The Start of Summer

     To welcome summer, we went to the library's summer reading kick-off. Since we are hosting some games for the FIFA World Cup, the theme is dinosaurs and soccer.

    We went to Science City again to show the older kids the laser room. I thought this wall was a shadow wall, but it showed the light spectrum. Charles used his glasses, and it was super cool! 

Teddy and I played with the trains.

    I encouraged Teddy to climb this structure, and I thought he was enjoying it, so I went to sit down. When I looked back, I noticed he was crying. Due to the slopes, he couldn't figure out how to get down. Several parents tried to rescue him, but I was able to direct him, and he made it down safely.

    Devon decided to make corn quesadillas on the griddle for his dinner night. He had never done that before, so Daniel helped him. They turned out great, but the kids prefer flour to my preference of corn tortillas.

    Summer school! The kids like going to summer school. It's more relaxed, and there are lots of fun things to do. This year, Teddy got to go too. He and Henry will attend the school together in the fall, and this was Teddy's first real classroom experience. 

    He was a bit unsure, but his teacher is very nice. They had one day of school, and then we left for 3 days. When we returned on Friday, Teddy was not so keen on going back to school, but has since declared that school is fun. Whew!

May I?

 I saw a cardinal on our beehive! I tried to get a picture before it flew away. They are definitely more active in our neighborhood right now. It always gives me a thrill to see them.

    The Truman Library was having a free day and had the 250 Celebration: The Story of US, a visiting exhibit with several original pieces of note from our history. Including the Brown v. the Board of Education, the original design for the Great Seal, the Bill of Rights revisions, among other historical documents. It was incredible to read the words and mark the signatures. To have the importance of valiant people seep into your bones. 

    Typically, the kids ran through and really just wanted to get to the gift shop, but Henry and I took our time. President Truman's term was fraught with so many worldwide complications. He really did well despite everyone discounting him. His life is fascinating, and the library is well worth a visit.

 

   Later, Daniel and I went to see The Mandalorian in the theater. It was fun.

    The following night, we had Ron over for dinner. It was fun catching up. Daniel showed him the summer project he and Charles are working on. 

The city is redoing the roads in our neighborhood. It is quite the experience watching them work.

    Look how pretty my flowers are! It took them the better part of the week to get the roads finished. We skipped town while they worked. On to better things!

Times to Celebrate

     With my parents here, we had Teddy's birthday party early. He wanted a strawberry heart cake. It's so funny, he doesn't care for real strawberries, but loves strawberry flavoring. This kid! I got some freeze-dried strawberries to make the buttercream frosting and threw a bit into the cake batter as well. I love that you can just pick that up at the grocery store now. What a world we live in! 

We celebrated Daniel's birthday too.

    Teddy loves this book! We discovered it at the library and have checked it out nearly nonstop. When it isn't available, he is so sad. Now he has his very own copy thanks to his Grandparents. I frequently find it tucked into bed with him.

    I think it is fair to say he is excited to be 5. Lizzy found a University that she is interested in, so the day my parents left, we went down to tour Avila University. It is a small campus, but very nice. She will be able to wrestle there as well as pursue her art. A rare unicorn for her. She went in trying to get a sports scholarship, but they gave her an academic scholarship on top of that! I didn't get any pictures there, but we went to JackStack for lunch and got a few choice pics there. 

    

 Caught Lizzy as a chipmunk!

    The food was ok, nothing to write home about, but this carrot cake was amazing! They serve it warm from the oven with the glaze melting down the sides. 

    On the 20th, we celebrated Teddy again, and this time he wanted cookies. So we had cookies, and they had fun frosting them.

 

    I also finally gave Teddy his Super Kitties plushies. We found them in the clearance section of Walmart several months ago, and they have been sitting in the garage ever since. Henry was very concerned that I had not given them to Teddy yet. As it was his actual birthday, I conceded. Teddy and Henry were mollified at last.

    

    For Daniel's birthday, I made his favorite cookies and tacos for dinner and kept it lowkey just as he prefers. Teddy made Daniel his own Pokémon; it's very powerful! Happy birthday, Teddy and Daniel!

  

   Emily graduated from elementary school that day, too. I got to go watch her class walk the halls for the last time. It was fun. So many kids and parents were crying. Emily didn't understand, as this is her 3rd elementary. She is used to changing schools.