Texas Capitol Field Trip With John

John's third grade class took a field trip to the state capitol this last week and we had such a good time.  I've been here for nearly two years and haven't been downtown much.  This was a first for at least three of us!  Jason accompanied us and boy was he a hit!  All of the kids (especially the girls) wanted to hold him.  The tour guides even loved his happy smile!

But we got to learn a bit more about our new state's history and proud heritage.  It's definitely different living in the Republic of Texas!

We started off in the Visitor Center where we learned about the early settlement of Texas.  John especially loved seeing the old Bowie knife and rifle that were hanging on the mantle.  He wanted to take a picture of just about everything...even the pictures of pictures.  But Jason and I tried to make a good show of it when we were in front of the camera.

Ms. Mehlow's a great sport!

  

Then, we learned about the Lady of Justice that stands on top of the capitol.  The kids thought it great fun to put their own faces through the cutout.  Jason didn't get a turn, but Mommy and John would look great if we were back in time.

 

And while everyone else was watching a cool video on the building of the capitol, I sneaked off to get this one of Jason!  Ride 'em, cowboy!  He's our true Texan! And John got to follow suit.

 

Off to the main part of the tour.  The kids thought the Rotunda was amazing.  And that star at the top is really 8 feet across.  The kids were REALLY impressed by that because the star seems so small when you are 218 feet below it.

We took pictures in the different chambers for the Senate and House of Reps.  And it was a this point that lil Jason could take it no longer.  All I knew was that his head hit mine...and I figured he was happily off in dream land.  I couldn't see...so someone else confirmed it.

By the time we made it to the basement (yes, I said basement!), I think most everyone was just about pooped out from all the history.  It was lunchtime anyway.

So, I took a panoramic picture and we were off to get lunch at the park.

Jason was really excited to be out of the backpack carrier and able to crawl around.  He was a good sport the entire time...even when I took him just a few minutes later to the doctor to "discover" he had another ear infection!  What a good sport!