Dallas County Book Depository Museum, 6th Floor and Downtown Dallas

The 6th Floor Book Depository Museum was a very moving place.  A place that seems to still allow one to feel the shock, the sadness and the heartache the entire country felt when their President was shot.  

After looking at the sights outside, we went inside the museum.  

We happened to pick to go on a very busy day to the museum so inside was a long line so Isabelle, Madelyn and I stood off to the side and the girls played.

Once inside the  museum, they gave us phones with head phones that  guided us on a  tour through the book depository.  Gabriel was in heaven because he had a phone he could have for the whole  time we were there.  Prior to attending I had made the the boys do research and write a PowerPoint presentation on what they had learned about President Kennedy and what happened in Texas. I think they learned a lot and then by the time we got to the museum they were interested in reading more since they had a basic understanding of the day. 

Even Madelyn was interested as you can see!

While the museum was  full all  the kids found the information to be interesting.  Isabelle had a lot of questions.  

One of my favorite places in the museum is the corner that is still left the same way it was when the shots rang out.   As you look into the corner and the window that is still open, it is almost like walking back into history.    

The kids looking out at the view that Kennedy's  motorcade traveled.

The window to the far left is the window that Oswald used and it is still open.  

Here are some of my favorite photos from the museum...

This is a  note that Jack Ruby wrote to his attorney during his trial.  There are so many interesting artifacts there, we could have spent hours more than we did.  

Handwritten note Jack Ruby wrote to his attorney after shooting Lee Harvey Oswald.  

A replicate of the route the President's motorcade took and the two strings show the first and second shots and where they hit the president.

This was an interesting board that talked about when the authorities came through the  building after the shooting, they found Lee Harvey Oswald hiding in the cafeteria on the  2nd floor, pretending he belonged there.  

I remember touring the museum when I was in 6th grade when my family took a trip to Texas.  It was powerful for me and  I'll always remember thinking how the country must have felt.  This time going with our kids was powerful too.  It made me wonder what they were thinking and what perspective they were taking with them. 

These pictures were really neat too,  as they are made up of super tiny photos of each other... for Jackie Kennedy, close up there are tiny pictures of JFK and visa versa. 

Isn't she getting to look like a little kid instead of a toddler?  My goodness the time is going by so quickly.

Afterward we walked back through the outdoor memorial as I think they had a different perspective.

On our way back to the car we ended up stopping at a court house near Daley plaza where dad had a court case.  It was neat to see where he had his case. 

This is one of my favorite photos from our trip.  It is a classic family photo of us... Isabelle is mad because of something, Gabriel is moody and too cool to smile, Michael's willing to take our photo and Madelyn is happy because she just got candy. 

Downtown Dallas has so many neat things  to see.  Here's one of the first cabins of settlers in the Dallas area. 

Another view of the courthouse Dad  has had trial at before. 

As our first day  in Dallas was half way over, we decided to leave downtown and head to check in at  our hotel.  On our way we saw the Hyatt hotel that has the Reunion Tower.  Going up in this tower to see the views of the city was on our agenda for a different day. 

So much  fun  in Texas was already had but there was so much to see.  Next up--- our first  impressions of  the Gaylord Texan.... a great Texas  BBQ and shopping at the biggest Bass Pro Shop ever!

Until next time,
Angie

Going to Texas!

Ten days ago we set out for our summer family vacation to Texas, specifically Whitney and Dallas.  We left on Saturday afternoon, after the boys' swim meet and broke the trip up into 2 days.  The first night we made it to El Paso and the second day we finished the drive into the community of Whitney where my aunt and uncle Barb and Darold live. Here are a few photos of our first part of our trip.  

Dad drove the entire trip.  The whole way there and back.  It was really nice of him to do that for us.

Here's the rest of us.  Just getting started... we all still smiling.  Let's just capture this moment for a while, as it didn't last the whole way.

The scenery was really pretty and we taught  Isabelle about dust devils.  

With  a family of 6 driving is so much cheaper.  And for the most part the kids do a great job.  I must say though we would never make it without the DVD player in the van.  Thank goodness for technology.  Jarrett and I commented we have no idea how our parents ever took us on family vacations when we were kids.

The first night when we got to El Paso we reserved a 2- queen room and I brought sleeping bags for the girls to sleep in on the floor.  When we finally arrived at 10:30 that night, all tired and cranky, we walked into the room to see that there was 2 beds, but they were only fulls.  Gabriel insisted he sleep in a bed and Michael refused to sleep with his "stinky" brother.  Isabelle refused to sleep on the floor and Madelyn always insists on sleeping with Jarrett and I.  Need I go into more details, but the short version is... Jarrett, Madelyn, Isabelle and I slept in one full bed, Michael slept on the floor and Gabriel enjoyed an entire full bed of his own.  At least one of the six of us slept well. 

Jarrett vowed we would never have such a sleepless night if we could help it.  Next time he was going to take charge of the reservation process.  I was demoted. 

The next morning, Isabelle and Madelyn were excited to get on our way again.

And there's Gabriel talking about how much room he had in his bed.  Meanwhile Michael is hanging off the side of the bed and standing on the floor in  the little space he slept in on the  ground.

Soon enough we were back in  the car and Madelyn needed to be entertained.  Thankfully we packed a backpack of some toys to keep her busy

I moved in  the second row to better handle all the requests of the family and we moved Gabriel to the front seat.  Michael and Isabelle surprisingly got along pretty well in the back seat together.

Dad kept driving.

Isabelle was all smiles so excited to be going on vacation

Michael too!

I surprised the kids every few hundred miles with a small  surprise.  Here's Michael getting ready to open his toy.

Isabelle got a LOL surprise doll and was super pumped it was a gold one.  I have no idea  what it means.  She loved it until she realized it wasn't built correctly and then thought it wasn't as cool!

I just tried to tell her that her doll was VERY flexible and extra special.  

She didn't buy it.

After watching TV for 6 hours Madelyn decided she was hungry or bored, not sure which so she started chewing on her feet. 

Around dinner time we finally arrived to Darold and Barbs beautiful new home.  They had their grandsons there and were celebrating Dane's birthday.   

The kids had a lot of fun playing with the boys. 


And Darold had fun teasing Madelyn. 

They were wrestling before bed.

The next day we got to go with them to the lake near their home and go on their boat.  It was so much fun to play along the beach and then wade in the water. 

Barb and Darold had gotten a tube to pull  behind the boat and the kids had a BLAST!!!!

The girls loved the water

And Barb helped Madelyn and Isabelle build a sand castle.

After we spent the day at the lake and at their home, Darold gave us a tour of their town while Barb taught Michael how to drive their 4-wheeler.  Michael was in HEAVEN!

Here's a view of the lake at sun set near their house.  Beautiful is an understatement. 

The next day after breakfast we got packed up and started  our journey toward Dallas. 

Darold and Barb were such amazing hosts, so thoughtful, made us incredibly yummy food and treated us like royalty.  We are   so grateful for their hospitality.  

On our way to Dallas we passed through some beautiful small towns and the fact that it was close to July 4th, most of them were decorated with red, white and blue.  They were exactly what you picture when you think of America. 

 Such a pretty courthouse. 

And  here is the main street of small town America in Texas.  We were really close to Waco, where Chip and Joanna Gains live, but we didn't make it to there this trip. 

After about an hour of driving we finally made it to  the outer edges of Dallas.  The kids were excited for part 2 of our trip to begin, although they all said, part 1 with Darold and Barb was so good, they didn't think part 2 could ever compare.

We drove straight to downtown  Dallas and were headed to the 6th Floor Book depository, the museum known as the place where Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy.

Here's a view of one of the buildings looking straight up.

And here is Daley Plaze and the x on the  street marks the place where  the  first shot hit  President Kennedy.

It's  such a surreal place... prior to our trip I made the boys do a  research project on President Kennedy and write a report and prepare a PowerPoint presentation about his presidency and what happened in Dallas.  While they moaned and complained about it, and told me  they were the only kids in the whole world who had to do a research project in the summer, I think they were thankful they had done the research.  It made the experience and visit much more real for them and they were very interested in understanding more of the details.  To our surprise, even Isabelle found it all interesting.  

After we walked around the area we entered the museum for the tour. 

It was really interesting and that is where I'll pick up next time. 

Until then,

Angie

Another ER Visit: Baseball to the head.

Three weeks ago we had a fluke Saturday when it rained and the weather was cool (like 75 degrees).  It was glorious.  After I spent most of the day working  I felt guilty for  not spending more time with the kids so around 5 pm I yelled for the kids to join me outside to play.  Dad who had been working most of the day had just left for an evening obligation  so I though it playing outside would be a nice way to end the day.

As we got outside the  boys immediately started playing baseball,  Isabelle was riding  her scooter and Madelyn was playing by me.  The  boys went  to throw the ball from one end of the street to the other and I told them not to throw the ball.  "Gabriel, don't throw it that  far, you'll hit something or someone."  Of course Gabriel told me so how silly I was to think such a thing and that of course nothing would happen.  Three more times I yelled for him down the street to just walk it back and not to throw  it.  

I'm sure you can tell where this is going.  Just like you see the  movies, as I shouted for the 4th  time, "Don't throw that ball!" he threw the ball.  Michael who was in the street near Madelyn and me reached up to catch it with his glove.  He missed it and the ball bounced in the middle of the street and then came with full force and a direct hit, right to Madelyn's head- hitting her smack dab in the middle of her head.  It hit her with so much force that  she fell backwards but because I was so close I was able to catch her before she hit the ground.  I immediately screamed and threw my phone which was in my hand, scooped her up and ran to get inside the house.  By this time she was screaming like the worst thing in the world had just happened to hear.  I started yelling at the boys... 

This is Exactly why I said don't throw the  ball!  They felt back you could tell as they knew they were in trouble and immediately as obedient as could be.  I screamed for them to call dad.  They got dad on the phone and handed the phone to me.  I was worked up with seeing what had happened, Madelyn was screaming and I'm sure he was having a hard time hearing what I was trying to tell him.  Finally I got it out and told him he needed to come back home.  I needed his help.  

I hung up with him on the phone and called our emergency pediatrician number.  They told me they'd call back as soon as possible.  As dad was pulling into the driveway Madelyn was still screaming, I tried to give her a drink of water and do anything to get  the screaming to stop.  I knew she had to be in  pain. Dad pulled in and we both made the decision we needed to go to the ER.  The way the ball had hit her, she had to have a concussion.  So Dad got back in his car to head back downtown and the  4 kiddos and I made a trip to the ER.  The entire ride there Madelyn was crying, and I was lecturing to the boys that they need to listen to me, that  they may think they know better, but they don't and  that this is exactly why I told them not to throw it.  

As we pulled into the ER we walked in and I told the big kids I needed them to be on their best behavior.  They all three went and sat down.  I could tell Michael was praying and I knew Gabriel was well aware he had made a BIG mistake.  Isabelle sat quietly, they knew Mom couldn't take much more.

The triage person looked at Madelyn, took her vitals and they said we will take you back right away.  

The four kids and I followed the nurse back to the room and we explained again what had happened.  By this time Madelyn had quieted down but was not asking like her normal self.  She's continued to burst into tears and her forehead was deep red.  

They assessed her, then a physician came in and said they were concerned that because she wasn't acting like herself they wanted to keep her longer and observe her.  They decided to give her some pain medicine to see if that's the reason why she  was so out of sorts.  

Within 20 minutes of giving her medicine I was able to see a  change in how she was acting.  They said if she didn't respond to the pain meds by returning to her  normal behavior they would do a CT scan and admit her to stay overnight for observation.  They said no matter what she had sustain a concussion and that she'd need to be watched for the next few days.

Thankfully she returned to herself relatively quickly and decided she was  hungry.  They all were, it happened just as I was making dinner and we hadn't eaten since lunch so by 7:45 in  the ER all of the kids were whining they were SO HUNGRY, they were going to keel over.  

By this point, what I can only describe as a crazy coincidence happened when I had gotten a call who I thought was from Mrs. Stacey.  I couldn't take the call because it happened in the midst of the craziness of getting  to  the  ER, but I texted her when I had a minute and said, "Sorry can't talk... in the ER"  Moments later she texted back and asked me if we needed help.  I said, "I think we'll be okay," knowing spending the evening in the  ER with 4 kids was less than ideal.  When the doctor told me we'd be there for some hours so they could observe her, I decided to text her back and say, "Can I take you up on your offer?"  She  willingly came and grabbed the big kids, took them to McDonalds (to their joy) and then took them home to tuck them into bed.  

One of the  nice nurses got the okay from the doctor it was okay Madelyn have some juice and some crackers.  Three juice boxes and 4 cracker packs later, Madelyn had made a great friend in the nurse and knew herself where  to find the rations.  She may have gone and helped herself. 

After enough time had passed  and the doctor was confident there was no skull fracture, and that she was acting normal, we were allowed to be released.  I  was thankful and just wanted to get home.  What a way to end the day.

Even though it was super late as we walked out Madelyn decided she needed to wear her shades.  I told her that her bruise was still visible but she didn't seem to believe me. :-)

In fact as we walked out she decided to pick her nose. I think she was trying to make a distraction and draw attention to something other than the red and blue bruise on her forehead. :-)

When Madelyn and I finally returned home, Aunt Stacey had been waiting for us.  We sat at the table and talked about how we need to get together more often and that's when she said, "Angie, you know I never called you tonight."  I said, I'm confident you called me.  I saw it with my own eyes on my phone as it rang.  I looked on my phone and saw that for sure it had to have been her who called.  We smiled and she said, "I think your little boy was intervening when he knew you needed help.  I didn't know what else to say.  I think she was right. 

I'm thankful Madelyn was okay and we hoped that it was the last of our ER visits for a while.  While we hoped, we were wrong.  Less than three weeks from Madelyn's visit, the kids and I made yet another trip to the ER with a head injury.  This time it was Michael's turn.

Always something in our house.  Stay tuned another ER story coming soon.

Until next time,

Angie