The Lost Generations of Cowboys and Indians

I have always enjoyed going to second hand stores, auctions and yard sales. You never know what unexpected treasure you may find. Happily my son in law and grandchildren also share my sense of adventure in this aspect. So the other day we took a trip to one of the many thrift stores in the area. After checking out the antique furniture, and possible collector items we took the kids to their favorite section, TOYS.
Of course we always have to pick up some toy even if it is little and nothing really exceptional. On this trip however I spotted a large clear bag full of small plastic figures. Showing it to my daughter and her husband we decided it was the perfect thing to buy. When we showed my grandchildren they were not so impressed and when we said 'but look it is a full set of Cowboys and Indians!' the lack of comprehension on their faces had us trying to explain exactly what these foreign toys were.
I really hadn't thought about it, but began to wonder just how many children today even know how much fun it can be to play Cowboys and Indians. For generations every child boy or girl at some time played Cowboys and Indians even before the plastic figures.  So I began to wonder is this a part of American heritage that is disappearing? 

Petey, Bubba and Sissy playing with the Cowboys and Indians

For three days Bubba and Sissy played with what Bubba calls his Mini's for hours on end. They took turns with one taking the Cowboys while the other had the Indians and then switching. Then they played with all of the figures getting along peacefully building forts and riding the range. It has definitely given them a new adventure and one that they really enjoy.  We decided to look online to see about getting them some more pieces. I was amazed to find that a lot of the sets are more for collectors and very expensive although there are some reasonably priced ones on amazon.com

It makes me wonder what childhood games of previous generations have been lost in time. Do you know of any?

Summer Fun

What is summer without a picnic? Yesterday was my Son-in-laws Navy unit's command picnic. We got there just as people were arriving. We enjoyed our lunch and my Son-in-law introduced me to some of the people he works with. Then we headed off to check out the games. There were games for both the kids and the adults. Having Sissy and Bubba along we stayed with the kid activities.

 

The adults were spread out, playing; volleyball, horseshoes, basketball, tug-of-war among other games.

 The Navy's fire department was on hand for both safety and fun.

The rides on the little fire engine train was Bubba's favorite, while the horseback ridding was Sissy's. After they got their rides we headed over to the inflatables.

 There were three or four inflatables that looked like tons of fun. However, Sissy and Bubba were more interested in the snow cone's, cotton candy and face painting.

Although it was a beautiful day with a nice breeze blowing the temperature was still very hot so we called it a day and headed back to the comfort of the air conditioner.

OpSail/Harborfest 2012

My Sunday 'Week In Pictures' post has been pre-empted to bring you this look at one of Norfolk's' biggest festivals. OpSail combined with Harborfest for an exciting weekend of nautical enjoyment reaching full force with the Tall Ship Parade on Friday. I was fortunate enough to spend a good part of the day Friday taking in the excitement. There was so much to see it has taken almost two days to go through the nearly 600 photographs I took.

I could fill a large photo book with just photos of all the terrific Tall Ships. They came from all around the world to participate in the parade. It would be easy to dedicate this entire post to just photos of these beautiful ships. Visit my other blog to check out the Tall Ships. Instead I would like to focus on the the fun sights and entertainment to be witnessed at the festival. Harborfest celebrates the nautical history of the region and with this year marking the bi-centennial of The War of 1812 there was a definite focus on that time period. Actors dressed in period garb entertained and interacted with festival goers.

What would an 1800's nautical festival be without Blackbeard and other pirates?

There were so many amazing sights, like these sailors that stood on the masts for hours while the ships sailed in the parade.

 There were so many different types of entertainment, rides and games galore.

Of course being a Navy family I couldn't pass up a patriotic shot or two.

Click on the button below to head over to Unknown Mami's to see what is going on all over the world.

Test Run

My sister and I want to take a trip to the Black Hills with her two children and my youngest daughter. Eleven year old B and eight year old D both have ADHD and have never been on a trip over an hour long so I thought it best to plan a test run.  The question was where do we take these two monkeys to find out how they will do on a long road trip? The trip to the Black Hills will be a six hour drive so we wanted a drive that would be about half that time. Luckily for us the Omaha Zoo is just about three hours away.

 I do not have DVD players in my van so this was going to have to be somewhat of an old school style trip. With coloring books, crayons, notebooks, pencils, pillows, favorite stuffed animal, lap blankets and few modern amenities [MP3 players and Nintendo DS's] we were just about set. Throw in some snacks and drinks and we were on our way.

The first hour went pretty smooth, but by the hour and a half mark both kids were getting whinny and restless. Thankfully we were just coming into an area that I knew had a small interactive museum just off the highway, so I decided to pull off for about a half hour to give the kids a break. Unfortunately the museum was closed for cleanup after the extensive flooding in the area. So instead of visiting the museum we wound up just letting the kids run around for a little bit. In retrospect this was probably better than going through the museum even though it is an interactive one.

Not long after we got back on the road it was apparent the kids were tired of the items we had brought with us and it was time to fall back on the ever faithful road games. The last hour of the trip we played various games such as the alphabet game and the car color game [each person picks a color and counts the cars or trucks of that color, the first to 20 wins].

The trip home proved to be more challenging as it was dark and although we thought both kids would fall asleep neither did and neither were easily entertained in the dark. So we have decided we can make the long trip to the Hills, but we will need to remember a few more easy road games and definitely not drive after dark. Of course we had the added benefit of spending a fun filled day seeing all the different animals at the zoo. Here are a few of the kids favorites:

wrapped around the branches is a snake

Hey it is Pumba!

What are you staring at buddy?

It was Love at first sight!

We're off to see the wizard . . .

Okay, so maybe this was one of my favorites.

Wait! photograph my good side!

Gotta love the invention of the zoom lens.

All in all it was both a fun and educational trip for both the children and us adults. We made lots of great memories and now know that we can take long trips and keep our sanity at the same time. I am excited to say we will be taking that trip to the Black Hills at the end of the month!