Road Trip!!

This past Thursday I left work and headed towards Humboldt, KS to see my dear friend Bailey where we washed cars, chit chatted, and just did a lot of nothingness. Then first thing Friday morning we were off for: North Central Kansas!! More specifically Smith Center and Downs America. We were headed there for a weekend with our friends Ms. Adrienne of Downs and Ms. Matti of Smith Center. We hit the road early in the morning and with the help of mapquest only got lost a couple of times. The first was trying to find the post office in Eureka on our way where we got help from a stunningly handsome young man and then again as we detoured off the highway in Newton and tried to get back on. Eventually we found our way and we were ringing the doorbell of Ms. Matti's summer home in Smith Center!

We definitely couldn't have made the trip without the trusty travel dragon that has gone on every roadtrip of mine and Bailey's after I got him in a McDonalds happy meal. he's been to Minnesota and Ohio and now North Central Kansas!

Matti was a very gracious hostess and since I'm a major history/unique to certain area locations took us to the area hotspots upon our arrival on Friday! The first on we hit up was the Home on The Range Cabin which was Dr. Brewster Higley's homestead for which he wrote the song for his Kansas Homestead which is now our state song!

For those of you who are forgetful here is his song which originally was a poem entitled "My Western Home"
Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.


The inside of the cabin was very antique and well preserved for how long it has been there.

Then being KSU women she drove us to where a farmer has KSU written in bushes on a hillside for all on the highway to see. The particular farmer works with Matti's office, National Resource and Conservation Services. We of course had to do the classic KSU with it!

EMAW!!!







Our next stop was to the center of the continental 48 United States where we stood in the middle of America! The center isn't to far away from Lebanon, KS. Another tourist took our group picture next to the center. One little boy that was there actually climbed it to be in the exact center with the flag! It was a very simple, very beautiful location and of course Kansas is baller enough to have the center! The only thing we were worried about is what would happen when California falls off and this place loses all real meaning as they must calculate a new center :S












After all our toursity adventures we headed to Downs America to see Ms. Adrienne where her mother cooked us supper before we headed off to Downs annual Celebration which was basically a mini Neewollah. It had all sorts of Carnival rides and street vendors and a beer garden with a band (which we were too young to partake in). Her younger brother even made us lemon aid when we went to the lemonade stand!

Myself and Adrienne on the ride that broke my camera screen (it still takes pictures) and that Matti's phone flew off of (recovered by a Carney luckily) and us girls chillaxin' at the celebration.

Saturday was determined to be lake day for us to go swimming and giving ourselves a brake from the heat before we hit up the Downs Celebration that night.

First we had to stop at the world's largest ball of twine about 10 minutes from Adrienne's house in Cawker City (yet another Jancey really wants to see this dorky thing) and on the right is us Clovia girls and two of Adrienne's best friends Sarah and Mariah that we hung out with.

The lake was fun as since it was all flooded we kind of made up our own swimming spot where we swam with trees, surfed with the waves, and former lifeguards Adrienne and Bailey got re certified by saving my life, which they gave up on in 2 minutes. Also two guys where sailing on a sailboat and sailed it into the shore and parked it and took off in a vehicle that drove up. They were very trusting of the fact that we wouldn't take it, and since we are thief's we simply took pictures on it!! After getting all cleaned up from the lake we headed to the parade where we fought some little boys to help two little girls get all the candy and toys they deserved!!

It was a fun weekend and I enjoyed seeing these ladies that I had not gotten to see all (most)of the summer and crossing things off my list of things to see in Kansas with the Home on the Range cabin, largest ball of twine and geographical center!

That's all folks,

Jancey

PEACE OUT

Internship Week #4: Cut, Chop, Slice, & Dice!

This has been an extremely long and exhausting week, but my favorite week so far of the internship. It was cooking camp week! We partnered with the La Cygne Library for their Summer Reading Camp where we work within the theme of the library and do different crafts, games, and activities and cook the food. This years theme was "One World, Many Stories" so each day we looked in depth at a different continent and focused on a specific country from each one and crafts, games, music, and food were showcased. Myself and Joy worked with the kids to make their lunch for each day!

Monday was Australia, Tuesday was Africa, Wednesday was Asia (China/Japan), Thurdsay was North America (Mexico) and Friday was Europe.

There were a total of 24 kids in the camp and so we rotated them in groups of three to the kitchen where they each made a different part of their lunch. Some made the main dish, some the dessert, and some the sides. It was somewhat difficult to keep them moving as the goal was to get lunch served by noon.

We focused on a lot of basic cooking skills. Below I'm helping Trevor level off ingrediants. That was one of the hardest skills for them to understand, because when they would go to level it they would always scoop out too much.



One of the most fun things was listening to their suggestions. On Monday I had Joys help to wash dishes and she knew exactly how each recipie was suppose to turn out however she went to the Favorite Foods Show and FACS judging on Tuesday leaving me alone. Above myself and the participants are making a melon salad for Africa and one of them suggested to use the watermelon rind as a bowl for the salad and therefore having less dishes to do! The kids were extrodinary on Tuesday and did a great job of listening to instructions and washing dishes. Without their help I wouldn't have made it out of their alive!

The girls on the right are making tortillas for Mexican day and the girls on the left are working on a granola bar for Australia. These kids chopped so many fruits and vegetables this past week that by the end they were real pros! They also began realizing that Joy and myself were only two people and needed help with things like dishes and clean up and were jumping the gun to help us with the not so fun tasks. I couldn't ask for a better group.

On the last day we made delived eggs and these two groups of girls impressed me the most. It was hard for them to both be doing equal things in the preparation, however they did an amazing job of working together and helping each other out. Another thing that I found remarkable was that it was sometimes the youngest ones that were the most willing to help each other out.

I'm very proud of the kids and how far they came in their cooking skills and basic understanding of the kitchen. Every time we made something or they tried something new and really liked it they would ask me if they could have the recipie and were excited at the end of the week when they each got a recipie book. I think several of them will try some of the recipies in the book as they found some new foods that they really enjoied as well as some new twists on an old favorite!

This program is something I believe is really awesome! It made the kids excited about cooking and using new foods. Some of the foods we made were a little strange however since they cooked them, they were very willing to at least give it a bite even if they didn't like it. I believe that getting kids involved in the cooking process is one way to make them realize what they eat has an impact and it also helps with math skills, critical thinking and problem solving! Programs like these are an awesome way to help kids develop skills all around!

Things they didn't teach me at intern orientation:

6. What do you do when you repeatedly cut and burn yourself on things you are telling the kids not to cut and burn themselves on and you are teaching them safety tips to avoid kitchen injuries?

Yes I was so talented I cut myself three times and the picture above was taken just seconds before I cut myself while peeling ginger root with a peeler, not even a knife. On the day I was alone I burnt myself several times and I simply repeatedly warn the kids about the hot stove, crockpot and just how sharp everything was. I think showing them my cuts and small blisters helped them relieze just how dangerous it could be. Luckily, none of them followed in my footsteps and all escaped injury free.

That's all folks :)

Jancey

PEACE OUT