Visit to our State's Capitol...

Lilly-Rose playing in the Children's section at the archives museum.
Practicing our tombstone rubbing skills from one of the kits.

Emma-Kay catching some ZZZZzzzzz.......

I believe this was the Mammoth tooth.

Displays in the military room.

Tattered flags display.

Emma Sansom display. This was a interesting story in our state's history. Definitely worth the google:)

Emma-Kay and I in front of the archives museum and the Capitol behind us.

Very pretty metal sculpture of our state.

Barry and Emma-Kay in front of the Capitol.

Me and the girls in front of the Capitol.

In front of the Capitol building they had a flag display of every state flag. In front of the flag they had stone from each state...with state name carved into it. This is volcanic rock from Hawaii and it had plants growing out of it. We thought that was pretty neat.

Lilly-Rose...Look how tiny she looks next to that bell.

Barry and Emma-Kay

The dome of the capitol is breath taking! Sorry the pictures are mixed up and not all together. These murals were painted by a Scottish artist named Roderick MacKenzie. They were actually painted in his art studio in Mobile and then shipped to the Capitol building and installed in 1930.

Me and my girls on the spiral staircase..one of the many things the Capitol building is known for.

Lilly-Rose looking at the dome. She was amazed at how tall and beautiful it was.

Who would love a wood stove like this? This is nothing like we had growing up. We always had a huge on in our dining room and my Dad would cook on it. I still miss that smell of burning wood to this day...though...at the time I hated going to school smelling like smoke.

The ten commandments in the Capitol building.

We were very moved by this wall..especially Barry. We pray for these dear families and thank these soldiers. They gave their life for our freedom! My the Lord bless their families and we thank the Lord for our heroes.

Lilly-Rose taking a look at the map. She decided she wanted to be our guide:)

Here is the crown molding I spoke of. Ah, isn't it magnificent? Think I could talk Barry into installing this into our home?..lol..Imagine his face..I can only imagine the price tag that comes along with that remodel. I looked it up and the building was designed by Barachias Holt.

Me and the girls on the steps. All of which are marble.

Picture of the flags in front of the building.

Archives museum.

I tried to look up what this statue was in honor of. I couldn't read the inscription from where we were and I felt it was rude for me to walk across the grass. Not sure..My Mom just always got on to me for walking on grass..lol. When I googled info on it I found this:

"On the north side of the Capital grounds there is a monument to veterans of The Civil War on which is inscribed "Dedicated to the knightliest of the knightly race..." Critics have said that this monument promotes white supremacy, but have met with considerable resistance in attempting to get rid of it as the cornerstone for the 109 foot tall monument was laid by Jefferson Davis.[8]" (Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_State_Capitol) I am not really sure if this is the monument or not. I was unable to locate a google photo of it. Also, please forgive me if this picture offends anyone. I did not know the story behind the monument at the time of the photo. If anyone else knows more about the story behind this monument, please, feel free to post.

Emma-Kay looks like she is saying..."Let's get this show on the road guys!"

Barry and Emma-Kay.

Lilly-Rose in front of the Capitol.

The Capitol building.

Monday Emma-Kay had to visit her gastric doctor at our state's Capitol. I took this as a time to get a home school field trip in. While, I understand that our situation is different with Lilly-Rose and she needs regular Preschool...I finally realized that I should not let it stop me from planning some activities at home. I still get that joy of watching her learn and she enjoys studies.

We decided that we would visit the Capitol building and a museum. My hometown is about an hour or less out of Montgomery and so I have visited these places very often. This was everyone Else's first time..including Barry. I remember my first time at the state Capitol was when I was eight years old. We went as a class field trip and we also got to visit the Governor's mansion. At that time Guy Hunt was the governor and his wife entertained us. She was such a gracious woman and loved children. We got to sit in their sun room, visit all the rooms in the house, and then play in their backyard with their dog:)

We also have a lot of history in our family from Alabama state history...one of our cousins was actually Governor at one point. There is a photo of him hanging in the dome area on the inside. I really prefer not to get into politics and transgressions in this post. So for more polite words...I disagreed with his views and actions at the time he was in office. Later, he did appologize for his actions and I do believe he was truly remorseful. So there is a little tidbit of my family history.

The Capitol building is such a beautiful building. You can feel the history when you step foot in it. The floors are made of complete marble, the crown molding is just magnificent, staircases are wonderful, and let's not forgot the dome...absolutely breath taking! Barry agreed that the view of the dome was awesome. Lilly decided she wanted to ride in the stroller and we did not object. We thought it was best for little feet to stay off the floors since all offices are actually fully functional during the day. Emma was amazed at all the colors and sites. I have to say that for Emma being so small....she did wonderful and did not even make a peep:) It was as if she was just taking it all in and enjoying herself.

Once we left the Capitol building we headed over to the archive museum across the street. The displays they have are awesome and very interesting. We looked at everything from the tattered flags display, army uniforms, and all the way to a mammoths tooth! Emma decided that she would catch a nap in the snuggli as we browsed and Lilly had a blast in the children's section...Grandma's attic. Her and I decided to try some of the kits they had and she picked a tombstone rubbing kit. We were able to practice our skills and learn about famous Alabama tombstones. One of which I will be posting on tonight or tomorrow. I am still doing research and, sadly, I am getting conflicting stories. I love looking in museums at pieces of history they have. I am a huge history buff and it's just so much fun to research things...then actually see it in person.

When we finished up we were off to Emma's doctor's appointment. I have to say Emma did wonderful and her doctor was very sweet. She decided that Em needs a Upper GI and she will be getting that done Friday. She wants to make sure that Em does not have secondary reflux. She will also have to visit a ENT for her snoring and they will have to run a scope down her throat to see about a flap:( I am telling you she is a little trooper.

I always try to lighten the mood when dealing with something scary. With Lilly when she had to have surgery at Children's we were given passes to a Science museum there and that really helped calm nerves, spend time as a family, brighten her spirits, and just get our mind off of things. I was really praying that we would not have to go through this with Emmers. But, it is true that the Lord does not put more on your plate than you can handle. I feel we can handle these situations due to going through them with Lilly. I am just thankful that my girls are happy little girls. They never cease to amaze me and they really are strong little ones.

Oh, I had to mention this before I go. When we arrived downtown we found that we had to park and use a meter. Well, Barry was not keen on this idea and did not want to use one. He has been watching way too many episodes of Parking wars and insisted that they would give us a ticket no matter what..lol. We left with 33 minutes to spare on the meter and without a ticket:)

***Sorry for the confusion on the date. I started this post days ago and then Motherhood called:) So I was able to finally finish everything this weekend.***