Dr Pepper Museum

 In May we made a trip to the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas.  While there, we learned that Dr Pepper was created by Dr. Charles Alderton, a pharmacist, who worked in Morrison's Old Corner Drugstore in 1885. 

 In the Old Corner Drugstore Dr Pepper was originally called a "waco." Alderton's customers would ask him to shoot them a "waco."

The owner of the drugstore changes the name to "Dr. Pepper."  The period is dropped in the 1950's.

 Dr Pepper became so popular at the Old Corner Drugstore it became hard to keep up with demand.  In 1891, Artesian Manufacturing & Bottling Company was formed and later becomes Dr Pepper Company.

 Dr Pepper is introduced in 1904 at the World's Fair in St. Louis. 

 W.W. "Foots" Clements began as a delivery truck driver and worked his way up to became president, CEO, and chairman of the board. 

 During his delivery days he discovered that right handed customers opened coolers with their left hand and would grab a drink on the cooler's right side, so that's where he began placing the Dr Pepper. 

 The Dr Pepper Museum was founded in 1988.  It is housed in the 1906 Artesian Manufacturing & Bottling Company building.

 Wes, Katherine, Sebastian, and I enjoyed touring the museum, learning about the history of Dr Pepper and free enterprise, as well as other Waco history.

Oh, and getting a free sample of Dr Pepper wasn't bad either!

A Day at the Fort Worth Zoo

October Field Trips

 The month of October provided the opportunity for our family to take several fun field trips.  One day we visited the Fort Worth Zoo.

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures. 

Katherine taking advantage of a hands-on exhibit.

One trip that we always look forward to during fall is the Great State Fair of Texas.  We eat lots of good (& really unhealthy) food, walk A LOT, see many different exhibits, ride fair amusement rides, spend money tickets, enjoy time together, and leave incredibly tired.

The kids enjoy the hands-on farm exhibit where they get to pretend to be farmers.  They planted a garden.

 Harvested the fruit & vegetables.

                                         They fed the animals and milked the cows.

 They sold their products.

 After selling the products they spent their earned  money at the local store.

I could be guessing, but I believe the reason the kids enjoy this exhibit so much is receiving the free snack they purchase receive at the end.

 The whole family enjoys the feeding & petting some of the animals.  There were a few of animals we didn't want to touch or feed!

 Another day we visited the Dallas World Aquarium with other local homeschoolers.

 Our last field trip of the month has probably been our favorite.  We participated in the Dallas Stars Education Day.

We enjoyed watching the teams (Dallas Stars & LA Kings) practice and a two hour tour of the American Airlines Center (AAC), where we learned many facts about the AAC, hockey, and even some basketball. 

When we arrived home we couldn't wait to share all the information we'd learned with Wes.  Katherine completed the work page she'd received, and we spent the rest of the afternoon preparing to attend the game that night.

We had a great time and even made it on the big screen once!  We've decided we'd love to attend another Stars game sometime in the future. 

The attendance was a lower than normal as many of the metroplex sports fans where at home watching the Texas Rangers battle the St.Louis Cardinals in game six of World Series.

Unfortunately neither the Stars or the Texas Rangers came away with a win that night.