A little late, but finally blogging

I know I said in my last blog that I would be posting pictures from last weekend, but time just got away from me, so here they are. I've also added pictures from this weekend's zoo outing, too.
Last Thursday during Spring Break, Louann and I met at the zoo. It'd been about a year since the boys and I had been there, as we didn't renew our membership last year. (The season pass to Worlds of Fun seemed to be the only season pass we needed last year.) Anyway, the above picture is of the boys with Louann's grandkids. It was a great day to be at the zoo!

Kelly Pittard's wedding was on Saturday. Here's a picture of the ol' team, minus Louann. I haven't seen Heather and Christy in quite some time, so it was nice to catch up with them.

These pictures are from this weekend. The boys and I went out on Saturday when the weather was about 50 degrees. It rained off and on all day, so there were hardly any people there. However, it was a great day for the animals to be out and moving about, so it was a good day to visit the zoo. (And we managed to be there during the two hours when it DIDN'T rain, so all was good.)

“Stay-cations” Sound Pretty Fun to Me

This week is Spring Break for both the boys and me. After trying to make plans this  week with ideas from everything like a day trip to the Omaha zoo to a day trip to Branson, we decided to stay home.  However, staying “home” didn’t mean we have to STAY home.  Even though the sun didn’t cooperate a lot this week, here are some pictures of the activities we did do while on break.  (Today’s KC zoo outing will be my next blog with pictures.) 

Dylan got a new bike this week. His little “training” bike from last year just wasn’t getting the job done anymore.  Despite the chilly weather, we took our first bike ride of the season on Tuesday.  Dylan picked out this particular bike because his favorite color is blue, which was also the color of my hands when we were finished with this ride.

Yesterday we went to CoCo Key. The boys had a blast at this water resort, although we weren’t the only one’s with this “great” idea.  We spent a few hours there, but it got to the point of being just too busy.  It’s a great little water park, although it doesn’t compare to the Great Wolf Lodge.  CoCo Key does day passes, though, while the Great Wolf Lodge requires a room rental.

Today we went to the KC zoo, but I haven’t downloaded pictures yet. They’re on my camera while the above pictures are from my phone.  I’ll post the zoo pictures with Kelly Pittard’s wedding, once I get those pictures taken on Saturday.

Happy Spring Break!

Dylan's Birthday Weekend

This weekend we celebrated Dylan's 7th birthday. Grandma and Grandpa Vest visited us, despite the horrible road conditions. Grandma said, "Dylan owes us BIG TIME", as they traveled 35 miles down the interstate in sleet, snow, slush...you name it! Fortunately, they made it to Grandview safely!

Dylan chose the restaurant to eat at Friday night, and it certainly seemed like a repeat of last year's birthday. We ate at Bob Evan's, the same place as last year. We were even seated at the EXACT same table as last year. I told Grandma that she didn't really need to take pictures; she could just recycle the ones from his 6th birthday.

We even sat in the exact same chairs, too!

And after the meal at Bob Evan's, we stopped by Dairy Queen to pick up a birthday cake. Hmmm, that certainly rings a bell from last year, too! Happy Birthday, Dylan!

Since the weather conditions were so horrible, Grandma and Grandpa left early Saturday morning so they could get back to Nebraska before the next batch of bad weather came through. So, Saturday was spent with Mom, Dylan, Evan and Dylan's friend, Simon. We picked Simon up and took him to Crown Center to eat at Fritz's. Then, the boys created some fun art projects at Hallmark's Kaleidescope. They really had a good time!

This picture is out of order, but here are the boys at Crown Center.

This picture is one of my favorites from the outing. Dylan and Simon are waiting for their artwork to come out of the dryer (water paintings). It was very cute to see two 1st graders arm-and-arm throughout the day. Again, happy birthday to Dylan!

Fee Fi Fo Fum

The boys and I went to Crown Center today to eat at Fritz’s Restaurant and see the Fairy Tale Village, which is a free exhibit going on through April 25th.

 

Here are the boys sporting the train hats they wear while at the restaurant. It’s a great place to go for kids because little mini trains deliver your food to your table.  (Amy, Grant would LOVE this place!)

Here are a few pictures from the exhibit.  I had every intention of using my good camera to take these pictures, but when I arrived and tried to take my first picture, I realized my camera was broken. Boo Hizzle! I took these pictures with my camera phone, which are not great pictures, but it’s what I’ll have to use until I get the camera fixed or buy a new one.

Stuck in "Groundhog Day"

It's snowing again. As much as I love "snow days", I could do without so much snow. The temp's have been so cold here that I haven't let the boys go outside and play in it...until today. I think we hit a balmy 20 degrees today, and there isn't any wind yet, so they were anxious to get outside in it.

Two Week Vacation

One of the great advantages of being a teacher is vacation time. (Snow days are the other great advantage, but that topic is for another post.)  Semester break usually gives us a two-week vacation, as it did this year. I had great plans to accomplish all sorts of things (as I do every semester break).  Here are my Top 5 Big Accomplishments and my Top 5 Should’ve-Gotten-Done.

Top Five Accomplishments

5. Two trips to Nebraska. (This was quite an accomplishment, thanks to the fantastic weather.  The blizzard wasn’t as much fun as it would be if you’re stuck in your own home.)

4. Semester Finals. (I graded all my Senior finals and hope to finish grading the 10th grade finals tonight and tomorrow.  We still have our teacher workday on Monday, but it’s always filled with meetings and training, and I really need to do some serious planning.)

3. Reading. (I got to read two books and start a third. It’s really hard to find reading time for pleasure.  However, I had a little bit of extra time…see #5 on list as to why.)

2. Holiday Decorating. (I got the tree up. This is something I dread every year, but I know it’s something the boys would really miss if we didn’t put it up. I even got a few other things put out this year, including a wreath on my front door!)

1. Cleaning. (This is on both lists because I got more done than I normally would while working, but I didn’t get as much done as I’d like to have accomplished. It sure helped that Mom and Dad got me a new vacuum for Christmas. Thanks!)

Top 5 Should’ve-Gotten-Done

5. Cleaning. (I might as well start with this one since I’ve already mentioned it. As much as I feel a sense of accomplishment with SOME of the cleaning, I still look around to a messy house which needs some deep cleaning.)

4. Taking Down Holiday Decorations. (Yep. They’re still up, and they’re probably going to remain up until March.  The tree is especially difficult to take down, as it’s too heavy, and it’s hard to find a good storage place for it.)

3. Planning for School. (I just dread this. I should’ve taken care of planning for the first part of second semester while on break, but I just couldn’t get myself to do it. I have a teacher workday on Monday, but I know it’s not going to be enough time. Planning for the seniors is especially challenging, mainly because there aren’t any resources for them.)

2. Laundry. (It’s so cold right now and I don’t want to go into the even colder garage. My laundry room is in my garage, so if I want to get this accomplished, I have to be willing to go in and out of the garage. I’ll do what I can tomorrow, but it’s just too COLD.)

1. Sleep. (Breaks are for sleeping in and taking naps. I don’t feel very rested.  Due to travelling, boys getting up early, me staying up late, watching scary movies…etc, etc…I’m feeling a little sleep deprived right now. Maybe I can get more sleep when I’m back to work, getting up at 4:45 a.m.)

One Frozen Bunny

I traveled to Nebraska on Wednesday to pick the boys up from Grandma and Grandpa's house. They stayed a couple of days so Mom could get a few things done without them hanging around. While driving to Schuyler, I snapped this picture of the sunset. I was at a stop sign, so it was easy to take this picture, but what I really wanted was pictures of the giant snow drifts. Unfortunately, every place that had the giant drifts also had no place to pull over and take pictures. So, I decided this picture would be my one and only for the trip back to Schuyler.

While we were leaving, Grandpa noticed something strange at the bottom of the steps. As you can see from the pictures, a bunny tried to climb its way into the bottom of the panneling. Poor bunny. It didn't make it.

I sure hope that wasn't the Easter bunny!