Bridger Urban Conservation

I'm not an outdoors person, but this especially cold, dark winter has really affected me. I've been craving sunshine and warm air, so when today promised a high of 12 degrees, I told Nathan and Allison that we were spending the afternoon outdoors. Nathan and I had gone to the Bridger Urban Conservation area in Blue Springs, Missouri years ago (before Allison was born), but we haven't been back since. We brought a bag of apples to feed the deer, bison, and elk at the hoofed animal enclosure. Many other families had the same idea we did and I think it's safe to say the animals were well fed today.

 

 

 After feeding the animals, we picked one of the shorter trails to walk (1.65 miles). We took our time along the clear path. We watched birds, peeled bark from old trees, found walking sticks, splashed in puddles, and played telephone with culverts.

 

Disney on Ice II

A new Disney on Ice show came through Kansas City and we decided that it would be a special Easter event for us to do as a family since Nathan works through Easter weekend and won't be around for some of the other fun Easter activities.

We had a great experience when we went to the last Disney on Ice show and I wondered how different this show would be because there aren't new ways to tell the same stories. While a couple of the sets/princesses/routines were similar to last time, there were new elements and new princesses featured. There were 6 princesses showcased and each one skated to a condensed version of her story. Allison loved seeing the Frozen story, but was most excited about the Moana section, since Moana wasn't feautred in the last performance. I kept watching Allison to see her BIG reaction, but she just looked confused. Then she tapped my arm and said, "Mum, why does Moana have light skin?"

It's true, the Moana character was light skinned, in fact I only saw one non-white person in the whole show. Since the princesses don't skate as part of the chorus for the other princess sections, it seems like they could have picked someone with dark skin. Allison really thought these skaters WERE the princesses so it was a big deal that they didn't look the way they should.

It was still a great show that was highly entertaining and full of energy.

 

 

 

 

Volcano

Allison's teachers are great at sending out videos and pictures of the kids at school. Today's lesson was on volcanoes. The kids made volcanoes in the Outdoor Classroom sandpit and watched them explode with vinegar and baking soda.

**Allison dressed herself today. This is the toned down outfit that I convinced her to change into.**

Zoo Birthday

Yesterday was a busy day of church, Arts and Culture Night, and Eliza's 4th birthday. Eliza is a kindred spirit of Allison's. They get along so well and Allison was very excited to share in Eliza's birthday fun.

A large group met after church at the zoo and we let Eliza lead the way. Normally, a large group is hard to keep together and have everyone mingle, but the dynamic was perfect. I got to talk to everyone and everyone kept an eye on the kids. It was a real team effort. Even though it was chilly, we had a great time.

Arts and Culture Night

Tonight was the third annual Arts and Culture Night at our church. It was a huge success and there were so many people in attendance!

Arts and Culture Night is a way for our church members to share their heritage and interests and get to know our community better. People share food, perform talents (play piano, sing, read poetry), bring items to raffle (babysitting, crafts, baked goods, jewelry, art) and it's a lot of fun.

Two years ago I did a Canada table, last year I did a table of our funny family photos, and this year I had a table with pictures I've taken at the zoo. I had a busy week so it was a simple display, but I really enjoyed going through all my favorite zoo pictures.

 I was asked to make something for the raffle. I'm on a cross stitch kick lately so I made this cross stitch of our church, Wornall Road Baptist Church. It fits in a 5 X 7 frame and was won by our pastor's son.

 When Allison found out there was a talent portion, and that Nathan would get to go on stage to read his poetry, she decided she wanted to perform as well. During the week she practiced her fidget spinner trick. 

She was so nervous to get on stage, but I was really proud of how brave she was. She did a great job.

 

The night also served as a farewell to the Moore family who will be moving to Maine in May. The Moore's are a big part of our church and we will miss them. For Nathan's annual haiku poetry reading, he read poems dedicated to each member of the Moore family.

Street Stretcher

Our neighbor has been dealing with health issues for many years and lately, it's common to see a firetruck and/or ambulance outside of their home. Today, I was pulling into the driveway when they arrived. The paramedics wheeled the stretcher towards the house and left it at the base of the steps leading up to the driveway and went inside.

**I tell this story because our neighbor was fine and the crews left soon after arriving**

I was unloading groceries from my car up to the porch when a strong wind came by. The wind pushes the stretcher (which wasn't locked) down the slope of the driveway. It clipped the cement lip where the driveway meets the road and went flying into the middle of the road on it's side.

Imagine me, on the property line debating whether I should attempt to lift this stretcher alone or knock on the neighbor's door and risk invading a life of death moment. Eventually I decided to try to clear it off the road. I struggle to lift it up and I'm sure I scratched the entire side of it. Finally I got it over the lip but left it at the bottom of the driveway. I managed to kick one of the locks down but decided to run away before they came back and thought I was trying to steal it. It was definitely my most awkward moment so far this year.

Swim Lessons

This week Allison started her first swim lessons. Allison has always been comfortable in the water but she needs to have basic swim skills so I signed her up for Tuesday and Thursday classes at the Matt Ross Community Center.

The class is for Preschoolers ages 3-5. Allison is the oldest kid and the most comfortable around water. On the first class, the instructor had the kids line up on the edge of the pool (shallow end) and said that they could jump in, sit on the edge and slide in, or walk down the stairs, whatever way they felt most comfortable. All 6 kids looked at each other, 5 of them nervous and taking little steps away from the pool. Allison suddenly shouts, "cannonball!" and jumps in.

Here are a few videos from Allison's second class. She's been reprimanded several times by the teacher to stay on the edge of the pool while the other kids are learning skills.

PV Rocks

Allison and I were at the library today and we found a rock hidden on one of the shelves. The rock was painted and had a hashtag on it. It said #PVRocks. I looked it up on Facebook and Instagram and saw that the rocks are painted by a mom and her kids and they leave them around Prairie Village to see where they end up.

We've been talking a lot about where we want to hide the rock next.

Pie Face

I've been taking a break from Barbies this week and swapping imagination time for game time. Tonight we played Allison's favorite, Pie Face.

Sporting KC

My friend, Lisa, called me last week to ask if I wanted to go to a Sporting KC game. Sporting KC is the local soccer club. Lisa won tickets through her work for seats in a private box, tour of the stadium, and food and drinks during the game. Her husband was very jealous that he had to be out of town, but his loss was my gain!

I've never been to a game, but it was really exciting. It was so much fun to get to go down to the field and look around all the different levels of the stadium.

We even got to meet the mascot!

 

 

Fort Scott, Kansas

Nathan's pick for the trip was Fort Scott. It was a traditional base that has been restored. It was a great place to visit. All the buildings were open and there was a lot of available information from day to day life of civil war soldiers, the building structures, and the effect of the base on the town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After vising the site of the Fort, we went down the road to the Fort Scott National Cemetery. It was at the end of a country road, surrounded by fields. It was very peaceful and a clearly a special place.