Southern Indiana and Kentucky

(Tuesday and Wednesday, July 5-6)
Lincoln lived in the Sinking Spring farm, where he was born, for 2 years. Then he went to Knob Creek farm for five years before going to Indiana and what's now called his "Boyhood Home." He lived there from age 7 to age 21. At Knob Creek, he almost lost his life when he fell into the creek and he could not swim. Luckily, his friend held out a tree branch for Lincoln to grab onto. In Indiana, he won his first law case. People think that is what helped inspire him to be a lawyer. At Knob Creek he first saw slavery. There was a trail called the Old Cumberland and slaves walked on it. The trail went by his home. Abraham Lincoln was the greatest man in history to me. Here is a picture of a copy of the bottom of Lincoln's boyhood cabin in Indiana.

Conner Prairie

(Monday, July 4)
Conner Prairie was so amazing! In the Conner kitchen was a tool over the fireplace called a crane. We got to help cut ends off of gooseberries and also made candles out of beeswax. Boy, do they smell good! We saw a cow chewing its cud and learned about that. The cow chews food and swallows it. Then a bit of the food comes back up its throat from its belly. That process goes on until every piece of grass or food has been chewed and swallowed three times. At the barn we got to pet baby sheep and goats. One of the sheep was curled up next to its mother. We held a gun at the Indian camp. It was so heavy! We went through the Civil War Experience in Conner Prairie and it rocked! Today was a great day.

Indianapolis Children's Museum

The Children's Museum was so cool! There were dinosaurs escaping the building and others trying to climb into it. Inside was a tower made entirely out of glass and there was a Transformer (movie) in the lobby. We went to a planetarium show but it wasn't as good as the one in the Cosmosphere in Kansas. We also went to a dinosaur exhibit where we got to watch a play about fossils. We also saw 3 dinosaurs found together. Their names were Buddy, Kelsey and Stan! There was also a fossil that was similar to a squid and was as big as a tire. We also went to the science lab and got to drive a play crane and a play tractor and dig up foam rocks. Today at the Children's Museum was very fun!

Indianapolis

(Friday, July 1)
Benjamin Harrison was an interesting fellow. He was the last president to have a beard. He was also the first president to have electricity in the White House. His wife was a an artist, and she designed the Harrison Presidential China. While he was serving his four years as President, he added on six states to our country. His first wife died in the White House. He got married again and they had a child named Elizabeth. He had white hair when she was born. There is a picture of him with Elizabeth on his knee. He looks like a grandpa, but he was her father. Elizabeth was the apple of his eye. He loved her very much.
Today was very cool.

Turkey Run State Park

(Thursday, June 30)
The trees today were beautiful! We went to Turkey Run State Park. There was a huge rock called Wedge Rock. Another was called the Icebox. When we went up a stream, I walked right in the water. Whenever there were puddles or pools, I would jump in them! For lunch, we ate on the rocky beach of Sugar Creek. Before we ate lunch, we went a on a suspension bridge. It was wires going from one side to the other. It wiggled a bit. When we were trying to get to the beach, we walked right into a prickly plant. Boy, did it hurt! It was like a thousand needles poking me. All in all, today was an amazing day.

Crawfordsville

(Wednesday, June 29)
We went canoeing today. We got to see tons of birds. One of them was a heron of some sort. In the beginning of the trip, we bumped against an uprooted tree, and Kendall hit the back of Dad's seat. She said her tooth moved! We found some really cool shells and fossils. One of the fossils was a big rock with little circles on it. We also found a clam shell that was still together. The shells were very shiny and white on the inside, and sometimes there was a rainbow inside the shell. We also found a piece of coral. After that, we went to visit Pam and Mike Uhl's house for dinner. They showed us their water bed! It was like being on dry waves. Today was the best day ever!

Greencastle, DePauw University

(Tuesday, June 28)

Today I saw my mom's college. She went to DePauw. They have changed it a lot since she went there. Her first "home" was in Lucy Rowland for one year. Then she went to the AOII hose for two and half years. In front of the second "home" was a rock and every month or so they would paint it. We also got to see lots of covered bridges. Some were named for towns, and others were named for people. They were dated for when they were built. Some were built as old as 1856, others were built in 1920. Here are the names of the bridges: Beeson, Billie Creek, Mecca, Roseville, Harry Evens, Zacke Cox, Nevins, Bridgeton, Neet and Crooks. They were all beautiful.  Here are two of my photos.