The Sewing Mom

As much as I hate moving from state to state, it has afforded me the opportunity to see many things and places in this country I might not have seen had I lived in the same place all my life. We even make a point of trying to see things that many locals may take for granted. If we hear about something that peaks our interest, we try to go check it out.

For example, as I’ve mentioned on this blog before, there were so many things to do in Chicago that we really took great pleasure in heading downtown on the train or by car when we lived in the southeast suburbs. In the seven years we lived there we visited most of the museums, the aquarium (one of my favorites), Navy Pier, and of course, Sears Tower. We also spent several occasions shopping on the Magnificent Mile and even attended one Broadway Show while it was on tour in Chicago. It is truly a city with a wide variety of entertainment. I always looked forward to our trips downtown.

Things were no different when we lived in Connecticut. We were so close to New York that it was easy to find things to do in New York City, the hard part was traveling into the city, it’s so congested and filled with one way streets. The first time we went, my husband drove. He found his way down there with the help of a good map (this was pre-GPS) and even found his way into a good parking garage close to 5th Avenue and all the shopping. From then on, anytime we went to the city, we drove the exact same route and parked in the exact same garage. We didn’t want to take any chances on getting lost! Have you ever driven in New York City? It’s absolute bedlam and the streets are filled with crazy drivers, not just the taxi drivers either! It’s wild!

New York City is quite a bit more intimidating to me than Chicago, it’s just so much bigger and more crowded. We did have a blast though finding the Empire State Building and Time Square. These are places that you always see on T.V., so it was so awesome to get to see them in person. We even stood outside to the studio where David Letterman tapes his show. We shopped a lot and my favorite was F.A.O. Schwarz, probably because my daughter was so little and it was fun being in that huge toy store with her.

I think the only thing that I had really wanted to do while we were living out there was to do a couple of the sightseeing tours, particularly the tour to the Statue of Liberty. I never did see that statue and I really wanted to.

I never want to miss out on something like that again, so I’ve signed up for the Trusted Tours and Attractions newsletter to keep me informed and give me ideas of things to do. By the way, if you sign up for the newsletter by May 31, you’ll be entered to win a $150 iTunes gift card. Just think of all the music you could listen to on your next vacation!

A few months ago, my daughter participated in a fund raising event at school for the American Heart Association.  She did a good job and was able to raise $150.

Last week, she came home with a few little prizes for her fund raising rewards.  To our surprise, she also received 2 free tickets to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor water park in Arlington, TX.  The tickets were good today only and, because the weather has been so funky, I told her we wouldn’t be able to confirm plans to go until we knew what the weather was going to do.

Well, today turned out to be the warmest day we’ve had so far this hear.  It was supposed to reach almost 90 degrees, so we decided to pack our beach towels, put on our swim suits and head out.  It’s about an hour drive, but since it was Sunday, the traffic was pretty light.  We didn’t get to the park until around noon, but that was fine, we still were able to have a fun time.

My daughter and I did about 6 or 7 of the water slides.  We prefer the ones that you ride a raft of some sort on, easier on the body in my opinion.  Our favorite though is the new Tornado.  The raft can hold 2-4 people (my husband wouldn’t go), and it drops down a chute that leads to a huge funnel like thing.  It’s fast and crazy, just the way we like it.  We liked it so much in fact, we rode it twice.

We had a lot of fun today, now we’re sitting here relaxing.  How was your weekend?

Our family has always been one that checks out historical information about the places we live. When we lived in Illinois, we made several trips to various places in the state to learn about the history of how the state came to be as well as learning about important people of Illinois. Now that we have moved to Texas, I am anxious to start traveling this huge state. I have always been interested in the history of the American West. I am thrilled to have found a museum dedicated to educating and inspiring all who, like me, enjoy seeing historical art.

Located in the city of Orange, Texas is a wonderful museum for viewing artifacts from over two centuries of western and Indian cultures native to Texas. The Stark Museum of Art has a wonderful website, www.starkmuseum.org, which gives information about how the museum began. The Stark Foundation, founded in 1961, was the vision of H.J. Lutcher Stark and his wife Nelda C. Stark. The foundation was founded as a way to encourage, promote and assist in education, the arts, and health and human services. Many children and adults have been inspired by the educational experiences garnered from the Stark Museum of Art. Interactive programs and tours are encouraged and enjoyed by families and school groups each year.

The museum has an exceptional collection of the art of the American West. Western Art that portrays cowboy life and Indian imagery is one section of art included in the vast museum. The Decorative Arts section of the museum includes rare Stueben Crystal collections and beautiful porcelain birds native to the west. Rare Books and Manuscripts are also on display.

I hope many of you are interested in the history of our country and enjoy visiting museums as much as I do. The Stark Museum of Art is on my list of places our family will be visiting.