Blogging Kellan

Christmas 2011

2012-01-12T17:11:00.000-06:00

Christmas 2011. The photos are pretty self-explanatory. Presents!!!

This was his "big" present this year. The 3DS. The first reaction photo came out blurry, so I made him retake it. See below.

Kel chose Nic a #1 Dad mug at the holiday store this year.

Love the face. He did actually ask for this! Not sure why so surprised.

Casper got his dad a Simon's Cat book. Nic loves it.

Casper didn't get any presents because Snake is the one and only toy that he cares about.

This looks worse than sleeping on an airplane!

Playing Kel's new game, Niagara, with Dad, Isabelle, and Antoine (not pictured because he was being cheeky and refusing to be in photos).

Rockin' Old St. Nicholas -- Second Grade Winter Concert

2011-12-09T11:38:00.000-06:00

Last night we had the privilege of attending Farmingdale Elementary's Second Grade Winter Concert. A more adorable, fun, and festive Christmas event may not exist. We had a great time, as did the kids. Each of the Second Grade classrooms performed their own repertoire. I have posted the five songs that Kel's class did, each in its own post because I have no idea how to load more than one video into a post -- and I don't have time to research it right now! You can click on the little arrows in the corner of the video while you're watching and it will go into a larger screen mode. For all of our family that couldn't be there last night, we hope that this will be the next best thing.

The first song was "Rockin' Old St. Nicholas".

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus -- Second Grade Winter Concert

2011-12-09T11:26:00.000-06:00

Blue Christmas -- Second Grade Winter Concert

2011-12-09T11:03:00.000-06:00

Nothin' for Christmas -- Second Grade Winter Concert

2011-12-09T10:51:00.000-06:00

Somebody was getting a bit tired by this point in the evening...

For You -- Second Grade Winter Concert

2011-12-09T10:37:00.000-06:00

This was the final song of the evening, called "For You"

Silver Dollar City, Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-01T11:43:00.002-06:00

Another Thanksgiving, another fun long weekend in Branson. This year we got lazy. We went to Silver Dollar City on Thursday, we went to Silver Dollar City on Friday, and, you guessed it, we went to Silver Dollar City on Saturday as well. In our defense, the weather was tragically rotten on Saturday morning, when we normally would have gone out golfing or over to the lake, and when the rain stopped, it was time to head for the City!

Kel didn't spend his usual hours in the kid's play area, where I get my beautiful light photos on the lake while he entertains himself, so we've got a pretty sparse offering here. He's more into the rides these days and I'm usually on the rides with him. And in between the rides, he doesn't want to stop for photo ops because we need to hurry up and get to the next ride! He did at least let me snap a quick photo of him with the snowmen outside of the Frosty show. We always need our snowman photo op.

On Thanksgiving, we were lucky enough to arrange to spend our first day at Silver Dollar City with my dear friend, Sam, and his three kids. They live a couple of hours from Branson, in the deepest Ozarks, and decided to head for civilization and join us for some Thanksgiving festvities -- and the Black Friday shopping, of course! They don't have that in the deepest Ozarks.

The kids. Tyler (18), Caty (16), and Jodi (14) with Kel. They took Kel on all of the spinny rides so that us adults could enjoy some chat and relaxation. Without the sick stomachs.

Some random not-very-good photos of Kel with lights. They don't even begin to do justice to the awesomeness that is Silver Dollar City during their Old Time Christmas celebration. The holiday season doesn't start for me until I've been down to Branson.

Kel took this photo of me. It was sunset. He thought that it would be pretty. The sunset, maybe. The mom, not so much.

Sam and the kids coming off of Thunderation. Kel actually finally went on it the next day. He hated it and wouldn't go again, but brave man, he gave it a try. And that is all that I ask. Hopefully one day soon he'll be my ride partner on all of the big coasters. I dragged Nic onto a couple of them this year, but his poor terrified face and shaking legs when we get off, it just isn't worth causing him the misery.

Kel on what is still his very favourite ride at Silver Dollar City. The horrible spinny pirate ships. He makes me go a few times, but usually resorts to going on his own when he gets sick of my whining and begging and pleading to please please please not have to ride the spinny pirate ships again.

The boys in front of the entrance sign to the park. We love our Silver Dollar City!

Festival of Trees

2011-11-22T11:31:00.000-06:00

A visit to the Festival of Trees is our annual pre-Thanksgiving Christmas treat. The trees are pretty, the crafts, Santa, and train are a favourite for the kids, and we all leave singing Christmas carols and ready to begin the holiday season. Which, anymore, starts somewhere around August. At least we hold out until Thanksgiving week!

My very favourite of the displays this year. A Nightmare Before Christmas tree and scene!!! I was so excited and happy. I need those ornaments! Jack and Sally were the tree-toppers. Took lots of photos...

This tree was very red and green, which the boys found festive, so they wanted a photo.

Waiting for the train to pull into the station.

Still young enough to enjoy a visit with Santa. They had a good old chat.

They took a break from the trees to enjoy some crafts in the kids area.

Kel chose to make an ornament where you write wishes on strips of paper and put them inside of it. He spent a lot of time in deep contemplation over his wishes.

Love this. Hello, pot? He wishes for "Antoine to be good". Ha ha!

Horrible photo, but they're so cute with their bear hug. Definitely brothers in spirit, these two.

Finishing off with a few shots of the trees.

The City Museum

2011-11-18T11:15:00.000-06:00

Nic had tickets to see a Blues game down in St Louis last weekend, which was excuse enough for me and the boys to tag along and spend an absolutely awesome day at the City Museum. I wonder if I'll ever stop loving that place. Took a few photos when I was grounded and not climbing and sliding myself -- primarily after I'd smashed my thumb and sliced it open while sliding off of a vertical wall and, because of my blood thinners, required professional first aid, lots of bandaids, and a bit of time watching instead of playing. The pictures are pretty self-explanatory, so I'll stop typing now.

Halloween

2011-11-02T11:31:00.000-05:00

Here's this year's Halloween roundup with Kel and Antoine, our Angry Bird and adorable pirate.

Post trick-or-treat. Cataloging the candy haul.

Haunted Hayride

2011-10-23T19:29:00.000-05:00

I took the boys to the Clayville Haunted House and Hayride this weekend. Kids' hours, of course. The real thing is far too scary for me, let alone these two! I couldn't get any photos in the haunted house, but here are some snaps from the hayride.

It started out with smiles and brave faces. A hayride. Fun!

There was even candy. Goody!

But as we got closer to the haunted house, things got a bit more creepy. Now, the actors were all in costume, but stopped to hand out candy to the kids and smile nicely. Its just that as we got nearer to the haunted house, the sets and extras became a lot scarier.

These faces say it all. After we got off of the hayride and walked up to the door of the haunted house, Kel was not going in. No way, no how. Antoine and I convinced him, but it was touch and go as he rushed through the rooms hyperventilating, hands over ears, refusing even to take the candy that they were handing out. Poor kid does not do scary.

They survived! And no doubt we'll be back to do it again next year.

Sunny Fall Festivals

2011-10-11T12:01:00.000-05:00

Here is a little pictorial roundup of some fall festivals that the boys and I attended over the past few weeks. The first batch is from the A-Maze-Ing corn maze and fall festival in Auburn. The second set is from the Indian Summer Festival at Lincoln Memorial Garden.

The weather has been phenomenal so far this fall, nothing but sunshine, blue skies, and long warm October days.

The boys race up a Jacob's Ladder obstacle to see who can ring the bell first. These two are so competitive.

They allowed children to have darts. More to the point, they allowed my son to have darts! Glad that the booth operator came away unscathed. They were popping balloons. It was good fun.

Fishing! This looks lame, no? Well, these two nearly ended up in a fist fight over who was catching too many fish and who wasn't allowing for an equal distribution of the fish and how unfair it was that Antoine was catching fish of two colours when Kel had decreed that each of them had a set colour. Competitive, I told you.

When it came time for face painting, Antoine knew immediately that he wanted to be SpiderMan. Always a boy's boy.

Kellan decided to go with the fall theme and be painted as a jack o' lantern.

Now to the Indian Summer Festival at Lincoln Memorial Garden. The boys love to decorate pumpkins. My big complaint being that in the past two years, they've started using paint, rather than the glue and decorative objects that they supplied in the past, and the paint literally peels off the minute that the pumpkins begin to dry. So the boys put a huge amount of effort into their creations, only to come back a few hours later to pick them up and have all of the paint flake off on the way back to the car. Might be skipping this little craft next year.

The boys got to build Fairy Houses, using all natural materials that had been found around the garden. They did a really nice job and took the task very seriously.

Antoine refused to be in this photo, but Kel is my always-cooperative little model.

Caramel apples are a necessity after lunch at the festival. A very messy necessity.

I told Kel that if he kept making this face while I tried to get a photo of them both eating their apples, I would put it online. And so, I did.

New Salem

2011-09-12T10:19:00.000-05:00

A day at New Salem with the goofy boys.

Trying to figure out how that thing worked. They never did. Nor did we ever figure out what "that thing" actually was. It has something to do with wood. That's as far as we got.

Kel took a couple of photos of me.

The boys had a fabulous couple of hours playing down in the river, building waterways and islands, causing major natural disasters to knock it all down, then starting again. It was a perfect place to play on a hot end-of-summer Sunday.

Playing at Viejas

2011-08-25T11:25:00.002-05:00

Finally getting around to some of the last photos from our San Diego trip. We had a few relaxing days with lots of beach time, pool time, and a return to Viejas for some shopping, minigolf, and water play. Here are a few photos of Kel playing in the water area at Viejas.

PS -- I don't know if its just my computer (or my eyes!), but Blogger's new photo format seems to be making the pictures look blurry in the main post. Click on any photo for a larger and not blurry version of the picture.

Standing on the outside, getting his bearings. Water and children. What to make of this?

Meditating kid absolutely cracks me up. Still not ready to dive in to play, but maybe if I hang out by this kid, I'll find some divine inspiration.

Ah ha! The fun begins!

This is the "I'm all done with people now" shot. Hiding in his towel, tired and ready to go home.

Legoland

2011-08-20T01:29:00.000-05:00

Some snaps from this week's super fun (and super long) day at Legoland!

Kel posing with the Angry Bird that he won in a carnival game. Standing in front of his favourite "firetrucks and police cars" ride.

I know that its out of order (a night shot), but this one of Kel at the always fun Lego driving school was too cute to bury at the bottom of the post. Forgive me.

Hanging out and eating ice creams with Lego New York City behind us.

Kel made an awesome keepsake with his handprint painted into a fun work of art. This is the artist helping to prepare his hand and then stamping the paper. I'll get a photo of the handprint art when I have a chance and post it.

Kel's favourite time at Legoland (or just about anywhere) is when the lights go out. He loves what he calls "Night Shift" at all of the parks. So, here we are, hanging out until they closed the gates.

Night Seaworld

2011-08-17T08:40:00.000-05:00

After a couple of manic daytime visits to Seaworld this trip (darn summertime and kids out of school and tourists crawling all over San Diego -- how dare they?!), we were pleasantly surprised to find that the park emptied out after 6pm on Monday and had a wonderful time at Night Seaworld, seeing far more exhibits in three hours than we'd seen in two entire days spent shoving our way through the hordes. I have filed this handy info away for next summer. Monday night Night Seaworld is the way to go!

Mini Golf in Del Mar

2011-08-16T12:18:00.000-05:00

When you're feeling depressed and sad about baby Molly and Auntie leaving town, mini golf is a good distraction. It worked for us, anyway.

He'd just made an awesome shot. Love the face.

Your child may have Dyspraxia if s/he looks like this when bending down to pick up a ball. At least he gets a workout!

Or if he manages to hit himself in the head with his own golf club while taking a shot. Seriously. Only Kel.

San Diego Zoo

2011-08-11T10:43:00.001-05:00

Lots of fun photos from our family day at the zoo. Kel looks good in Grandpa's hat!

Grandpa doesn't look quite as good in Kel's hat.

Grandma definitely doesn't look so great in Baby Molly's hat!

Sitting on the always-popular foot massage machine.

A proud grandpa with two cute kids.

Our adorable Baby Molly.

On the skyride with Baby Molly.

Cute photos of Grandpa with Baby Molly. A bit overexposed. Darn San Diego sunshine.

Sleeping through the line for the bus tour. Smart girl.

Baby Molly's first ride on the Balboa Park Railroad.

Kel holds his baby cousin. He loves her so much.

Balboa Park

2011-08-11T02:15:00.000-05:00

A day at Balboa Park is always a day well spent.

After renewing our Science Center passes, we spent an afternoon at the Fleet. This museum has provided lifelong fun and learning with its ever-changing exhibits, clear explanations, and interesting displays. It was another great San Diego day.

Kernville

2011-08-11T01:57:00.002-05:00

While we were up at Amanda's house, we headed into the Sierras to Lake Isabella and the Kern River for a day. The temperature dropped 20 degrees and the crystal clear water was ice cold. It felt wonderful after August in the desert! Kel had a great time playing on the rocks in the Kern River after we had lunch at the park in Kernville.

Molly loved playing in the grass at the park. Auntie was there with the camera for a little photo shoot. But of course!

Visiting Amanda in the beautiful California Desert

2011-08-11T00:50:00.000-05:00

We spent the first couple of days of our vacation at Seaworld and Legoland, but opted to do "water days" where we knew that we'd get wet, so I left the camera at home and simply enjoyed our time in the sunshine. Thus, our vacation photos officially begin when we arrived at Amanda's house to meet Baby Molly for the very first time. As you can see, Kel was instantly smitten. He has proved a wonderful big cousin to his newest family member.

While visiting Amanda, we had to make a trip out to my favourite local spot, the Trona Pinnacles.

Kel did a good job pushing Miss Molly around the site on a relatively cool 104 degree afternoon.

There was much drinking while out in the dry desert air.

Some shots of the Pinnacles.

Railway tracks with the Pinnacles in the distance.

Upon our return home in the evening, Baby Molly needed her dinner of avocados! As you can see by the happy faces and the bright green mouth, this baby may have been born in Guam, but she is a California girl at heart!

4th of July

2011-07-08T15:47:00.008-05:00

I took a few snaps of the boys riding bikes and playing together on the 4th of July. Kel and Antoine love the freedom of setting off around the neighbourhood on their bikes. In this case, wearing swim shorts after a refreshing water gun session in the backyard.

Here is the Kel having his first lesson in how to use a sparkler. Isabelle was demonstrating. Kel was hiding behind her car looking very uncertain.

Now it was Kel's turn. Look at that face. Definitely not sure about this.

Its getting closer...

Happy proud face after he didn't burn his hand off with his first sparkler.

Now he's an old pro!

The boys were feeling very patriotic when we walked over to the fireworks.

Look at him now. TWO sparklers at once!

But still not so sure about it when they burn close to the ends.

Ta da! Or, "Walla!" as Kel would say.

Three random shots from our church's zoo outing later in the week. We were actually doing a scavenger hunt by camera and had to photograph a bunch of things. These three were just pictures that happened to be share-worthy. We won second place in the scavenger hunt, by the way.

London Science Museum

2011-06-10T05:45:00.003-05:00

We finally made it to the London Science Museum this trip. I've been wanting to do this for ages, but the crowds have always kept us away. The schools are back in this week and we decided to go for it. While there were certainly a lot of school groups there (you can't win!), the crowds were really manageable and Kel had a great day out.

Here is Kel working on a circuitry project. He rigged a sensor pad to ring a bell and turn on a light when pressed. He said, "This is real science!".

This was cool. You put a straw onto this metal rod, then bit down and plugged your ears. It played radio right into your head!

Kel and this group of school boys spent ages watching dry ice zoom around in a purple pool. Whatever keeps them occupied, right?

It was our last day out in London, so I had to get a quick snap of Kel next to the Underground train as it pulled out of the station. He does love transit!

Legoland Windsor

2011-06-10T04:58:00.005-05:00

Kel's favourite day of the trip so far was our super fun day at Legoland Windsor. We both agree that Legoland Windsor far surpasses Legoland California in every way. We'll definitely be back!

This was a fun digger "ride" where the kids controlled their own digger and loaded a bucket with rocks.

Lego London. Very cool.

Kel did so well at the Lego Driving School and even earned his UK license! He had no trouble driving on the left, handling roundabouts, and obeying the UK street signs and markings. He has promised to help me out in Australia later this year.

Driving the boat.

This was a fun super fast spinning train ride. I went on once, then left it to the Kel. Crowds were light and we were able to ride most of the rides over and over again without even getting off in between. I think that he went four times around this before moving on. Surprised that he could still stand upright!

The Lego creations here were amazing. They had all sorts of European landmarks and amazing layouts. This was an Italian castle, I believe. Or possibly something in Belgium. Kel wanted a photo with it, anyway.

The helicopters. He spent almost an hour on these!

Hard to see, but this is the submarine ride, very cool. Like Nemo at Disneyland, but with real fish, sharks, rays, etc.

Lego steam train. Nic is sorry to have missed out on this one.

Around London

2011-06-07T16:51:00.008-05:00

I titled the post, "Around London", but really, its more the big time scenic riverfront that I actually photographed today, though Kel and I did tour all around London sans photographic evidence. I swear. Ask us anything!

Two weeks of way too much delicious British home cooking = Nicola is now shaped like a pear. Lovely. Will be eradicating that middle as soon as we get back!

Ooh, look, one photo to prove that we did in fact leave the Eye area. St. Paul's. Uncle Steve was with us here, leading us on an excellent walking tour, but I didn't get any photos of him in his handsome London business suit.

Monkey proving his monkey status on the climbing structure. Eye in the background.

London Transport Museum

2011-06-07T16:08:00.007-05:00

The obligatory "phone box" photo in Covent Garden before we head into the Transport Museum.

Kel loves the London Transport Museum more than any other museum in the world. I apologize for the mismatched clothing, but we went to the Transport Museum two days in a row and the photos aren't being posted in any particular order.

Hanging off of the Routemaster Bus which we later got to ride around London on one of the old routes.

A fun part of the museum is having your card stamped at various points around the exhibits.

Kel's "there are other kids here, Mom, I don't want to pose for a photo!" face. Too cool to have his photo taken with this old tram and horses.

Kel's very most favourite thing in the whole museum -- "driving" a real London bus!

He also enjoys the Underground simulator.

Driving an old tram.

Liverpool

2011-06-07T02:04:00.012-05:00

Nic and I enjoyed a little mini-break in Liverpool over the weekend. We took the train from London and arrived here, at Lime Street Station.

The Liverpool skyline at sunset. It kind of captured me. As noted in the following way-too-many photos:

On the right, over the Albert Dock, you can see the new giant ferris wheel, similar to London's Eye.

Daytime shot, taken from the ferry.

And now, the Liver building. Again, the way-too-many photo thing.

We stayed in New Brighton, across the river from Liverpool. There were miles and miles of coastal walks.
Go ahead and sing the song, its kind of necessary. They even played it on the ferry!

Of course, we were in Liverpool, so there was a bit of Beatlemania.

We spent a morning touring St. James. Beautiful, if a bit modern as cathedrals go.

Still not sure how I feel about the combination of stained glass and neon...

King and Queen signatures. Also, signature of "the guy who isn't the king, but who is really like the king".

We went from St. James over to the Catholic Cathedral. Interesting might be a good word to describe it.

A view back from the steps of the Catholic cathedral over to St. James.

We also stumbled upon Chinatown in our wanderings.

There was so much more, but most of it not photographed. Hope that you've enjoyed your Liverpool sampler.

Dapdune Wharf

2011-06-02T14:34:00.010-05:00

We bused over to Guildford today to visit Dapdune Wharf. We all learned a lot about the difference between a river and a "navigation", Wey barges, locks, weirs, and old Guildford.

My favourite part of the day was our walk along the Wey towpath. Here is Kel enjoying our stroll in the sunshine.

One of the big barges, Reliance, at the Wharf museum site.

There were so many opportunities to learn and explore at the museum. Here you see a happy and well-educated boy.

Kel could have spent days experimenting with the working lock and weir table, including a real barge that he loved driving around the waterway.

Kel got to make a besom broom and then conquer an obstacle course with it outside. He also hauled it all the way back from Guildford for Grannie!

Kel and Tom, one of the site volunteers, racing around the obstacle course. Kel won, though Tom may have let him.

Horribly exposed, but here are the boys standing on the bridge over the Wey. The train bridge arches are in the background.

Eastbourne

2011-06-01T16:41:00.006-05:00

Eastbourne and sunshine go hand in hand in my memories, since we've only ever been there on the sunniest and most beautiful days. Good luck -- and good planning.

The pier is the main scenic attraction in Eastbourne (aside from the sea, of course!). Most of the photos that I took today were either in front of, or on, the pier. We also went to the fun fair, did some walking around the town centre, let Kel have his open air tour bus wish come true, and more, but I'd put the camera away at that point. Sometimes, you just have to enjoy the day.

Kel out on the pier. We walked all the way to the end.

It was kind of windy. This is not my best look.

Kel with Grannie and Grandad.

Eating a delicious chips lunch down on the seafront.

Followed up with a huge ice cream cone, just being finished off here. I had to capture that messy face.

And just to prove that I can laugh at myself, here's my walking drunk photo, taken by the master himself. Kellan knows how to capture my best moments. I swear, I haven't touched a drop since we arrived here!

Kingston

2011-05-30T08:26:00.006-05:00

A few shots from a wander around Kingston this afternoon. Still a bit jet-lagged, but having fun. Kel is off with his grandparents now, riding his beloved double decker red buses. He volunteered to go grocery shopping with them just so that he could have a ride there and back on the bus. This is a serious obsession.

These are the falling phone boxes on Old London Road in Kingston. Kel loves these.

Couple of photos down on the Thames, watching the swans and the boats.

First Grade Picnic

2011-05-20T14:30:00.011-05:00

We were excited to join Kellan today at school for the end of the year first grade picnic. The picnic was held outside in the school's "habitat" -- a beautiful natural area with prairie, a pond, walking trails, and all sorts of wildlife (we even saw a snake in a tree today!). We arrived before lunchtime, signed in, and the kids came out to greet their families. Then we all went to find a favourite spot around the pond for our picnics. A shady spot, in our case, since we had Mr I Hate the Sun Nic with us.

Here is the Kel eating his lunch on our blanket. Watermelon time!

My boys. Kel was trying to steal Nic's hat, so there was a bit of a struggle, but I finally got them to semi-pose long enough to take a quick photo. Notice Nic's firm grip on the Kel's arm.

Kel snapped this photo of us together.

Kel and I down by the pond. The photos aren't great because we were under an intense sun right at the noon hour, thus the washed out sky. Not Nic's fault.

Kel took this one of me by a tree.

I am going to stop allowing photographs of myself until they come up with a decent anti-aging serum. Its just getting too scary.

Bit off topic, but noticed that I was still holding a few photos that hadn't been posted in recent months. This was from when Kel lost his first top tooth, back in April. He's still got quite a gap in that spot. Its adorable.

And these two are from the Young Authors awards ceremony and brunch, also back in April. Kel won an award in his age group for his book, "The President Needs a Pet".

Kel and Antoine having brunch after the Young Authors awards ceremony.

Spring break in Branson

2011-03-27T17:50:00.018-05:00

When we saw the long term forecast for southern Missouri (sunshine and warm days -- something that we haven't seen since October!), we knew that we were heading to Branson for spring break this year. Any excuse to go to Branson, really. We might be turning into Midwesterners if we don't watch ourselves!

Upon arrival at our campground (we decided to cabin camp for fun), the shoes and socks came off and a jacketless boy jumped the evening away on the giant bounce pillow: "Look, Mom, no parka!".

Though tired from the long drive, I was also very happy to be outdoors in the sunshine again.

Kellan's big wish for the Branson trip, outside of Silver Dollar City, was mini golf. Lots and lots of mini golf. So, that's what we did. It was his spring break, after all. Who am I to argue?

We started our mini golf adventure at the Grand Country indoor courses, as it was a bit chilly on the first morning. I didn't take any photos there. After we finished 36 holes indoors, we moved on to the Pirate's Cove course.

As soon as the sun came out, we didn't need jackets anymore. Kel lost his ball in the water, but happily retrieved it.

My little left-handed golfer. Always with the tongue.

As we finished our first 18 holes, the sun came out in full force and we got hot. Not to mention squinty.

Off came the long sleeves! It felt soooooo good to bask in the sun. Is this heaven, or what?

When you finish the 36 holes, they give you a little goody bag with a hat. Kel wanted his photo taken with old Blackbeard.

We moved on to Dinosaur Canyon mini golf next. It was now very hot and sunny. Kel didn't want anymore photos. He let me snap a couple with reasonable good grace.

And after a long day of mini golf in the sunshine, can you ask for more than an evening at the Dixie Stampede? I think not.

On St Patrick's Day, we headed off for opening day at Silver Dollar City. It was quite the celebration. This happy face says it all. It was so much fun to welcome in another season at one of our favourite places. Everybody was in high spirits and the sun didn't stop shining!

A few shots while I could actually keep him still, as we waited up at the square for the park to officially open.

Off to our first ride of the season. The first people on the ride, in fact! Here he is waiting to get on the pirate ships. Sun was so bright that photos were a pain, but you can sort of make out the ships behind him there.

Riding the kiddie coaster. Look at that face. Not quite sure...

...but then it was all smiles.

Lots more rides, but I was enjoying them as well, so had the camera packed away. Here's a photo of a rather wet boy after some good old fashioned fun at the Geyser Gulch play area.

Waiting in line for the mine ride. I never can remember the name. You shoot at prisoners and other stuff in a flooded mine. Maybe its called the Flooded Mine. Anyway, its good fun.

Icee break! He got to mix his own. Happy boy.

Kel also insisted that we do the cave tour, so off we went, down, down, down into Marvel Cave. If you enlarge the photo, you can see just how huge this entry room is. Each of those little lanterns is over a flight of stairs, winding their way down the slope.

After a fun day at the City, we went off to Ride the Ducks. Silly tourist attraction, but Kel really really really wanted to do it. So, why not? Highlight of the trip was that Kel got to drive the Duck while we were out on the lake! However, I was seated in a really bad spot with the wrong lens on my camera and with some annoying kid by the name of Caden/Cadyn/Kadyn/Kaden who kept popping up in front of me when I tried to get a photo of Kel driving the Duck. So, this is the best that I got. Kel in the driver's seat with the Duck Captain next to him. You can sort of kind of see it, right?

Some photos that I took from the Duck. This is the Branson Belle. Pretty, no?

We also drove up into the Ozarks a bit. Pretty.

After our adventure on the Ducks, you'll never believe what we decided to do -- yep, more mini golf!

This course was extra awesome because you got to ride a train to the top of the course. Was Kellan in heaven? You better believe it!

On our next day at Silver Dollar City, we decided to hit the water rides. Thus, I packed the camera away in a water proof bag and enjoyed the day in soaking wet clothes. This is the one and only photo that I took, of a soaking wet Kellan going on Tom and Hucks Rafts yet again. I was too wet to venture on anymore.

We had an absolutely fabulous four days in Branson and will be back again for spring break next year -- weather permitting. Which is kind of how things work in the Midwest. This year, it certainly worked in our favour!

Maple Syrup and a Late Winter Hike

2011-03-08T17:43:00.007-06:00

We went out on Sunday for a maple tree tapping expedition and a little hike in the winter landscape. It was cold. Thus, the goofy hat in all but one shot, and the ratty old winter coat, still hanging on to the end of the season.

"Look, Mom, no hat!" But only long enough to get the shot.

Playing in the stream, where the hike took a turn for the worse. Kel saw a pretty rock that he wanted to pick up. So he reached down to grab it -- while wearing his little cotton gloves. Oops.

Taking off the sopping cold wet gloves.

"Here you go, Mom". Thanks, son. So I traded my warm gloves for a pocket full of his wet ones and froze my own little fingers all the way back to the car.

I didn't get many photos of the actual tree tapping (too busy participating!), but here is Kel standing by the jug at one of the trees that he collected from. It had been tapped earlier and he grabbed the full jug of sap to add to the big containers being brought in to be fired down into syrup.

Kel replacing the jug onto the spile after he'd dumped its contents into the communal bottle.

Kellan Turns 7

2011-02-25T10:01:00.017-06:00

Here, at last, are the photos from Kellan's 7th birthday party last weekend. He chose Midstate Gymnastics again this year, having had such a super day last year, and they didn't disappoint. I wonder when you're too old to have an awesome afternoon on inflatables and leaping around in a foam pit with all of your best pals? Maybe never.

At the beginning of the party, before they went into the inflatables room, they had to sit down to have the rules laid out for them. Not that any of them followed said rules once they were set loose in the room, but I guess that the venue covered its bases where liability was concerned. In this photo are Dylan, Kel, Jack, and Maddox (who came all the way from Arkansas!).

Absolutely love this photo of Kel and buddy, Marcus. They've known each other since they were little. This was also a very rare moment in the afternoon -- I actually got them to stand still enough for a photograph! There aren't many photos from the event because they were all blurry. It was two hours of kids in constant motion.

Rather poor attempt at a group shot. A couple of kids aren't even in it, as they were wandering off for a drink at the time, but since most of them were here in one place at one time, I had to go for it. This is the best that I could do.

Grace and Kati were so exhausted from running around that they had to take a little breather.

Antoine in the only non-blurry shot of him from the inflatables room.

Connor, standing still. Weird. But I took it!

After an hour in the inflatables room, they moved on to the soft play foam pit area. Kel got to be line leader, of course.

I love this shot so much. I have no idea what the woman was telling them, but it obviously wasn't popular. Look at Kel and Carmen's faces!

Here are the kids lined up, ready to take a leap into the foam pit. Maddox and Jack are about to run down the mats.

The kids watching some jumpers. Whoever is missing from this shot, I presume.

Here are a few shots of kids in motion, jumping into the pit. Most of these were too blurry to keep, but I got a couple.

Notice Dylan leaping over the blocks while Kel's lack of coordination means that he sort of kind of almost gets a leg off the ground. Major tongue action required for concentration and little old man unsteady posture. An athlete, he will never be. But I'll keep him.

Addison is mid-flight in this one. So cute.

Antoine in the pit.

A sea of kids swimming in foam blocks. Kel isn't in this photo because, rather than climbing around the pit, he was over in the other corner fastidiously stacking blocks. Whatever makes you happy, right?

The super awesome Super Mario cake, made by my talented friend, Linda House.

While the kids sang "Happy Birthday", Kel conducted.

Blowing out the candle. Its official. He's 7! Happy birthday, sweet boy.

Spongebob!

2011-02-25T09:41:00.003-06:00

The boys had a great time at the Spongebob event last weekend, put on by the Children's Museum of Illinois. They're already asking when we can do it again. The museum puts together some fabulous events for the kids. Always well organized and tons of fun.

The boys pose with the man of the hour, Spongebob himself! I thought that the costume looked weird, but the boys loved it. Kel says that his favourite part of the evening was having their photo taken with Spongebob. Lame costume and all.

They got to make cute Mr. Krabs crafts out of little flower pots. You can see one being made in the background. After they'd finished, they made a "house" for Mr. Krabs out of these takeaway food containers.

The boys are playing instruments to make Spongebob dance. And he did!

Everybody listening intently to the instructions for one of the games upstairs. The looks on their faces make the game look quite scary! I love the way that Antoine is leaning into Kel. Best buds, they stick together.

Kel was chosen to demonstrate the scary game. A race which involved carrying eggs back and forth down a track. Not so scary after all.

The evening ended with snack time. Look at those tired faces.

Outside in Decatur -- in February!

2011-02-25T09:25:00.006-06:00

We took full advantage of a brief winter warm spell and a day off school last week to enjoy a whole afternoon outside. In February! The boys were in heaven. Just look at those smiles. Best friends, sunshine, and fresh air. It doesn't get much better than that.

Legoland

2011-01-07T21:44:00.005-06:00

We have our Legoland passes again this year and Kellan has grown into some of the bigger rides since our last trip there two years ago. We tend to choose between Legoland and Disneyland, and this year, since we know that we'll be back for a few weeks in August, Legoland made more sense. Kel is already looking forward to the water park this summer.

A big favourite on this trip was the Legoland driving school.

He is so proud of having his very own driver's license. I've never seen him light up quite like this!

Kel and Grandma on the KidPower Tower. I don't know why they call it that, since its the adult who powers this ride!

I love Mom's face here. What did you get me in to?!

Another favourite was driving his own boat. He did this over and over and over again. Luckily, there were no lines this day.

Kel and Grandma on the bouncing stomach-in-your-throat ride. I went once. After that, he had to find another sucker to accompany him!

Kel in Miniland. That's San Francisco behind him. Lego San Francisco.

Kel and Grandpa also played a round of mini-golf. I was being lazy and relaxing in the sunshine. This is the only photo that I got.

Here's Kel about to take off on his jeep safari adventure.

Bidding farewell to Legoland on his last ride of the day, but we'll be back again this summer!

Another beautiful day at Balboa Park

2011-01-07T21:26:00.004-06:00

There is never enough time to finish our explorations of Balboa Park -- the museums, the zoo, the play areas, the fountains -- it keeps us busy for days, and always wanting another trip back for more.

On our zoo trip this time, Kellan wanted specifically to see all of the aviaries and garden areas. We spent about three hours exploring various birds and plants. Here are a couple of my favourite aviary photos.

This kingfisher is native to Guam, but is now completely extinct in the wild. We were awed by its beauty, and so sad that what must have been a wonderful avian ecosystem at one point has now entirely vanished from Guam. We still love Guam though!

Back to the Science Center for more learning and discovery.

The buildings around Balboa Park are one of its more beautiful aspects. I'd like to take an early morning (or late afternoon) trip over with my camera on an upcoming visit so that I can get some shots without the mid-day light to spoil them. This was the only building shot worth looking at from this visit, the Casa del Prado Theater. And its still all wrong.

SeaWorld

2011-01-06T00:04:00.002-06:00

Another fun day at SeaWorld. Another day with minimal photography. We have so many photos of ourselves at these big San Diego attractions that I'm more likely to sit back and enjoy the day now, rather than feverishly looking for photo ops. Its more like vacation this way.

Jungle Bells

2011-01-04T23:32:00.007-06:00

I have no idea how we've missed this in the past (is it a long running event???), but we discovered Jungle Bells at the zoo this year. We spent a chilly New Year's Day (night) enjoying the lights, holiday music, and other festive offerings. We'll be making this an annual stop for sure.

The magic was in the lights and displays, but the photos are mainly of the boy -- in the dark. Christmas lights don't make for the most fabulous photos. Apologies. But he's a cute kid.

The bus tour was so much fun. We got to sit right up front on the top deck and enjoy all of the lights around the zoo.

They were also running the Balboa Park Railroad with some fabulous light displays around the track. This was a happy boy.

Wacky mother/son photo. Long day, long week, long year. Oh, wait, it was New Year's Day. I'm anticipating a long year. Good enough?

Couple of random shots. Here are mom and Kel before the symphony, standing in front of the big tree in Copley Symphony Hall. I took this shot with my phone, but I still love it.

And here's the Kel monster in one of the inflatables on a day out with friends.

A day at the zoo and Balboa park

2011-01-02T19:36:00.006-06:00

There's nothing better than a day at Balboa Park. We made the most of it. It was a chilly morning, but Kel insisted that we start at the Zoo (rather than the museums). It was a good choice. The zoo was relatively empty and we saw all of our favourite animals before the crowds arrived.

My personal favourite -- the always gorgeous giraffes. Aren't they perfect? The kid standing in front of them is pretty cute too, if I might say so myself.

Kel's happy place: the Skyfari.

That's it for the zoo photos. We're enjoying, rather than snapping. We moved on to the science museum next. I love this shot of Kel examining the movement of sand particles to form dunes and other transient landforms. An image of discovery and learning in action.

And more discovery. This time experimenting with energy transformation.

An annual pass to the science center is an investment in education. Here are some more photos of Kellan learning through play. I adore this museum.

Next stop, the model railway museum!

Where better to stop after the railway museum than the miniature railroad? Kel was still carrying his new stuffed bat, a souvenir from the zoo. He insisted on getting one for his new cousin as well (as yet unborn) and is sleeping with the bat right now, as I type.

Finishing up with a few more shots from around the park.

At the New Children's Museum

2011-01-02T12:58:00.006-06:00

Before we headed to the trolley and a day at the Children's Museum with friends, we stopped by the beach for a stroll. It was cold. Really cold. Where is my San Diego weather this year?

And on to the New Children's Museum for a fun day with Holden and Ainsley.

Kel was helping to paint a big whale. His hands were somehow involved.

Holden and Kel working on their clay masterpieces. Kel's was a train track and signal. Go figure.

Mister Coordination attempts the climbing wall.

These were fun little chariots that the kids could control and ride around a track on the floor.

Kel and Holden master their chariots.

A very serious conference of architects, discussing how they will build their house within a house.

And then it fell down.

Blowing bubbles in the sunshine. Not warm sunshine, but sunshine nevertheless.

Few snaps from SeaWorld and Legoland

2010-12-29T10:56:00.005-06:00

We've had a people-packed start to our San Diego trip. This week between the two holidays, especially since both fell on a weekend, and considering the rain that's kept everybody indoors for the past couple of weeks, as well as the Holiday Bowl game that's in town on Thursday, has meant wall to wall people at the tourist hot spots. We had a great day at SeaWorld and then again at Legoland, but altered our usual activities around the crowds. Knowing that next week, we'll be able to do the parks again and have them entirely to ourselves.

Although the park was packed, people didn't seem to stumble upon the bat rays. It was quiet here and we were able to spend a long time feeding and petting their silky bodies. I love these guys.

SeaWorld is still dressed for Christmas this week.

Kellan refused to have his photo taken with the penguin and Shamu -- so mom and I did instead!

Didn't really get any photos at Legoland, but we had to snap a few by the tree. It was pretty all lit up at night. The sun was in exactly the wrong position when I took these (setting very brightly in the background), so apologies for the washed out effect.

Me (and my backpack) by the tree.

Kel in a rare still moment at one of the play areas. It was crowded, but we had a great day. And can't wait to get back next week to actually ride the rides!

Thanksgiving in Branson

2010-12-01T21:22:00.007-06:00

Nothing starts off the holiday season like a long weekend in Branson. That place is like Christmas on steroids.

Thanksgiving evening was COLD (around 18 degrees by the time that we ventured out to Silver Dollar City), but nothing was going to stop Kellan from having our traditional Thanksgiving night at the theme park. Its what we do every year. And usually, we freeze. Here are the boys on the bus from the parking lot, bundled up and ready to spend the next five hours outdoors. In the dark. On the coldest night of the year so far.

This one is priceless. Kel's face when he caught his first glimpse of the always amazing Silver Dollar City light display. This is why we have season passes.

Just a few of the trees that line the bus entry area. Hard to tell in this photo, but quite a few of the displays were actually out because they'd had a big ice storm through that day (we had a lovely drive down, by the way). Everything was fixed by the next night. And the park was empty for us on Thanksgiving. Ice and arctic temperatures scare some people away, apparently.

Me with the snowmen outside of the Frosty show. We got front row seats. Without even waiting! Nobody wanted to be sitting outside to watch a show, but we needed our Frosty fix. And Silver Dollar City has magical hot chocolate that warms you from the inside out. Works every time. Except for Kel -- who insisted upon having a Sprite. I kid you not. 18 degrees outside and the kid wants a Sprite.

During the Frosty show, the kids all get to go up and sit on stage. They sing songs and participate. You can spot Kel's yellow and black striped hat.

This is the best part. The kids have to close their eyes and chant this little Christmas verse a couple of times. Then when they're told to open their eyes again, its "snowing"! They all stand up and go a bit crazy. Its cute.

Kel's absolute favourite part of Silver Dollar City -- the playhouse! Full of balls and slides and things to push and drive and vacuum. Also the noisiest place in the park. Except on this particular night, when Kel had the place almost completely to himself! Which actually isn't quite so much fun as being there with other kids. But he had many more hours there over the weekend when it was full of his happy little cohorts.

Time warp. Day Two and we're back at Silver Dollar City. Its kind of what we do in Branson. We also catch a show or two and tour around a bit, but most of this trip's photos are from the park. This frog ride is so much fun. Kel will go on it over and over again. He finally coaxed me on (it looked kind of -- small) later this night and, oh my gosh, its a wild ride! I was screaming and laughing. We went on about 10 times in a row that evening, until my stomach could take no more.

Kel met lots of new buddies over the course of the weekend. Here are Carter and his big brother, Tanner, in the back. The boys had a great time going from ride to ride in the fairgrounds area.

Kel took this photo of me at one of the nativities.

He also took this washed out photo by some poinsettias.

Now we're on Day Three! Notice the change of clothes. It was much warmer this day. We even left our jackets in the car. And, by "we", I mean everybody except for Nic, who can't be without a jacket even in the middle of summer. He has an entire closet full of, you guessed it, jackets!

This is a photo of us down in Marvel Cave. Of course, on the nicest day of our trip, the boys insisted that we do a cave tour. Seriously? It was sunny and 50 degrees outside!

Eventually, we made it back into the sunshine, and headed off into the park again of course! At night, this tree lights up and does a "show". A lights and music extravaganza. During the day, its just a tree.

A Kel's eye view. We're so tall! (ok, yes, we were standing up on a bench too)

Kel contemplating the tree.

One final photo. This was taken with my phone, so the quality's not great (though, I have to admit, surprisingly good for a phone photo!). This is Kel with his fancy light-up glasses waiting in the lobby of the Clay Cooper show. You should see these glasses in action. The photo doesn't do them justice. The show was excellent. A bit of something for everybody. And, of course, being Branson, a whole lot of God, family, and country music. Yee haw!

Christmas comes early in Illinois

2010-11-22T21:28:00.005-06:00

We made our annual pilgrimage to the Festival of Trees last weekend. It feels odd before Thanksgiving, but the festival ends this weekend and we're always out of town for the holiday. And so we enjoy a dose of tacky Christmas overload -- in the middle of November.

I usually try to have Kel dress nicely since this is where we get his annual photo with Santa, but this year we were going straight to basketball practise, so he was in gym pants and t-shirt. Oh well.

We love the giant gingerbread men. They are all frosted differently and you choose which one you want. Kel looks for maximum frosting. The frosting goes first, followed by the cookie.

Kel's reaction when I said, "Darn, you can't really tell that its a Beatles tree" as he posed by a tree with a Beatles theme. It would have been all matchy matchy cute, but you'll just have to trust me. It was a Beatles tree.

Kel and Santa. Not too old yet. He insisted on waiting to see the Big Guy, even though the line was ridiculous.

Kel took this photo of me and Nic next to some weird stuffed animal tree.

Our Little Pilgrim

2010-11-19T17:07:00.002-06:00

I had the privilege of attending today's Thanksgiving play at Kellan's school, put on by his first grade class. What an adorable bunch of Pilgrims and Indians. How very un-PC, but I'm overlooking it. They worked so hard and were wonderful. The show was fun for everybody. And sometimes its nice to time travel on a Friday afternoon. Ah, the 1950s, when life was simple and it was ok to sing a song containing the refrain, "Dance, Indian man, dance!".

The whole adorable lot of them. The play took place in the music room.

Kellan and his good buddy, Dylan. A modest Indian who kept holding his vest closed.

Kel with another buddy, Hayden. He's apparently been toning his stomach muscles for the part and wasn't shy about the open vested look. Check out those abs!

Kellan and his wonderful first grade teacher, Mrs. Lyddon. She takes good care of our boy.

Halloween!

2010-11-04T18:07:00.019-05:00

I figured that I'd better get this Halloween post up before Thanksgiving! Its been a busy week. Kellan's basketball season has started, he's got piano and choir, the nightly homework seems to be growing exponentially, and they've got a Thanksgiving play coming up later this month which adds memorizing lines and songs to the evening workload. I'm exhausted!

We had a wonderful Halloween. Kellan dressed as Spongebob and tried to pull off looking cool at the same time. Didn't work out so well.

We attended the super fun Boo at the Zoo in Decatur again this year. Can you tell that Kellan wanted nothing to do with standing next to this mummy? Which he calls a "mommy".

I'm pretty sure that this was supposed to be Dora pumpkin-head-scarecrow-thingy. Note the purple sweater.

Kel said that this was Casper, though I doubt that Casper would appreciate a pink bow.

Kel pretending to be "a zombie" as he called it (ie Frankenstein).

Can you have an event in central Illinois that doesn't somehow incorporate corn? I think not!

Riding on the carousel. They play spooky Halloween music during Boo at the Zoo.

Can you spot the waving Spongeboy?

While we were in Decatur, we spent the afternoon at the always fun Children's Museum. This is Kel with his buddy, Mario the dalmation.

Knocking down the block tower!

Spongeboy found himself on a box of Mac & Cheese in the grocery store area!

Electrifying his face.

Look at those legs go!

In the funhouse mirror.

Hard at work in the "post office".

Also throwing in some photos of our pumpkins. Not bad, eh? We are pumpkin artists here at the Evans house!

Abe's Corn Maze

2010-10-19T14:05:00.000-05:00

It was another perfect fall weekend here in the Midwest, so what better activity than to check out the local corn maze? You take what you can get. And here, you can definitely get corn.

We stole Maddox away from his family for the day. Here are the two goofy pals attempting to navigate the maze, while stocking up on dried out corn cobs. You never know when you might get lost and need a snack, right?

No idea what Maddox is doing here, but it was a funny pose.

Another important activity involved stripping corn cobs of their kernels. Right into Maddox's hat. They filled this hat to the brim and then actually thought that I was going to let them bring it in the car. Ha! Because I want to spend the next six years picking corn kernels out of my back seat? Nope. They decided to feed it to the birds instead.

They made it out!

And then it was time for the tractor-pulled hay ride.

We also met up with buddies Antoine and Royce at the maze. We had intended to conquer the maze together, but wires were crossed (my wires!) and we met up at the end instead. Might actually have been easier to keep two boys on track than four. We all made it out safely, anyway, and joined forces for a great afternoon playing in the hay. And, yes, the porta potty backdrop did not go unnoticed by me, but getting the four of them to stand together in one place and actually look at the camera was enough. Forget trying to change their pose for a better backdrop!

Ten years from now, watch out. These four will be teenagers -- two of them already driving!