Last week and the 4th of July!

     The picture shows how many miles we did on our trip to Mount Rushmore! I still can't believe we got to see it. Now, on to last week!
     I have to write about the regal fritillary butterfly who came to play with us. He found my leg while I was at the Freeman School, and rode all the way back to the Education Center attached to me. I took him inside so Chelsi could see him. He had a damaged wing, but was really active and fun to look at. We tried to put his wing back the right way, but did not want to harm him further so instead we put him on a flower and took some really cool close up pictures of him. He loved to get in our hair and stay there. It tickled so much!

     Last Thursday, Chelsi and I got to teach the kids from Upward Bound how to do water quality testing. We took samples from Cub Creek and set up tables to test for nitrites/nitrates, alkalinity, sulfates and dissolved oxygen. The kids were eager to learn and I had a lot of fun taking charge of the nitrates/nitrites testing.

     Once we were done cleaning up, we discovered that Jesse left his Park Ranger hat in the room. Since he NEVER does that, and I've ALWAYS wanted to try it on... this is what happened. 

     On Friday, I took the truck into town and went to the recycling plant. My goal was to get 25 2-liter bottles that we could use to make terrariums for Kids in Parks on Saturday morning. I was excited to take a government vehicle into town. I felt really important! First I had to go drop off some signs to get remade. Jesse's directions to the sign place made perfect sense, and I made it there just fine. His directions to the recycling center, however, were extremely confusing. I decided to stop at a nice gas station and the owner helped me out by pointing me in the right direction. 
     Once I got to the recycling plant, I parked and went inside. I told the two guys that I was with Homestead National Monument, and they told me they didn't have the 2-liters out yet. So, they took three huge bins of plastic bottles and we began digging through them trying to find decent 2-liters. One of the guys came up to me while I was looking and all of a sudden goes, "So a guy came in this morning and dropped off two huge trashcans full of 1971 Playboy magazines!" I hesitate, not knowing how to respond, and decide to say "Oh...really?.....uhhh that's cool?" He pauses, and goes "Yeah, I was born in 1971!" He bursts out into a fit of laughter. I laugh nervously and don't really know what to say. It was an experience!
     When I got back to the Education Center, I cleaned out all the 2-liters and got them ready for Kids in Parks. However, Chelsi got to do the Kids in Parks for plants because it was my turn to do the campfire on Saturday. 
     I got to work at 12 and asked how Kids in Parks went. I got to make a terrarium, and it was fun! You cut the bottle in half, fill the bottom with soil, add some seeds, moisten the dirt, put the top back on, tape it together so no air escapes, and plug the top. The bottle will produce its own greenhouse effect and the plant will grow. We check our terrarium every morning to see if anything's sprouted!
     On Saturday, we hosted a campfire and had a man come play the flute. It was the night before the 4th of July, so we thought no one would come. Boy, were we wrong!

     We had off for the Fourth of July, and even though it was pouring down rain, we decided to check out the flea market in Fairbury. We drove there and checked it out, but a lot of people had already packed up. Chelsi bought a horse-hair pottery piece made to look like a quail. It was cute! We found a bag of kettle corn for $1 and got cream sodas for the road. Before we left, we played with some puppies and met some interesting people. Since it was rainy and wet, we headed back home to work on the no-bake cheesecake we were taking to Jason's for his party.
     We headed to Jason's and had a nice gathering. We ate bacon-wrapped hot dogs (delicious) and watched movies. We had a blast watching the neighbors shoot fireworks in the street. It reminded me of the rednecks in Texas! When we drove home, the air was so thick with smoke from the fireworks that we had to stop and wait until we could see through it.
     On Tuesday, I did living history. I wish someone had taken my picture! I was dressed up like a real pioneer in a dress and leather shoes. I sat outside the cabin and demonstrated how the pioneers washed their clothes. I had to get water and put it in a bucket, wring out the clothes... and I had a lot of people visit me. One couple was from Georgia and they were driving to Alaska! They were interesting to talk to, and their wiener dog was cute and friendly.
     Today we spent almost the whole day doing service for the ambient air quality machine. If there's one thing I've learned... it's that I do NOT want to go into ambient air quality monitoring. All the math and equations and plug this in, take this off, turn this off and turn this... we got so confused at times, we'd have to step back and take a break. I prefer doing water quality!
     Tonight we decided to take a break from cooking to go to Playa Azul. When we got home, we put on our 'hick' clothes and decided to wash my car in the yard. It was a lot of fun because we were acting like we were "country". Nothing's better than making car-washing fun!