Weekend In Independence

I have wanted to take the girls to the Truman Presidential Library for several years now. I finally talked them all into going, and since we stayed in Independence, it was very convenient. We accidentally went to the Independence Courthouse first. Ben just drove straight to it, and it took us a minute to figure out we were not in the correct area. The girls had fun looking around anyway. Kara found a Yugi-Oh card that really made her day. I still don't quite understand why, as she doesn't have any other cards, and no one she knows has them for trading/playing. But she is keeping it in her cell phone case with her other prized items. 
Can they even stand normally for a picture? 

The answer is no. I rarely take a picture where they are all just standing normally. 

Once we made it to the museum, we were all ready for some fun. Poor Ben tried to slide down one of those handrails by the stairs and ended up on his back in the grass. I was concerned, and the girls were entertained. 

The eternal flame. 

Grave site. 

The mock oval office was fun to see. A lot of green. Who knew Truman loved green? We saw green couches, green clothing, green statues, green plates, green everything. 

There were plenty of interesting things to learn. There was a scavenger hunt for kids which Kiersten took rather seriously. 

They knew a lot less about the 1940s-1950s than I thought they would. There was a book for everyone to record their opinion about dropping the A bombs at the end of WWII. It was interesting to see how they each felt about it. They all wrote very different things. 

They made their own campaign pins. They did a cute job. 

We spent a longer time there than I thought we would, and then we went to Minsky's for some lunch. 

The cherry tree was on the verge of blooming on Friday before we left, so I had the girls stand for a picture before we left so I could see how much it changed over the weekend. 

It really came into full bloom by the time we came home. I look forward to this all year!

I liked the after pictures more than the before pictures. It looks much fuller. 

I also like the girls' outfits better. ;)