Middle of America . . . On Route to Utah

 From St. Louis, we drove the Highway all the way to Colorado, with one stop in Kansas. (You kind-of have to stop in Kansas, because, well, where else is there?) This time around, I found a lovely little zoo to enjoy in the morning before we drove on to CO.

Bronze statues = photo opportunities (This is a hold-over from China for the kids . . . it's one of the only times they willingly ask for photos. It's weird, but I'll take it.)

 I don't even remember anymore (and I'm too lazy to look it up) where in Kansas we stopped for the night, but it was a pretty fun little zoo.

 And the Korean food we had the night before was pretty delicious. All in all, a good stop for Kansas!

Still, it was lovely to arrive in Colorado and see family for the first time in a while. We all enjoyed getting a little extra time with the Jenkins before setting off for Utah together two days later.

Fort Matanzas and Brain Freezes

Lutece was our Activities Director for the week in Florida. She is seriously good at researching and planning tourist activities (not to mention restaurants). On trips now, I just pass her my iPhone, she pulls up TripAdvisor and goes to town. She had a whole slew of activities planned for our afternoons in St. Augustine, and nearly all of them were successful.

We started the week off with the kids' top choice, Fort Matanzas. This was a favorite from last year and so naturally it would be on the docket this time around. Lutece, of course, made sure to ask for the Junior Ranger guide from the ranger station (since it is a part of the National Park system), and she started completing it on the (free!) ferry boat ride over to the Fort.

This is such a beautiful area of Florida, what with the ocean on one side and the Intracoastal and other waterways on the other . . . but the sun WAS bright.

Too bright to open eyes for pictures.

Phoenix even offered to take a picture of us. (This was the only normal one out of about ten. I can't help but think he had another motive for taking our picture.)

While Stayc and Phoenix played checkers in the guards' quarters . . .

Lutece chatted up the NPS ranger and completed her Junior Ranger badge. One down, only 3 more to go this summer.

In addition to Fort Matanzas, there are some short hikes through the Everglades that grace the area. Phoenix got his tree-climbing in, and Lutece got her walking in.

Everyone was happy.

On the way home, we stopped at a shave ice truck. The kids got marshmallow fluff on top of theirs, and Stayc got soft serve ice cream on the bottom of his. I took mine straight.

It was ok, but we all agreed that the ice cream we had later in the week from Cold Cow (a favorite from last year) was MUCH better. Worlds better.

Especially since there were no brain freezes involved!

Odds and Ends from Winter

Despite the abundant snow and cold weather that last winter brought, we had some nice days as well . . . some more Kentucky-like winter days, as it were. In January, we did some urban hiking and started geocaching, something that the kids really enjoy.

Lutece is standing on the ice in the fountain, thus proving that it really is winter.

The Arboretum has a couple of geocaches, so that was a good destination.

We also rang in the New Year with fondue. Natch.

And since this is a random post of "odds and ends from winter," I need no transition to write about my own MOST MEMORABLE event from last winter. In February, I smashed my face against a plaster wall in our house and ended up with some pretty nasty bruises and a gnarly black eye.* Here is a not-so-scary picture of me about a week after the incident.

This is the scary picture I took of myself because the plastic surgeon told me to take one without make-up just in case I needed any further work done. Yup, this is me in all my 44-year-old injured glory . . . for posterity. I really need to get better at taking selfies :).

* I was running up the stairs in an attempt to straighten up the house before my visiting teacher arrived. I tripped near the top of the landing and stopped my fall with my face (cheekbone and brow). It was excruciatingly painful and I honestly thought I had shattered my cheekbone, or at least fractured it. If I hadn't already been in shock, I would have been scared witless . . . well, I think I was that too. Luckily, I have a friend at Church who is a plastic surgeon. He checked over my face and told me everything seemed fine, that the swelling would be worst on the third day, that the bruising would go away after about three weeks, and to call him if I was still worried. Everything happened just as he'd said, except that the pain persisted for at least two months. I must have severely bruised the bones in my face. I still have a small hematoma on my brow fully FIVE months later. Unreal! 

Boredom Breeds Creativity

Along with the snow days came lots of indoor activities. Fortunately, the kids are old enough, and (mostly) independent enough, to come up with their own ideas and activities. Lutece decided that a week of no school was a perfect time to hone her crafting skills.

We went to the library and checked out some crafting books, and she got to work. First up on the docket were a couple of duct tape projects, notably, the purse/bag shown above. She still uses it to store all of her sewing projects.

She used a book to get her started on some sewing projects, then she started to create things on her own. A hand warmer (filled with rice . . . you can heat it up in the microwave).

A little stuffy.

She made a couple of these little cats.

Then, when she couldn't find a pattern for a penguin (her favorite), she designed and executed this penguin stuffed animal completely on her own. I love it!

While Lutece was sewing, Phoenix and I got our origami on.

I tried to get Phoenix to help me with his origami valentines, but it was like pulling teeth. I finally just did them on my own. Sigh.

In addition to the crafting, there was baking as well. Seriously, ONE WHOLE WEEK stuck indoors with no school. We definitely needed some sugar cookies to help pass the time.

And not to be forgotten, the key lime pie that the kids begged me to make for Pi day on March 14 (3.1415 . . . get it?). Yup, boredom definitely breeds creativity.

An Advent Completed

This may be the last year we do our Activity Advent calendar. We definitely had some fun with it this year, but it was hard to complete, even after coordinating activities and compensating for busy weekdays.

As the kids get older, there is more homework, more activities, and less free time for extra holiday crafts and activities. Sad, but true.

 

Since the kids are not ready to give up the advent altogether, we decided that next year we could do a more sporadic advent. Weekends will definitely have activities to do, but weekdays will either be something simple (i.e., drink hot cocoa with all the fixings) or something that corresponds to life's activities (i.e., attend Phoenix's Winter concert; read the Christmas story in the New Testament for Family Home Evening).

Despite the difficulty and the time constraints, the kids were flexible and we enjoyed lots of holiday activities this December (if not all of them). We started out the month with a Family Home Evening dedicated to decorating the tree. This is one of our most favorite activities.

The kids do most of the work now, and I can just sit back and marvel that not one single ornament  got dropped or broken this year :).

We did Christmas origami one evening (after homework was done) while Stayc read to us from the third Unwanteds book.

 We went to the tree lighting at the Henry Clay Estate just up the road from us.

We attended our Ward's Church Christmas party. They asked Stayc to be the conductor at the Polar Express-themed event. He wore his suit, and they provided the hat and mustache. Everyone in the ward did a double-take when they saw him.

 

We attended the Bi-Stake Nativity Festival, where we saw, along with numerous nativity sets, this live nativity as well. After the choir concert, we went out for dinner at B.D.'s Mongolian Grill. The kids loved it, but I was less than impressed.

We had a family game night.

 We attended Ashland Elementary's Winter Show where we watched Phoenix sing and dance.

Lutece was so glad she got to be in the audience instead of on stage.

Of course, no Christmas season would be complete without a batch of sugar cookies. This was the easiest year yet . . . mainly because no one really wanted to help make them. It's so much easier to do things yourself :). (Note to self: Make a different recipe next year. This one was just ok.)

We'll see how things play out in the next few years. Kids get older; life changes. The Christmas season will still be fun.

Odds and Ends ~ Fall Edition

Since this is an Odds and Ends post, nothing has to be connected, nothing has to be cohesive, and I don't need to have a central theme. That is my disclaimer. Now judge me if you can.

Now that the kids are older (9 and 11), we find that we are able to do more things, go more places, generally have more freedom. The downside is that the kids also have more opinions, more gripes, more arguments, and generally more freedom to be the individuals they are. Curse that freedom! :)

Still, when the power went out last September in our neighborhood and we asked the kids where they wanted to go out to eat, they both chose a Thai restaurant near the university campus. Yea for maturing taste buds (and children who can deftly use chopsticks)!

Phoenix's school chose to eschew selling items as their annual fundraiser this year in lieu of a ramped-up jog-a-thon. Thank goodness. (Those of you who don't have children in school have not yet experienced the inferno of school fundraising.)

Lutece had her heart set on a "Lateover" for her 11th birthday party (although we don't generally do sleepovers, we do occasionally do lateovers). We had 11 girls over on a Friday night for a rip-roaring night of crafts, games, food, and fun. The girls painted mini framed chalkboards (to hang on their doors) and beaded necklaces. They played various games (including the Sitting game . . . see above). And we had make-your-own burrito bowls and make-your-own ice cream sundaes. It was a really fun party, and Lutece's best friend from last year drove the 3-4 hours from Bloomington, IN to be there. Now that's friendship! (and good parents) That friend DID sleepover. We're strict, but not heartless :).

On Veteren's Day, I ran around town from school to school watching the kids' various musical programs. Honestly, it was a great way to spend Veteran's Day, and the programs were surprisingly enjoyable. Phoenix's school did a big singing program at the end of the school day, to which parents and Veterans were invited. (I snapped this very bad picture with my phone.)

Then in the evening we all loaded into the car and drove up to Lutece's school to watch the big band concert. The 6th grade band performed (Lutece's), as well as the 7th and 8th grade bands. It was a delightful evening. Seriously.

Lutece is in the back with the other trumpeters. She is really growing to love the trumpet (surprise), and in addition to the five hours a week of practice she gets at school, she often brings her instrument home to play and practice here as well. Again, it is surprisingly enjoyable to hear. (She's been playing Christmas carols on it lately.)

Speaking of music, both the kids still play the piano . . . Lutece more seriously than Phoenix. Lutece once again participated in the National Federation of Music Clubs Piano Festival. She did the hymn playing portion and the sight-reading one. (She's a great sight-reader.)

She earned Superiors on both. (The above picture has her holder her piano book, but the second picture is much better. Man, I've been really bad at taking pictures lately. Few pictures, and bad ones.)

A week later we enjoyed Thanksgiving break! We had a lovely meal at home that I spent a fairly relaxed two days preparing. We invited one of Stayc's students over and enjoyed sharing Thanksgiving with her. She is from Jinan, China . . . the very city we lived in when we were there. Crazy! This has become our new Thanksgiving tradition: invite Asian students over to experience their first Thanksgiving dinner :).

The kids wanted to do the table decorations, so I acquiesced, especially since they mentioned a cornucopia, which seemed appropriate. Little did I know that said cornucopia was not of the traditional variety, but rather a literary reference to the Hunger Games. Needless to say, the kids' "cornucopia" was filled with weapons and other instruments of death.
  

They also set up a scene from the Hunger Games on the other side of the Thanksgiving table. That's Katniss covering Rue's dead body in flowers. The odd paradox of a death scene played out with Playmobil figurines is not lost on me. Sigh. Yep, the kids are growing up . . . morbid senses of humor and all!