Going to Winnemucca

I try to teach the kids geography. I think this is because I'm embarassed by how long it took me to know the difference between Japan and China and because I remember a friend at BYU Hawaii asking, "Which Ocean are we in? the Atlantic or Pacific?" So we have a giant world map on our wall that we stick produce stickers on and draw on with a grease pen (even if it's just drawings of the Little Einsteins in their rocket ship). We have a US map where we point out where our family is visiting from or where we're going on road trips, like our three trips this summer through Navada and on to Utah or Idaho.

It seems to be working, overall. Except I started to wonder the other day. One of Kate and Danny's favorite make believes is to build busses or trains or planes out of pillows and chairs, then taking off on make-beleive travels. And it's always fun to hear where they're going. Sometimes they're driving to China. Sometiems Arizona or Ilinois. But they pick a few destinations most often. So when I ask Danny where they're going, he'll often jump up answer either "We're going to Hawaii!" "We're going to Boise!" "We're going to Discovery Kingdom!" or, with equal enthusiasm, "We're going to Winnemucca!" I'm glad to see we're exposing them to somem of the best the world has to offer.