looks happy to be out of the car. Photo credit goes to Melissa.

Poor, Mel, she looks tired.

My wonderful, darling parents in Kansas...cute, huh? :)

A family shot at the rest area.

Mel having fun with the camera.

After driving all across Kansas, we found a Starbucks in a little town with only two exits!

And conveniently located just around the corner, was the above. We seem to run into them right after y'all, leave, Hectors! :)

Do you know what that is? Why, it's a storm chaser! Photo credit goes once again, to my sidekick storm chaser, Melissa. :)

Driving into the storm...check out the dark clouds on the left.

In the middle of it and to the right...

...and this was to the left of us.

*sighs of relief* Driving out of the storm.

And lastly, is a picture of the lovely sunset we saw just before we arrived at our destination!