Family Fun Time at the Bar

 

One of the things I had a hard time coming to terms with when we first moved to Kansas was the fact that anyone, any age could go to the town bar. What?? Why would I want to take my kids to a bar???

 

Growing up in Indiana, our town's bar had a seedy reputation. And there was never any bar in Indiana you could get into (legally) under the age of 21. So the idea of kids in the town bar was totally foreign to me. I just couldn't imagine a bar as an environment good for kids.

 

But over the last few years we've come to frequent the bar more often. I don't even think of it as a bar really. Yeah, they serve alcohol but so does Applebee's and there are plenty of kids in that restaurant. The Main Street Bar (pictured here) is more like a small town restaurant or cafe than a bar. They serve great food (except calf fries....sorry Mel but nothing can make those taste good!) The kids love their smiley fries and as you can see they really enjoy learning to play pool!

 

DR and the boys started going to the bar on Friday nights after practice for double cheeseburgers and more pool. Every Christmas we go to see Santa at the town Legion and then go next door to the bar to get something to eat...often served by Santa though the kids don't realize it.

 

The night I took pics of the kids playing pool we were at the bar for a Super Bowl Party. We did leave at halftime though, I couldn't bear too much more than that of the game. We all go to the bar and we see farmers, teachers, truck drivers, friends...all the same people that my kids see out and about in the community.

 

"Going to the bar" in Kansas is so much different than in Indiana. A Kansas bar is much less about drinking and partying than it is a place in the community, in the great expanse of the high desert/prairie, where people can gather. Sure I wouldn't want to take my kids out to the bar at 10:00 at night or anything but going to the bar for dinner once a month or so is a little treat for us all. So if you come out to Kansas to visit me I'll take you, and your kids, to the bar. Just don't blame me if you don't like the calf fries...I warned you!

We Are Truly Blessed.

I was substitute teaching down the road this week at an elementary with 52 children. That is, 52 students in the whole elementary, and that included a preschool class. As I was standing in the noon sun on a gorgeous November day, I was struck anew by just how blessed my family and I are to live in Southwest Kansas. 

Of course living in the middle of no where isn't without it's annoyances. It's too dray and too warm. I'm too far from family. I miss trees and leaves and humidity (a little humidity anyway). But these things seem like trivial complaints when I look around and really appreciate the fantastic community my family and I live in. 

We live in a town of 900 people. Maybe my kids and I don't personally know all 900 of them but there are a large chunk of faces we recognize and who recognize us. One of my boys' best friends lives right across the street from us, the main street of town by the way, and he's often found playing at our house. The other day he crossed the street without looking for cars. Granted traffic is rarely busy in town and most people are VERY good at watching out for darting kids. But a truck was coming and the driver, who knew the neighbor boy, stopped in the middle of the street and warmed him about not looking before he crossed the road. It's nice to know people here not only look out for children who aren't their own, but will discipline them as well; I appreciate that. 

Just a few evenings ago I was doing some work on the computer in the living room. It was well past 9:00 and DR had already gone to bed when there was a knock at the door. I was rather surprised considering our town "rolls up the sidewalks" at dark. Of course, I wasn't nervous about answering the door either. I just can't imagine anyone wishing to cause me harm would bother knocking first. I answered the door to find another of my neighbors, a woman about my age, crying on my doorstep. She's a single mother and had some bad family news that day. All day she'd been upset, she couldn't calm down and had seen my light on and had come over to ask me to pray with and for her. I was a bit flustered, no one has ever asked me to pray for or with them before. My neighbor doesn't attend church but know I do...it's a small town after all. So we sat and talked and prayed. It warms my heart that this woman felt comfortable enough to come over and ask for help though we've known one another less than a year. I can name at least 5 people who live only a block away from me that I wouldn't hesitate asking for help, day or night, if I needed it. I've lived in other towns where I barely knew my neighbors even after more than a year of living beside one another. 

But really the thing I appreciate the most about living in rural Kansas are the SMALL schools. In 1994 I graduated from an Indiana high school in a class of about 130. While in college, still in Indiana, I did my student teaching at a school of a thousand students. While in Kentucky I substitute taught with police officers and racial fights in the hallways. A small school is a nice change of pace. That's not to say a super small school is perfect; we still deal with a lot of the same issues as big schools (behavior, bullies, cliques). But for the most part there isn't much of that kind of stuff to deal with and rarely any major issue. The teachers in Yip and Yap's school knows every one's names, not just in their classroom...everyone. The 5th grade teacher knows all the elementary students though they haven't bee in his class yet. In our small school we are lucky with the individual attention students receive. The staff isn't stretched thing meeting the needs of 30 plus students, rather the largest class I've see in the elementary is 19. A little school might not have the tax base or resources for lots of computers or the most modern facilities, but I'd much rather have the time and attention of their teachers over a fancy school any day. 

I asked my mom recently if the fact that DR and I have moved so often really bothered her and my dad. But she said , no id didn't. Of course they'd like it if their grand kids lived closer. (I'm hoping she'd like to have DR and I live closer as well but you can never be too sure about the priorities of grandparents) but if we couldn't live back home in Indiana she and Dad are awfully happy their grand kids are growing up in such a wonderful little community. I'd have to agree. 

Of all the states and communities that DR and I have moved into in the last 9 years, this community has by far been the most welcoming, the most like home and family and for that I am very, VERY thankful! 

Happy Centennial my little SW Kansas town!!!

Sorry if I was MIA last week folks. Boy was it hot in my little town, 109 for quite a few days and I was sick, not conducive to blogging. But Saturday it cooled down to about 100 and thank goodness too because our little town celebrated it's 100th Anniversary! 

My neighbor had his yard decked out with flags! That was a nice sight on the way to the Pancake Breakfast and then again on to the Hamburger Feed for lunch. 

Yap set up his own popsicle stand out in front of the house right along with Yip and his Captain America Shields. I have to say, those two made out all right by the end of the day..I might have to hit them up for a loan :) Boy did those popsicles hit the spot...that's just about all we ate for dinner. 

Of course you can't celebrate a 100 years without a parade (which went right in front of our house and my boys money making spots) and I was at the front handing out bags because all those little kids HAD to have something to put their candy in!! 

I was a bit jealous that I didn't get to be in front of the fire truck during the parade!! Shooting water, that would have been great! 

There were tons of tractors, semis, groups and businesses represented in the parade that I couldn't show them all but I LOVED that this family could claim they had been here for all those 100 years :) 

Then....

...and NOW! 

There were so many things to do during the day! Craft show, fashion through the years exhibit, homemade ice cream and classic car show. There were tons of stuff for kids, all for free!! Carnival games, face painting, story time but the big draw were the bouncy houses complete with a fine mist from a fire truck...thanks guys!! My boys stayed here for at least two hours...ah, what relief from the heat. 

No fear here! 

I didn't get to play in the water like my kids did because....

...I was playing with face paint!! What fun! 

We all stayed up later that night to watch Pirates of the Caribbean until the fireworks started. Yahoo kept saying, "I never seen THAT before!", every time a new rocket would go up. 

It was a great day with all the different activities all over town. But the VERY best part of the day was an unexpected surprise that we took full advantage of....that I'll tell you about tomorrow!! 

Stay tuned! 

Look what showed up on my street.

Look what showed up on our street, right outside of my house, this weekend!

I looked out to see all these old cars but I was stirring jelly on the stove so I couldn't take too many photos or my jelly would burn. But I ran out to get a few shots from my front yard. 

I think that the owners were stopping at the museum for a meeting or something because, unfortunately, they didn't stick around too long. 

It was a nice view while it lasted though. 

Shooting in the Dark in a Small Town.

Last weekend DR got home late from work, go figure...it's harvest. And he walked in and told me I should come take pictures of the moon. It was beautiful! Big and bright with lots of details! But try as I might I couldn't take a picture without it looking like a big white ball. 

(a car coming towards me)

As I was in the dark playing with my camera, I realized I could try making light trails!! Fun!! 

I set up my tripod and set the exposure to 4 seconds and waited...and waited....and waited...for a car to drive by. We live on the main street of town and it was Saturday night at 9 pm and I could have pitched a tent in the street and slept soundly. Small towns.

DR even offered to get in the truck and drive back and forth on the street for me...sweet guy! 

But I was lucky enough to get 3 or 4 cars drive by after while. 

(a car driving away)

They were fun to do! They aren't great but a good learning experience nonetheless. 

This is south side of town. See that fence? That is the edge of town. The boys and I were curious the other day and drove the borders of our tiny town and we learned it is exactly a mile square. I can stand in the middle of town, turn in a circle, and see the four edges. Small towns. 

I liked how all the lights looked like there were rays shooting from them. 

I liked this photo even more when I pushed the boundaries of editing. 

Sometimes I kind of like the wild abstract look of things. 

Cool huh? 

Our school is soooo SMALL that.....

Our school district is VERY small. The school enrollments were published in our town newspaper last week and even boasted that enrollments were up!!

Here's the breakdown between two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school

MES 

PrK - 18

K - 16

1st grade - 19 (my boys are in this class with two new students this year!)

2nd grade - 14

3rd grade - 17

4th grade - 13

5th grade - 13

Total - 110

CES

PrK - 7 

K - 10

1st grade - 8 

2nd grade- 6 (!!)

3rd grade- 6 (!!!!) 

4th grade- 7

5th grade- 9

Total - 53....(in the whole elementary school)

Junior High

6th grade - 24

7th grade - 22

8th grade - 33

Total - 79

and finally...

High School

9th grade - 25

10th grade - 24

11th grade - 27

12th grade - 16

Total - 92

There are only 92 kids in the entire high school...only 16 seniors. I had 130 kids in my graduating class (1994) back in Indiana! 

Wow! The numbers here just blow me away. Sometimes I have a hard time remembering that we live in such a small town. DR and I were saying just the other day that if we ever move back to Indiana we would be in for some culture shock!

So...how big was your high school graduating class? 

You know you live in a small town.....

...when there is a 15 ft. Christmas tree in the middle of the busiest intersection on the town's main street. Wow, look at the blizzard!

No kidding! DR almost hit the tree on his way home the first night it was up!

Okay, this photo is a fake. There's no snow in Kansas; in fact the temps were in the low 60's yesterday. I added the snow because I miss it!

But there really is a 15 ft. tree on Main Street!

Merry Christmas from small town Kansas!