Firsts and flowers

We had the best Saturday. Seriously. The kind of Saturday where you just don't come inside, where you get a little too much sun, even in April, where you fill the day so full it is still brimming over and you don't get tot the blog until 10:45 on Sunday night... Before I tell you about it, though, lets back up a bit. These past weeks have been as full of firsts for our children as they have been of flowers. Did I tell you about Jacks little concert? How those kindergartner a stood up there so straight and yelled out the words to their springtime songs? I think I may have, but here's another picture for good measure.

And how about Ivy's brush with fame? Here she is, gracing the front page of the Plain Dealer Metro section. We've been receiving copies of the picture from people far and wide, as they recognize our girl. What fun!

This week also brought Jack's first week of soccer, with a practice on Tuesday and a game on Saturday. Yes, college-Amanda, you DO have a minivan AND a kid in soccer. Gasp. Not exactly sure how this happened to me. Luckily, not-in-college-anymore-Amanda is remarkably ok with it all. Jack is excited, particularly as he and Greg are on the same team. We've been blessed with good weather so far, which has only helped.

Oh, and today he attended his first bowling party. He wanted to just stay and keep bowling after the party ended, he enjoyed it so much. Jack will never find himself lacking in interests, with the way h seems to throw himself wholeheartedly into each new pursuit...

So.. Saturday. Seventy degree sunshine. Blue blue blue sky. Botanical Gardens in the morning. Never mind that we'd just been there the night before. It's the last weekend for the Big Spring attractions and there were so many lilies yet to smell. So many ribbons and butterfly wings and brilliant colors, rainbow arcs of tulips in full splendor. It was heaven. We could have stayed all day but for Jack's first soccer game... We were forced, poor us, to stand around in the sunshine watching little children run and play on the green gras...
It went pretty well for being our boys econd time on a soccer field. He contacted the ball a few times, even moved it down the field a bit, one time. During his first stint as goalie, he stopped the ball... With his nose. Actually, he dealt with it pretty well, and even got back into the goal box, meeting the fear head on. I was pretty darn proud. I don't care if he ever scores a goal.
Evening found us grilling out at a friends house, walking the kids around their lovely neighborhood, passing the time chatting and drinking beer as the kids played. Not a bad way to end the day. A delicious day, indeed.

Daffodils

Spring has burst into being this week.

 Ok. Yes. So today it snowed.

But I'm going to put that to the side and instead focus on the spring green whispers of newly budded trees, the sensual splendor of the magnolias in full bloom, the brush-tip white of dogwoods making front yards into art.

 This week brought warmth and a few surprising days of sun. And, daffodils. Nat did well hustling the kids to Lakeview after school on Thursday to squeeze in our annual photo shoot on Daffodil Hill. While they were there, the kids were also photographed by the Plain Dealer and Ivy's picture graced the front of the metro section on Friday. That's our girl...!

 Here are a few shots of lovely new life emerging in the spring. And the daffodils, too.

Mini makers

Saturday was a windy, wet, generally awful sort of day. So, we went to the library.  Cleveland Public, that is.  The library was hosting a "maker faire" which is apparently a showcase for inventors and new ideas in general.  It was billed as a family friendly, free event, so off we went.

It was huge.  And overwhelming.  Next time, we'll research it a bit beforehand.  Make a game plan.  Map it out.  As it was, we were a bit shell shocked and had a tough time finding the hands on stuff.  But, it turns out, it really doesn't take much to make happy kids.  We found one table where would make flubbed, glue patterns, and butterflies.  We watched robotic Legos and submitted art to a local zine. My favorite was the selection of 3D printers, in action. Could've watched those all day.  The kids were pretty crazy about the lazier pointer graffiti wall.  The day even cleared up enough for a quick  snack outside.  

We live in a pretty cool city.

Tiny dancer

Ivy had her it ballet class on Thursday. There is just something about taking your little girl to her first ballet class... I mean, it's not that I harbor any great ambitions for Ivy to become a serous dancer.  In fact, I am pretty sure I don't want her to be serious about this-- can you imagine the work?? But I  sure did get into the procurement of the little pink leotard, the dancing shoes; putting in the high pony tail, complete with a bow...  It was all surprisingly magical, considering the great event took place in the aerobics room adjacent to the fitness machines at the Rec Center.  Mr. Victor, the instructor, is a wiry older man, who provided a delightful juxtaposition to the gaggle of 3-5 year old,  leotard clad little girls prancing joyfully around the room.  So much pink!  So much spinning!

Ivy was thrilled when her best friends arrived,  throwing her arms around Lillian and happily comparing footwear. These three.  Could they be any cuter?  They were very clearly some of the youngest girls in the class, but they did fine. Eagerly joining the group, they waved to us without a care as we left. Melinda and I had a lovely time walking/talking the track and since none of our girls came out of the room before class ended, we assumed all went well.  Ivy reported that they "gallopded" and was sad to leave.   Shall we do it again next week, little ballerina?

The glory of April

Life has been rich and full this week.  The sun arrived with April and our children have been soaking it all up.  Jack was on spring break this week so Nat was charged with keeping both kids busy, and making vacation something special for the boy (he has been missing school quite a bit, saying he can hardly remember what mrs. Reynolds and his friends look like. Two weeks is a long time for a little one...) .  So, they've has play dates and parent center time, swimming and kite flying, even pony rides at lake farmpark...

Here are pictures shared with me through the week while I was at work... Sometimes I really do feel like I miss out on a lot... Sigh...

This weekend's been simply lovely. Sunny, oh so sunny! And a little bit warmer every every day until today, where 60 degree sunshine greeted us on our hike in the Bedford Metroparks... Weekend highlights: Legacy Village on Friday night with Melinda and Will. Closer than we expected but that didn't stop the kids from running like crazy on be stage. We had a really solid Chipotle burrito and commiserated about the strange, black legging clad clones that mobbed the place... (Teenage girls are very strange...) Saturday-- I cleaned the foyer (it was the type of weekend that made one want to clean...) and we took a picnic to shaker Lakes, where we did it all in one hour-- ate pizza, fed the ducks, played soccer, went on swings, climbed. We were wind blown and tired when got home. Jack, but the way, is very excited about soccer. A few more weeks til his league starts up but he got his shin guards yesterday and wore them all afternoon, playing soccer for a good hour in the backyard... Today-- we were out the door by 9:30 because the day clearly told us to not waste a single minute. We hiked the kids down to the stream in Bedford. It was the first time in 5 years that we've done this hike without someone in the backpack carrier, and both the kids hiked like little champions. Slow moving little champions. Lots of looking for walking sticks, investigating rocks, stopping to sit on logs. Once we made it to the stream there were rocks to throw and clamber on, snacks to eat, sand to "make and artist" in, as Ivy says. One very, very happy spaniel swam and swam. Our boy, the king of minor-trauma-on-fun-outings, slipped and stuck his foot in the stream. Couldn't possibly put that shoe back on, nope. He hiked all the way back up with one bare foot. Gotta love him. We were out for almost 3 hours before stopping for lunch at a pretty good little Mexican restaurant on the way home. Not to be outdone, the afternoon and evening stayed sunny and warm. I took my car to the car wash, and snuggled my girl in a sun-filled bed for her nap. We had friends over for dinner and it was delightful. The kids played together so very well, and picnicked in the yard with the sun glinting in their hair. We talked a mile a minute with our friends and had a simply fabulous time together. Thanks, weekend. You've been grand.