Playing with the Grandparents.

     With my parents here, I sort of ran them ragged. On Saturday, we went to ride the trains at the Kansas City Northern Railroad. They were having a special event where the trains were free, and there were all sorts of vehicles you could tour. They opened up the miniature trains as well. That's only open twice a year! 

     Henry and I ended up riding the train 3 times. It was fun riding the new track. They had just finished the extended rail a few months ago. 

    The first vehicle we toured was a joint Coast Guard and the KC Metro Sheriff's Department mobile command unit, and it was very plush! 2 bathrooms, air conditioning, and even a microwave. Dad recalled that in his time on the force, they were lucky to get a candy bar!

   There were several steam engines and even a boat to see. While we were touring, Ecto 1 showed up!

    There was a Terror Dog in the back and Slimer on the side; they both moved and lit up. It was super cool!

While Henry and I went on our last train ride, a helicopper landed. 

    Afterwards, I had a JASNA tour at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. I took Mom, Dad, Lizzy, Emily, and Charles with me. They explored the museum while I took the regency tour. Our docent was amazing. She had worked at the Art Institute for years and had been a docent here for a few years. She really merged Austen's world with the pieces on display. 

    This piece is an interesting Regency jacket. From the museum: "This rare buffalo skin coat reflects a complex blending of Woodlands and Plains Indian artistic traditions—Northwestern Ojibwa, Manitoba Cree, Northeastern Plains and Metis—as well as European fashion. It also embodies the dynamic cultural exchange that characterized the beaver trade during the North American Colonial period. Patterned after an English officer’s coat of the period of George III, garments of this type signified rank, wealth, and prestige. This one is richly ornamented with loom-woven, embroidered, and wrapped porcupine quillwork in geometric designs, and elaborately painted with abstract, geometric imagery. Like all others with recorded histories, it was presented to a prominent White official or visitor, reportedly in 1789, and probably represented a complex social exchange rather than a simple gift or collector’s acquisition."

    It was quite beautiful and a fun reminder of how fashion travels. This painting is of brothers; they are in the height of regency fashion.

    I rejoined our familial group, and we headed to the car. Dad was able to flash his handicap placard, and we were off! We headed home to drop off Lizzy for her work shift and gather the other kids and Daniel to drive down to Clinton, MO, to witness a life-sized Tabernacle called Messiah Mansion. It is a touring tabernacle, and since the kids were asking what the tabernacle really looked like, as we have been studying the Old Testament, I felt this was an opportunity too good to miss. 

    I was hoping to get dinner in Clinton before our appointment time, but the drive was longer than I had thought. We headed straight to the tabernacle, and they let us go early. I have never seen one like this before. My parents had seen one in Utah, but it was smaller.

    Our young guide was very informative and was patient with my inquisitive children. Emily was called up to show how the lamb was slaughtered. I wish I had gotten a picture of that; it was funny. She held the knife upside down and kept making a face.

    It was interesting to see the various tent coverings; the beaver skin was not real, of course, but neat to see them all represented.

    The priest's robes and linen breeches.

Afterwards, we went to dinner at Joe’s Italian Restaurant. It was very nice.

  We drove home in the dark, but it was a good day.

Gradients of Graduation

     Tis the season for graduation. Lizzy started them off with seminary graduation; I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately, since I had some sort of fit. I nearly passed out, so we left before pictures were taken. Lizzy didn't really enjoy seminary this year. Her teacher was not an educator, so his style didn't work with everyone.

    The next graduation was for her animation program through the Career Innovation Center. 

    Mr Enlow was her teacher for the last two years; he is really cool. He has a huge wardrobe of geeky clothes, so I was surprised at the plain black suit. Upon closer inspection, I was pleased to find Darth Vader heads all over the suit. I mentioned it, and he replied that I was the fifth person to tell him that! 

    Her High School graduation was on Sunday at the T-Mobile Center. We had never been there before, so I didn't know what to expect. Amazingly, my parents were able to come down for it. My Dad had prepared a really wonderful graduation gift for her. He polished up his state wrestling medal and put it on a chain for her.

    She was so excited to wear it and hasn't taken it off since! It was such a thoughtful gift. Any time anyone asks her about wrestling, she always tells them about her Papa's wrestling career too, so I love that she has this piece of history as wearable art.  

    We got to the center and lined up; in the reflection of the center, you can see the line snaking behind us. We're right in between the e and c.

 

   Lizzy texted us that she was going to be on the right side. Inside the center, we went to the right of the stage, which meant we had to walk all the way around the center. I felt bad for Dad; he's still healing from his knee replacement, but he's a trooper. They had the Jazz band playing prelude and the graduates' names scrolling by. It was nice. The seats were padded; I wasn't sure, so I had brought some pads, but we didn't need them. 

The Choir led the audience in the school song. I had never heard it before.

Here's the video of them tossing their caps. It's such a fun moment.

Congratulations, Lizzy, we are so so proud of you!

May Starts with a Bang!

     The first week of May includes May the Fourth, Cinco de Mayo, Free Comic Book Day, and Prom! May is always a whirlwind of fun, and as I took down the Easter decorations, I felt a bit lackluster. I like having the mantel decorated. So I decided to make a banner for May the Fourth. I found things I liked and then saved them to finish the next day. When I came back to it, I had not saved anything! It took me all day, but in the end I was pleased with the result. 

    We celebrated with Sarlacc Cake! I forgot how much I love this cake; it is delicious! A heavily spiced cake with cardamom cream cheese frosting and gingersnap cookie crumbs. I really should make it more often.

    ¡Cinco de Mayo! This year we had tacos, since most of the kids will eat them. I tried to get a 2-liter of sangria, but could only find small bottles. So everyone got a bottle, and I made some horchata from a mix, and it is really good. 

    The school prom was Great Gatsby and Gold themed. When Lizzy first brought up the dance, I remembered a dress I had thrifted years ago and thought it might work for it. The dress was navy and silver, so she spent months hand-sewing gold beads onto the dress. I did have to alter the dress a bit, but it fit her really well. On the day of prom, I tried to do finger waves, but they defeated me. I don't have the right clips for it. I tried using foil-wrapped pencils to help hold the shape, but no dice. Later that night we had the sisters over for dinner, and they both are hairstylists, and they declared that the finger waves are the hardest to do, so I guess I'm in good company. 

    Last prom Lizzy had worn some beads that belonged to my Grandma Murphy. This year she wore her hat and fur coat.  She found the perfect little purse at a thrift shop just days before. Isn't she the cutest?

  

     We heard that Jeff Hays was going to be signing a comic book on Free Comic Book Day in KC. So we took the kids to Home Depot to make keepsake boxes, then dropped off a few kids at home and ran over to get our comics. I was expecting a line to form as he is very popular. We got there about an hour and change early, and the line was just forming, but the store was open, so we made our selections and decided to head home.   

    Lizzy always goes above and beyond with her Home Depot builds. It will be sad when she can't do them anymore. It's weird to think in a few months she will be 18!

We were each allowed 5 comic books; here's my haul:

   

 

    Also, I have been fighting off a nesting bird who has decided the light right outside my back door would be the perfect place to build. I have kept a broom handy and have been vigilant for weeks. One day Teddy and I spent the whole of the morning sitting guard outside. Then I had the bright idea to take the lamp out of the equation. I roped Devon into helping me cover the top part of the light.

The remains of the last nest littered the ground.

        You can just see the bird; he flew up to the light and was so perplexed! I congratulated myself on my quick thinking.

    This was very shortsighted; it turned out as a smaller bird realized they now had the perfect spot, so protected and warm. They moved right in! Oh well. Later, Daniel evacuated them and made it less bird-friendly. Here's a look at the garden. Daniel has been working hard on it. He has been running off rabbits that have been trying to eat all the plants.