School, Severance and sunshine

Busy, full week in our corner of the world.   

Thursday:  Invention Convention at Boulevard!  Ivy was excited to participate this year, with her "marine biology" project (She created an "octofis" that uses wiens (wings) to move...

 Jack spent most of the night running around like a banshee and shooting a hockey puck across the gym with his friends.   Managed to capture a few moments of him acting the part of the inventor.  The inventor, by the way, whose project is moving on to the next level of the competition (along with two others from his class).  Terribly exciting.

Speaking of braggable moments:  His cardinal painting was also selected to go to an art show at some remote location in the district.  The other day he told us he'd finished the painting, and "it's the best in the class."  Guess he wasn't lying. :)

 We toured the kids classrooms to see their recent posted work...

 ... witness reenactments of the morning routine...

... and check out their recently cleaned desks.

 Feeling proud of my kids and their schools, tonight...

Friday: A visit to Severance with Gram.

Pre-concert entertainment...

 And the show itself.  Lovely, lively dance music (complete with dancers!) in this beautiful space-- lucky us!

 Ivy actually did enjoy herself.  She's just being a grump because she found out the puzzle in the program was a word search.  She spends a lot of time being a grump these days, when she's not delightful...

 Saturday:  Gorgeous day, birthday party with friends at Ben and Jerry's (complete with a little stolen time for a walk with Nat on the John Carroll campus), and a lovely 6 mile run in the evening.
Circled around the Rockefeller neighborhood and back home through Forest Hills...
Have I mentioned I love where I live?

 Sunset over the city, walking distance from my house.

Sunday:  MORE amazing out than the day before!  Seriously.  Best. February. Ever.

We went for a hike in Forest Hills in the morning.

 Yes, these are my children, playing in the creek barefoot, in February.  They are crazy.  But not really that crazy.  It was really warm out...

Turns out there are these amazing waterfalls right here.  Walking distance from our house.

I can't handle it.

 In the afternoon we had the treat of 3 hours of time with our wonderful friends, at our wonderful Museum.

 Mostly outside, the museum, actually.  Because it felt criminal to be indoors...

We did sneak in for some coffee and time spent planning a possible vacation week together in June.
Weekends like this make summer seem so very very near...

Spring in February

Spring came on a weekend.

We went to a festival.

Actually, make that TWO festivals.  And the lake.  And an estate sale.  And the woods.

Can't trust us with nice weather and a free weekend, now can you?

Friday night:  A lovely dinner-and-hang-out night with our friends, culminating in this:

No words necessary...

Saturday-- the very definition of a blustery day.  Gusty winds blew in a burst of 70 degree sunshine.  Glorious. Intoxicating.  Amazing.

Inaugural backyard soccer game of 2016.  Following the inaugural yard-wide poop cleanup of 2016.

Maybe not the best for an Ice-Carving festival.  But we made the best of it!

The kids were invited to help judge the ice carving competition.  They were rapt during the entire 20 minute process.  Corydon enjoyed licking all the melting ice she could find...

The Brite Winter festival was in a new location this year, down in the Flats.  Worked well for it.  We went nice and early and avoided the rush.  As we were leaving, most of Cleveland seemed to be streaming in to enjoy the (high quality) beer truck and the giant disco ball suspended from a crane.  Looked to be quite the party. Oh to be young again.

But-- can't complain about the time we did spend there!

Giant arcade games are always fun...

 As are smores over a giant bonfire...

 And, of course, the eternal favorite:  Running around underneath a bridge...

view of the flats...

Ivy described this wall as "warm and snuggly."  yep.

Sunday:  Since we had nothing planned, we spent the morning at an Estate Sale and the lake, before dragging ourselves away to rush home and host 4 children for a playdate...
Somehow it still felt like a relaxing day, with plenty of time to cook for the week, walk in the woods, and even get schoolwork done.   Some weekends just have that magic about them, right?


Still wishing we could have had another day.  Too much of a good thing is wonderful, after all.


It was pure magic at the lake.  Surprisingly warm as we walked around on the mountains of sandy lake-ice.  The kids discovered the joys of slush, and exploring together in the "wilds" of Rocky river Beach.  I love them so intensely from a distance, watching them be out there in the world.  Two complete little humans embarking on their lives, making memories of their childhood.

 I hope they remember this.

 I will.

Ivy is making a "kindness potion".  Oh how I love her. 

 Playdate time!  Only managed to get them out into our woods for the last 10 minutes... but I think they're going to want to head there first, next time...

Took our two down to the creek for a while after their friends left.  Again, the magic of nature at work. Two peaceful siblings, fully engaged, no screens.

 We are so very ready for spring !  What a magical taste of it we had this weekend....


Preview:  Jack has finished (through much cajoling, nagging, and a bit of family teamwork) his first Science Fair project!  Stay tuned for photos of the official "Invention Convention"  later this week...

Ivy has been living vicariously through Jack, even coming up with her own "copycat" invention-- the double painter.  I'll have to post a pic of her prototype and her answers to the Invention Convention journal questions....