As some of you already know, we spent our fourth of July weekend in rural Missouri visiting KR’s aunt, uncle and cousins. When we told our local New England friends where we were going for vacation, they usually looked a little baffled for a minute then asked, Do you have family there or something? I kind of got the feeling that nobody around here thinks Missouri is an exotic location for a family vacation... Anyway, with that in mind I thought I would do a little blog post for my fellow Midwestern challenged friends as to why visiting a farm in the Midwest is most definitely an exciting, and exotic destination. It’s a long post, but trust me, once you get through it, you’ll be all but packing your bags to head out to the glorious mid west for a farm vacation of your own.
Top ten reasons why our trip to Missouri was awesome:
1. The Local Flavor. When KR told me he was going bullfrog hunting with his brother and cousins, I laughed because I thought it was a joke. Unfortunately he didn’t laugh, because, to him it wasn’t a joke. Once he had me convinced he really was going to wade around in the muck shooting at oversized slimy frogs I got all huffy and told him I thought it was just wrong to go around killing animals for the fun of it, and that hunting should be reserved for animals you’re actually going to eat. Apparently I’m slow, and don’t think like a real Missouri girl, because if I did I certainly would have known that eating said creatures was naturally the end result of the great frog hunting expedition. Of course they were…

These five were the ones who did all of the shooting. Way to go guys! Talk about bringing home the bacon, or, um, amphibian.

Wonderkid, our in-house carnivore, loved eating the frog legs. Note the bare bone sticking out of her left hand in this next picture, I don’t even know what to say...
I didn't have quite as much enthusiasm, but you can't say I didn't try.
2. Mud. No trip to the country is really complete without a tour of the muddy back roads, especially if said tour involves driving over creeks and hills that seem totally impassable. It’s even better if you have to be pulled out by a tractor:

3. Fireworks. I’ve never seen quite so many firework stands in one area; apparently in rural Missouri they’re kind of a big deal. KR’s 12 year old brother was in heaven:

Ahh yes, a boy and his blackcats…
Our girls loved the sparklers:

KR had fun with the sparklers too, except his were just a tad bit more explosive. I was a little baffled when he went to pack his protective glasses for our trip, but that was before I had witnessed his cousins’ annual Roman candle war. I was a little surprised Roman Candles were even sold anymore; I thought they had been outlawed because they blew peoples’ hands up or something. Once again, I obviously don’t think like a Missouri girl, because everyone around those parts knows Roman Candles still exist, and everyone knows their sole purpose is for shooting people. Do you think KR might have been a tad bit excited?
All of this was just a warm up for the spectacular fireworks display KR’s aunt an uncle has every year at their farm. I think theirs was better than the fireworks show our city puts on every year, it was seriously impressive.
4. The Lake. My ocean loving girls have almost no experience swimming in lakes, and before we decided to spend an afternoon at a local lake they had no idea that all bodies of water aren’t lined with a layer of comfy sand. They almost started crying when they walked into the water and stepped into mud because they honestly thought they had stepped in poo. One day I might have to apologize for laughing so hard, but I couldn’t help myself, it really was funny. It took them a few minutes to adjust but they quickly learned how to step lightly and stay in the deeper water.
KR’s cousin took us out on his boat for a little fishing trip. I caught a huge bass, but it slipped out of my hands before anyone else could see it…


(when the boat went fast, the little dog had a difficult time seeing).
5. Hay bales and country roads, you just don't get enough of either around these parts. I took this picture while driving around KR's cousin's property:

6. Babies. KR’s cousins all live within a few miles of each other and they all have young children and babies. There was always a cute baby for us to fawn over.
7. Cool dogs, especially the sheep dog variety.

This particular dog would take a herd of goats into the barn for the night, and then will lead them back across the yard, through a fence and into the pasture in the morning without even being told to do it, seriously. He also sleeps with the goats to ward off all night predators. I know my fascination totally made me look like a city slicker, but I always thought these dogs needed a human around to issue the commands. I keep wondering why anyone hasn’t bread a kid dog yet; think of how nice it would be to have a dog get your kids up in the morning, then chase them into the shower. It could also stand guard when they tried to sneak into the kitchen at night. I could easily get an extra 30 minutes of sleep a day, and I wouldn’t even have to pay anyone for the extra work, it would be awesome.

Speaking of dogs, check out this yellow lab just waiting for Wonderkid to drop that turtle. I get that same look in my eyes when I get around chocolate.
8. Critters, critters, and more critters. One of KR’s cousins lives on a fish hatchery farm. We were able to hang around while they collected some of the minnows and crawdads:

We also had fun catching fireflies, frogs, and lizards, and collecting chicken eggs from the barn:


The chickens were the girls’ favorites.
9. Sonic. I love going to sonic, it’s one of my favorite places to visit in Oklahoma, but unfortunately they don’t have any restaurants in New England. I’m not a big fan of their food, but they have the best drinks and slushes ever. My favorites are the diet cherry limeade slush, and the diet cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper; the girls prefer the ocean water slush. Unfortunately my kids have blue mouths in about half of the pictures we took while in Missouri.

10 Family. Before this trip we hadn’t seen most of these family members for 8 years, and the girls had no idea they had so many fun cousins. We were also able to spend some time bonding with KR’s parents and grandma.


It’s always sad to say goodbye, especially when we live so far from most of our family members, but I’m grateful to have so many wonderful people in our lives and that our girls are able to feel that sense of belonging and connectedness despite the miles of separation. Thanks for a great reunion guys!