Monday, December 30, 2019

For The Kids

I did not opt to chaperone Evie's field trip with CCL to learn about lasers. Kara did this same field trip a few years ago, and I didn't go with her either. Spring just always feels so busy. Her teacher did email out a picture from their trip, so I was happy to have that. She had fun!
Kiersten played spring basketball with her friends. She had a great time on that team, but did decide to take a break for summer. 



Since I stayed home from the CCL field trip, Evie was able to guilt me into attending her field trip with her regular school. I had already been on this field trip with both of the other girls, so it kind of did make sense to have one last hurrah at Powder Valley with a bunch of third graders. 
The first activity for Evie's group was putting together food chains. 

There was a fair amount of speaking, and Evie did a great job of sitting quietly and listening. I was very proud, as that has not always been the easiest for her. 
They looked at animal skulls, and used clues to figure out what type of animal it had been. Once they figured it out, they got to look at and touch the pelt of their mystery animal. I want to say Evie's group had an otter? I could be remembering incorrectly. 
Evie was not into dissecting owl pellets. She couldn't stop gagging, but luckily her partner wasn't bothered at all. 

They ended up uncovering a rodent skull, and lots of tiny bones. Her friend took them home in a plastic baggy, which has haunted Evie ever since. 

Everyone came together for lunch, as it was rainy outside. 


After lunch, our group had time to explore the trails outside, or inside the nature center. No one wanted to go out. 



The kids spent a lot of time putting on puppet shows for one another. 
Kiersten had her final special chorus performance at the end of April. 

It seems like just yesterday we were attending her very first performance with the Woerther Wings. 
Ben was able to attend, and that was exciting for all, as he missed Evie's violin concert and the 5th grade concert. 
I saw a bunny in the backyard, so naturally, I headed out for a photo shoot. 
I was surprised to nearly step on his lil turtle buddy! 
the bunny ran away, but the turtle couldn't keep up, so he hung out for a bit, but was gone before the girls were home from school, so I couldn't show anyone. 

We had a spider in the bathroom, and I spent over an hour trying to entice the cat to take care of it. She was not interested, and that's when I first knew she was a bad cat. Eventually, it went running across the counter, which triggered her cat like reflexes and she instinctively smashed it to death with her paws. I was surprised she didn't eat it, but she's a weirdo.

Draft Party

We decided to go to KC for draft day. The girls always have so much fun at these events. They might even like it better than the actual games once they start to be in cold weather. 

They always want to try out all of the field activities. 


I stood in line for the locker room while Ben watched to girls play on the field. They joined me in line just in time to enter the tunnel.
It didn't take too long to get to the locker room once we were all into the tunnel. There were no players in there, though we kept hearing that there would be,. Oh well. 
Ben got lots of pictures of the lockers in case he decides to build one for the basement family room. 

It's pretty fun to get to look around in there, though I doubt it normally looks so pristine and organized. 

Right outside is the press room, so the girls all gave quick press conferences about their day. 
Evie said that the highlight was not the field games, not meeting players, not the locker room, but... the free lunch, haha. 
We ran into KC Wolf, so of course we needed to stop him for a photo. He's actually pretty friendly for a wolf. 

We almost never to to Kansas City without a stop at Minsky's, the absolute most bestest pizza joint I know!

Saturday, December 28, 2019

5th Grade Concert

The end of April, is the beginning of spring, and all of the end of year activities for school and sports. The 5th grade concert was a fun way to kick of a busy month.   
The kids took turns playing the xylophone. Kiersten did a wonderful job. 

They also took turn playing a few different types of drums. It was very exciting. 

And of course the singing was great. 


She was such a sweet singer.