A visit from an old friend

My college friend Alaena is visiting from Minnesota! The last time I saw her, 2 1/2 years ago, I had just got back in the country and I had no husband, no kids, and no idea how close I was to getting both of those things. Alaena just met my entire family for the first time. On Thursday we hung out with the Nancy and the boys, then, that night, Alaena got to experience the joy of Buffy night. We made a mexican tomato bake, with guacamole on the side, and watched two episodes of Firefly, a short lived show by Joss Wheden. Today, the kids went to their moms house, so Alaena and I spent the morning lounging around the house, chatting, and since it was Alaena's first time in Wichita, we spent the afternoon at Cowtown! We loved walking around, looking at all the old stuff, and learning some Wichita history, but only one of the workers actually stayed in character, which was a bit disappointing. The blacksmith may have actually been trying to hit on us. There were also quite a few square dancers there, in town for the huge square dancing convention tonight. One lady tried to convince us that we should take up square dancing, and that her only regret in life is that she didn't start doing it sooner. Well, here are a few photos of our day:

Me and Nancy in front of a fur trader. Notice the big skull next to Nancy.

Here is Alaena swinging

Alaena, Nancy, and I lounging around in an 19th century house

Alaena trying out some farm eqipment

And here is Nancy, enjoying a version of "She'll be coming 'round the mountain" sung by some girl scouts, that included a line about chopping off a chicken's head. Hack, hack.