Legoland Discovery Center

The Legoland Discovery Center in KC opened in May to serious fanfare...and insane crowds! We tried to visit twice over the summer only to turn away at the sight of the lines down the sidewalk and around the corner just to get inside. Thankfully the crowds have started to die down and we were able to visit a couple of weeks ago. The trick is to go late in the evening...the last admission is 2 hours prior to closing and the place was virtually empty! It's a decent attraction - nothing to jump up and down about but a fun diversion every now and then. The boys enjoyed the two rides and building the Lego racers. Patrick and I thought the scale models of KC landmarks were very impressive! There is a 4D movie theater that shows multiple movies so we can see something different each time. And there is a room where you can build a mini-set with a Master Builder and then buy the set to take home. We passed on the build this trip but will do it on another outing for sure. It was a good adventure and the perfect family evening to close out the summer!

All-American Boys...

On July 4th the boys helped me make a real homemade Apple Pie! They loved helping make it...and eat it...

First Day of First Grade!

Hello there! Yes...I took a bit of a summer vacation from the blog. Something about keeping up with our busy summer made it difficult to post about our adventures! If time allows I will attempt to back post the most interesting things...or we'll just move on from here!

On Thursday, Drew started First Grade!! He was very excited to get back to school...back to routine...back to friends! He seems to like his teacher so far and is very happy about school in general. I am hopeful the great attitude about school will continue throughout the year!

Allen is missing having his brother at home during the days but we are staying busy so far. (He will start Pre-K in 2 weeks!)

DeAnna Rose Field Trip

Today I was finally able to make it to one of Drew's field trips! Somehow every other field trip they have been on this year has conflicted with Allen's schedule - either the times didn't line up with Allen's school hours or he was out of school and the field trip was not conducive to having younger siblings there. So today I rushed from Muffins with Mom at Allen's school down the street to the DeAnna Rose Farmstead to meet Drew's class. It's a really neat place where the kids can get a small taste of what life is like in the rest of Kansas! They visited the cow barn and met all sorts of farm animals and even saw a demonstration of a cow being milked! They got to fee baby goats with bottles, feed ducks/geese/fish in the pond (luckily we didn't fish today...I hate having to take them off the hooks to put them back in the water!!), ride little tractors, and generally run around and play like kids should. It got really crowded with other field trips, but luckily we had to eat lunch early so they could get back to school before noon. (One of the Kindergarten classes at Drew's school is Half Day so they get out at 11:45 am each day. The other three classes are Full Day...thankfully!!) I then rushed back to pick Allen up from school, thankful all the way that it was so close and I could actually make it today!

Drew loved feeding the goats...until they jumped on him. Then he got a little snippy at them!

Baby Goat Chaos!!

Such a determined look on that face!

Drew's Awesome Class...I love these kids!

Muffins with Mom

Today was the annual Muffins with Mom at Allen's preschool.  He was so excited about this morning - he talked about it for days and then all morning. After we dropped Drew at school he said "NOW can we go have muffins?!" It is a sweet event and the kids do enjoy having their moms there for some special time. Allen was a bit confused though...there was only one type of muffin but multiple donuts and even cinnamon rolls. He said "We already had Donuts with Dad...this is supposed to be Muffins with Mom! Why aren't there more muffins?!" So he refused to eat anything but the muffin. Quite cute, actually. After we shared our breakfast, we went to his room where he presented me with my Mother's Day gifts - some coffee spoons he had dipped in chocolate and a beautiful, hand painted flower pot with a pretty purple flower. He was so proud to tell me about how he painted the pot, picked out the flower, put the dirt in all by himself and even watered it. He was really beside himself with pride! I loved it. No better present than something made by sweet, loving little hands!!

Our attempt at a self-portrait...

The only thing better than receiving this?

Is having it presented like this!!

Oh he was so proud of his flower!

Allen might be our photographer! He took a pretty good picture of me and my new flower!

Easter 2012

We had a very low-key Easter this year. The boys woke up to some fun baskets from the Bunny and then we went to church (where Allen asked "is it over now?" at least 12 times!). We decided to stop and eat lunch and went to a restaurant that apparently had brunch. Having no idea, I said table for 4 and they guy looked at me like I was crazy as he responded "Do you have a reservation?". Um, no? So they seated us in the room where the brunch was set up - apparently those are the less desirable tables so they don't reserve them. It worked out great for us! They boys LOVED picking whatever they wanted to eat and we actually had a nice meal. Good stumble for us! We went home for pictures and some egg hunting. Then we spent the remainder of the day watching the Masters. It was a good day!

Ready to see what that Bunny left us!

"It's the one with R2D2 and CPO!"
(yes, I left out the "3" on purpose...because according to Allen his name is just CPO)

"I got it! I got it!"

"Oh man! We got the Muppet movie too?!"

What? Don't you have Star Wars pancakes for Easter breakfast?

Well hello there...

In an attempt to resume my informal approach to keeping long-distance family and friends updated on our lives...

On Wednesday, Allen had his Easter party at school complete with the requisite Easter Egg Hunt. I do appreciate that his teacher spent a good amount of time referencing back to the real meaning of Easter although it is difficult to do at this age and have them fully understand. One little boy was convinced it was just Jesus' birthday again! Which I guess, in a roundabout way, it is. But I digress...

Here are some photos from the fun!

Cupcakes Allen and I made for the party...that's edible Easter grass on top! It was supposed to serve a different pupose but the first few attempts failed so I went with the "preschoolers like colorful messy things" approach!

Oh how I love this kid!

Hunting for Easter Eggs!

He's such a mess...literally! :)

His little class...a couple were missing on vacation.

Doing the "Bunny Pokey"...so cute!

Hi...I'm Amanda...

...and I'm a blog slacker!

Happy Leap Day!

Yes...it's pink!

Don't read anything into it...I just wanted a pink background! You know...in honor of me since my birthday is soon and since I am a girl in this family... Plus, Valentine's Day is coming up and pink abounds! So PINK it is...for at least a few weeks!  :)

Hello!

Patrick informed me that it is no longer his birthday and I really need to update the blog. Oops! Historically, November-January are low post times for me. Things are just too crazy! But life is settling back down to "normal" and maybe I can catch a few moments here and there to keep our friends updated on our lives...

For Thanksgiving, we traveled to Knoxville to spend the holiday at Nana & Granddaddy's. We got to spend lots of time with Uncle Mike & Aunt Celeste, Jay & Amelia. We had some excitement less than 12 hours after we arrived when Allen fell off a swing and broke his arm. So we spend most of the day before Thanksgiving at the hospital and in the doctor's office getting him x-rayed and casted. Thankfully, it was a minor break and it didn't slow him down one bit!

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we traveled to Orlando to spend a week at Disney World. We had a great time (cast and all!) visiting all four of the parks, riding all our favorite rides, eating great meals, seeing all the characters...it was a great trip! Everything was decorated for Christmas - beautiful! The boys were great all week and we had a really fun family vacation. They enjoyed Disney World but have asked to go back to Disneyland next time. To this point, Patrick and I agree. With the boys this age, Disneyland is more manageable and less stressful. So we'll head to California the next time the Disney bug bites!

Christmas was fun this year. We had a great few weeks leading up to it. Grandma and Grandpa came to visit right after we got home from Florida and we had a good time seeing them for a few days. The boys managed the craziness of the schedules pretty well, enjoying their parties at school and seeing friends to celebrate the holidays. We visited the lights at Christmas in the Park at Longview Lake - a long-standing tradition around here that we had never seen. It was fun and the boys really enjoyed the displays! On Christmas Eve morning, Nana & Granddaddy arrived to spend Christmas with us. We had a fun day, went to an early Christmas Eve service, had a casual dinner and an early bedtime. It was so nice! Christmas Day went well - the boys got lots of great things they had asked for and had fun playing with all their new toys. Patrick and my dad decided to build a table for all the Lego trains we now own. It's huge!! But it serves its purpose quite well. After a few days of working around the house, we had more company arrive to finish out the holidays. Uncle Mike, Aunt Celeste, Jay & Amelia came in town and we all had a great time in our very full house! We took them to Union Station to see the Christmas train displays, to the Plaza to see the lights and enjoy a KC BBQ dinner, spent lots of time outside enjoying the beautiful, mild weather (much to Jay’s dismay…he really wanted snow!!) and even had time for a “Girls’ Day Out” for Amelia to take her American Girl dolls to the store for some spa time and shopping just for them (we had some real shopping and food for the big girls too!). We calmly celebrated New Year’s Eve by going to bed early…after midnight in New York, which we decided is what counts anyway!

And now back to reality…

Drew is doing great in Kindergarten. His teacher is fabulous at recognizing the kids that need additional challenges and has started spelling tests with 8 kids in his class. He has taken 2 tests with 10 words each time and so far is at 100%! We are very proud! Reading still comes very easily for him and we are thankful for that. He is playing basketball right now and seems to be enjoying it (although there aren't any college scouts lined up to watch him play just yet!). We have already registered for baseball in May, are considering soccer this spring, and swim lessons start back in March. He is definitely staying busy!

Allen misses his brother desperately while Drew is at school but we are finding ways to stay busy. He loves preschool and wishes it was more than 3 days a week. We did just get the good news that the pre-K program at his school is shifting to 4 days next year which will be fabulous for him. He starts swimming lessons in February and we are looking into a t-ball program for him this summer. He would love to get back into soccer so we are looking at that as well. We're registered for some special programs at the zoo in the next few weeks too so that will be fun.

Patrick has enjoyed some time off from travel but is preparing to start back up very soon. I am looking forward to my birthday in a couple of weeks and have just scheduled gallbladder surgery for next month. Oh the joys!! We plan a trip to Colorado over Spring Break to see Maggie, Lizzy & Katherine while they are in the States for a few weeks. Maybe it will snow there since we haven’t seen any here yet! (I know…bite my tongue…now the blizzards will come!!)

Now to try and keep up with posts for the next few months!!