On Wednesday, March 13th we headed to Sioux City, Iowa for an interview at Wheelock and Bursick Dental Office. We arrived late at night and when we walked into our hotel room this is what we found...
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| Welcome package from the dental office. |
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| Emily was happy to get presents |
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| Christopher was happy too! |
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| Nathanial was happy even though it looks like he is indifferent. |
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| Emily discovered that she could climb out of the pack-n-play and thought it was fun to lay with the boys :) |
On Thursday, Ryan headed to the office to work with Dr. Wheelock while the kids and I discovered what Sioux City had to offer.
One of the first things we saw was the
Sergeant Charles Floyd monument. He was the only member of the Louis and Clark Expedition that did not survive. He is believed to have died from appendicitis.
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| The kids in front of the monument |
After the monument we headed over to the office for lunch. They ordered Chick-Fil-A it was good. They showed me around the office and I was able to meet almost all of the staff (which I really liked).
After lunch we headed over to the Art Museum
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| I had to take a picture of the work done by a 4th grader of Lebron James (he is still a "hot" topic in Cleveland) |
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| I really liked this wolf carved from painted basswood by Darlene Burson |
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| Blown-glass sculpture |
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| I really enjoy looking at black and white drawings, it is amazing the details that can come from various shades. |
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| The kids thought that this "horse" was turning into a "cow" |
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| My 3 kiddos |
In the art museum they have a kids room where the kids can play with various art mediums and just have fun...
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| This house is made out of the Lego Duplo block base boards so the kids can put blocks every where. |
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| These are a variety of building blocks to build with. |
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| This is a big magnetic board that covers almost an entire wall and has all these black shapes for kids to make things out of, this is what I did. |
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| They also have a big white board...Emily was in heaven! |
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| Emily's creation |
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| Nathanial wrote all his friends' names: Nathanial, Christopher, Luke, Lily, Gabby, Kara, Ryan, Anela, Wyate (Wyatt), Ragan (Reagan), Ashlen (Ashlyn), and Emily. |
That night Dr. and Mrs. Wheelock's son and daughter-in-law came to the hotel with their son Leo to watch our kids so we could go out to dinner with Dr. and Mrs. Wheelock and Dr. and Mrs. Bursick. We went to a really nice restaurant across the Missouri in Nebraska called Kahill's. They serve steak and seafood. It reminded me of the Sandpiper. It was really nice to have an adult only meal and I felt completely safe leaving my kids with a stranger :)
The next morning Ryan went back to the office to work with Dr. Bursick. While Ryan was at the office I took the kids on another adventure in Sioux City. This time we went to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Last May, when Ryan and CJ and the boys were on their float trip, LeNell and I took Christopher and the girls to one there in Great Falls. There are things that I like about both but I have to say that the one in Sioux City was a little more engaging for my boys. They had to go on the journey. They first received a travel log/journal and they chose who they were going to be while on the trip (Lewis, Clark, hunter, trapper, boatman,...) and then at each exhibit they had to get a stamp in their books to see what happens to them. It was really fun for them.
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| "Seaman" a Newfoundland dog that helped Lewis and Clark during their expedition. |
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| Robotic Lewis and Clark telling about Sergeant Floyd and his burial |
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| rattlesnake |
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| Sacajawea |
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| playing outside |
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| Lewis, Clark, and Seaman statue |
Next to the Lewis and Clark center is an old tug boat that was turned into a museum...
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| Captain Nathanial |
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| Captain Christopher (he needs to grow just a little |
While we were at the tug boat museum in the captain's quarters the kids were able to ring the tug boat bell. They thought it was pretty neat.
After that we headed over to the Sioux City Museum...
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| Old gas pump |
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| old car |
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| This was Nathanial's favorite, the "old" firetruck |
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| Emily was so excited to see these animals she could hardly hold still. |
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| buggy |
There was a dinosaur fossil digging area in back for the kids to play in. I thought it was the best idea EVER, it isn't sand it is rubber pellets, so much easier to get off of kids than sand!
After the museum we headed to pick Ryan up from the office and headed to lunch with the Wheelock's. They had two of their grandsons, Leo (3), Jack (6) with them, along with Dr. Wheelock's mother and sister. Nathanial and Jack became good buddies and Leo had a crush on Emily :) The best part of lunch was that it was Mexican and it was good too!
After lunch I took Ryan back to the office and the kids and I went to the Nature Center
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| Emily and Seaman |
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| The kids and Seaman |
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| Turtles and snakes (Emily was in heaven) |
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| fish |
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| This snake was by far Emily's favorite, she kept coming back saying, "nake, nake" with a huge grin on her face. |
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| This wind exhibit was showing how wind shapes the landscape over time |
After we finished as the nature center I took the kids back to the hotel for a swim. When Ryan came back for the day we headed to a Sioux City Musketeers hockey game. We met up with the Wheelock and Bursick families. It was really fun, none of us had ever gone to a hockey game before.
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| Our family |
It was a great visit to Sioux City and we are happy to announce that this is where we will be moving to after graduation!
