When Is Summer????

It's been a long month. That's not to say it hasn't been good, but it's been long. Spring Break has come and gone, which is sad. Bobbi and Ed were here for the week and we did a lot of things that we never do on our own.

We visited the World War I monument and museum...the only one of it's kind in the country. We all enjoyed that one. The only problem was that there were so many challenges to my fear of heights.

Of course, the kids wanted to go up to the top of this. Okay. I've been up in the Arch. How bad could this be? Ummm...it's open at the top. AAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKK!!!!!! But, I went up and even looked over the side. However, I did think I was going to be sick the entire time and the kids told me I was a buzzkill. Oh well.
















Here's the view of downtown Kansas City from the top.















Oh, and when you walk in, there's this.
















Pretty, right? Each poppy represents 1,000 soldiers that lost their lives in the war. Of course, that's covered with Plexiglas and you have to walk over it to get to the actual museum. And, it's fairly high up. Like a story up. *sigh* Is it sad that Hannah held my hand as I walked, eyes closed, over it? Oh well.

We also went to Kaleidoscope (a children's craft type thing by Hallmark) and Crown Center. It was neat to see the Hallmark Visitor's Center...we got to see them actually make a card. Jacob really liked that.

Interestingly, it snowed 10 inches at the end of the weekend. This weather never ceases to amaze me.

Jacob has started baseball and he loves it. His coach says that Jacob's already the most improved player on the team. His first outdoor practice (they've just been doing batting practice) is tomorrow. I guess it's a good sign that Jacob keeps asking to go to the batting cages. The last time he played, he wanted nothing to do with any of it.

Hannah started soccer again tonight. She just loves soccer. Half of her team from the fall left but there are still 12 girls playing. I have a feeling they'll be back in the fall. I think many of them are playing softball.

Daniel bought himself a pair of roller blades with his birthday money and I swear that's the best $30 I've ever seen anyone spend. That boy is constantly on them. He took them with us to Hannah's soccer practice tonight and skated around the playground for the entire hour. He's getting really good. He and many of his friends play street hockey after school, so he's been begging for a hockey stick. The trouble is, I can't find one. And I'm not spending a fortune on one at the hockey store at the ice rink. Someone suggested Toys R Us...eventually I'll get there.

Jacob crossed over to Boy Scouts last week. I cried the entire meeting. They had some boys from the Order of the Arrow come and help with the Arrow of Light ceremony, which was awesome.
Jacob with his Arrow of Light Award
Our former pack leader asks Jacob which Boy Scout troop he'd like to join
Crossing over
His new troop is there to welcome him. They outfitted them with their new neckerchiefs.

We also celebrated Hannah's 7th birthday on Sunday. I don't know where the time has gone. How is it that she's already 7? I think I'm being punked. I haven't uploaded the photos yet but I will soon.

Also, Happy Passover to all of my Jewish friends and family.

Bloobedy Blah...Part 2

The kids started Spring Break last week. I know it seems early but they always have Spring Break at the end of the third quarter. The teachers take a day for grade card prep and a day for teacher's inservice. I actually don't mind having the kids home...it means I don't have to be shuffling the kids around a whole lot. Our synagogue is also on Spring Break for Hebrew school and for Sunday School, so we really get a break. What'll really be nice is if the 80 degree days they're forecasting for next week pan out. I've got a lot of gardening work to get done.

This is kind of exciting...

I belong to a listserv for non-Jewish mothers raising Jewish children run by the Jewish Outreach Institute. 95% of the time, the things that go on make me want to quit. Not only are these girls way hard core, but they're very judgemental about others. It makes me so mad. Anyway, the leader of the listserv sent out a post about a lady that writes a monthly column for The Jewish Week newspaper. She's writing an article about the term Shiksa and would like to know our opinions/experiences with the word. I had to write her because A) I love the term Shiksa and B) my fantasy football team name was Shiksappeal.

So, I wrote her an e-mail with the information we were told she was looking for and got an e-mail back saying that she'd definitely use my experiences in her article. How cool is that? We'll see if I actually get in or if she uses my name (I said she could). Her article should come out next week.

Another Beautiful Spring Day

It's a little cooler today than it was yesterday, but it's still nice. Beautiful blue sky and temps in the upper 50's. Finally...we've gotten to where we are supposed to be this time of year. Deciding that we didn't want to be cooped up inside on such a lovely day, we decided to take a hike at the OP Arboretum and Botanical Gardens (it's much like Forest Park Nature Center in Peoria Heights).

I have to laugh because, in the year or so that we've been here, I've never traveled further south than 159th street. It certainly seems as though the world drops off there. It's mostly farms and fields after 159th. Considering the Arboretum is on 179th Street, it felt like we were heading into uncharted territory. LOL! We had to take 69 Hwy since none of the main N-S streets continue that far (they all end around 165th, or so I'm told). That was fine, but it would have been so much more convenient to be able to take a surface road. Anyway...

We pull into the lot and discover that we are not the only ones that decided today would be a nice day for a hike. There's not a lot to see right now, since we're just coming out of winter, but Jacob thought it was cool to find evidence of coyotes. We found lots of hairballs and even a site of (what looked like) a major food fest (a bunny or something). There was fur everywhere. We saw lots of hawks and birds and even a few butterflies (I know! Who knew they were out this early?).

Jacob and Daniel ran the first half of the trail, Hannah ran the first third and I was thrilled to just be able to walk the thing (I'm so out of shape). After the 3 mile (or so) hike, we were all tired, crabby and hungry and were absolutely ready to head for home. We all decided that it was so much fun just to wander around, that we're going to try to make it a habit. Only next time, we bring snacks and water!

Yet another perk of hiking three miles...all three kids look like they will fall asleep at any moment!

Happy Spring!

How do you spend a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky and temps in the upper 60's? And to top it off, it's the first day of Spring? Well, we went to the zoo! Okay, so the KC Zoo isn't Brookfield or anything, but it's way above average.

First, we take a photo so that if anyone gets lost, I know exactly what everyone's wearing.

Oh look! There's a peacock! He looks like he's waiting to be served!

Who wants to ride the carousel? This is always fun!

There's that peacock again. Now he's just showing off!

Let's feed some animals! What a big girl Hannah is! No tears and no freaking out. This is a first.
We want to feed them, too!
I see the Discovery Barn! Let's check it out.
Say cheese!
Look, Mom! There's a meerkat standing next to me!
Awwww. Look at the cutie lemurs.
Can we go out and play in the big tree, Mom?
What? I'm just climbing.
The train looks like a lot of fun.
Okay, but you have to obey the rules.
Whatever, Mom. Let's go!
I just want to sip my drink and enjoy the ride.
Now that we've finished our ride, let's head over to the Africa exhibit. It's a long walk over this bridge. Hannah! Don't even think about crossing that rope!
Ummm...where did you say we were? Africa? We thought the zoo was in Missouri!
Hey! We know that sign!
Look everyone! It's Pumbaa! (and not Timon like someone tried to correct me and I finally had to walk away because I was not going to get into a Lion King argument with some random guy at the zoo)
What a great time we had at the zoo. We can't wait to go back when they've finished the otter exhibit.

Spring Break Fun

It's become a bit of a tradition to go bowling during Spring Break. We all love going. Even better is that two games will kill almost 3 hours. It was a great time. If the weather is what they say it will be (73 degrees!), we'll be heading to the zoo tomorrow.


Whatever blows your hair up...Hannah discovers the hand dryer.

Daniel has very interesting bowling form.

It makes me cringe every time it's Hannah's turn. Look at that lofted ball!

Say cheese, Jacob! He gets ready for his turn.

Spring Break Fun

Yesterday, I took the kids bowling and today we went miniature golfing. Hannah called the bowling, "bowling balling" which was really funny.

Daniel gets ready to bowl...

Hannah insisted on picking up her own bowling ball every time.

Jacob had pretty good form!

Hannah would put the ball down and almost push the ball behind her to push it forward. Way too cute!

While Daniel preferred to pretty much throw the ball. I'm sure the bowling alley loves kids like this! LOL!

All three trying to get their balls into the hole at the same time.

Jacob and Daniel watch as Jacob's ball heads right into the water.

Hannah preferred to push the ball down to the hole with her club...that is, when she wasn't just putting the ball next to the hole and knocking it in!