Busy May Weekend

The weekend of May 6 (Thurs) - May 9 (Sun) was a busy one for the Carter household. Grandma and Grandpa Vest came for a visit so they could see Dylan's 1st grade program and visit the boys on VIP at Meadowmere. Grandma did a much better job at taking pictures of all the events, and, unfortunately, I didn't have electronic copies to publish here, so these few will just have to make do.

Let's see...Thursday (Grandma and Grandpa arrived; Dylan's program; out to Applebee's for my birthday), Friday (VIP day at Meadowmere; the boys and I went to T-Rex Restaurant at the Legends for my birthday), Saturday (My birthday), Sunday (Mother's Day)
Dylan is hiding behind the mask (wearing the blue shirt). This is a rare picture, though, because Dylan broke his mask before the program began. It was nice, though, because we got to see his face and facial expressions throughout the program.

T-Rex Restaurant: I didn't want to take too many pictures at this place because the flash is so obvious in a dark restaurant. However, this was the view above our heads.

Evan wanted me to take his picture while he was coloring. He look so serious!

Dylan stuck his head inside one of the dino's. Do you have any wonder who chose this restaurant, the boys or me?

April Photo Contest

April 2010 Photo Contest - Photo Hunt Challenges Different Point of View: Kansas City, Missouri (the zoo) So, I'm wondering what this chimp is thinking?

Perspective Shot: Kansas City, Missouri (the zoo) I'm not sure if the boys are entertained by the gator or if the gator is "entertained" by the boys.

Touch: Evan at the Legends (Kansas City, Kansas)

Taste: Dylan eating Chipotle

Sight: A book

Sound: The Kansas City zoo (We were able to hear his roar from quite a distance!)

Smell: I've spent the last eight Saturdays at The View in Grandview, Missouri. There's nothing quite like spending two hours in an indoor swimming pool for swim lessons. The smell of Chlorine is so strong that I leave with burning eyes, and I'm not the one taking swim lessons!

Sign of Spring: Bike trail in Grandview, Missouri

Flowers: Kansas City, Kansas (The Legends)

Letter in Nature: Kansas City, Missouri (Kansas City Zoo) Do you know how hard it is to get two hippos to pose for a "V"? :)

Trio: Cabella's in Kansas City, Kansas

Fish: Cabella's in Kansas City, Kansas

Skyward: Kansas City, Missouri

Mother Earth: Kansas City, Missouri (Kansas City Zoo) I'm an English teacher, and when I teach American Literature we always read Native American Creation Stories. "The World on the Turtle's Back" was the first thing that came to mind for me when I thought "Mother Earth".

Something Rare: My kids vacuuming? Yeah. That's rare. Very rare!

Something Healthy: Can I put a plug in for Chipotle? It's my FAVORITE "fast food". I think you could eat this stuff every day and not gain weight. (Okay, you might have to avoid the chips, the sour cream, the taco shells, etc. to "not gain weight", but the burrito bowl above is healthy!)

Something Colorful: Kansas City Zoo (I never knew there were BLUE frogs. It looks fake, but I promise it's real!)

Something Spicy: Indian Food

Something Triangular: Overland Park, Kansas

We Love April Weather

Oh, wow! It seems like we've been waiting years for this kind of weather! Please point out any whining I do this summer, if I dare say anything like...It's too hot outside!

The above picture was taken when we went on a bike ride on Sunday. I have no idea how far we rode, but I had a sore butt and Evan was pooped when we were done! It was a great ride!

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.