Visit

Had such a nice afternoon today visiting with my cousin Nancy and her husband from Arizona and my Aunt Ruth.  The girls had a good time too.  Nancy baked cookies and even Lily ate TWO cookies - I need to get that recipe!  George is a big kid at heart and had the girls in giggles most of the time.  So glad we had a chance to get together.

Follow the leader - the leader being George of course

Springtime

In the Midwest when you think of Spring you don't just think of flowers and gentle rain showers you also think of tornadoes and we have had our fill of them already.  Sunday Wichita dodged the bullet - one lifted just as it got to the city and went over (my son heard it going over in fact) but Moore Oklahoma got hit hard today.  I was sewing and had the computer on and saw a tweet about a tornado live on the weather channel.  I turned the tv on and now wish I hadn't.  Dennis and I watched the live coverage of a huge (over a mile wide) EF4 or 5 tornado devastate Moore.  I remember going through Moore the weekend after another tornado and the destruction on both sides of I-35 was amazing and this one was even worse.  After the tornado lifted the news station's helicopter showed the damage  - two elementary schools were leveled.  As I type this 51 are reported dead but that number will surely increase by tomorrow at this time.  Many children in one of the schools perished and I just can't imagine their parent's heartbreak.  Watching the video this afternoon I thought, how would a grandparent feel watching this in some other state and hearing it was their grandchild's school.  I am so thankful that the Wichita schools have safe rooms in almost all the schools.  Soon they will have them - and they need to hurry it up.

And on a lighter side - here are some pictures of our trip to Botanica on Mother's Day.  The girls love Botanica and I am so glad I have a membership.  The butterfly house opens in a week and it is always fun.  I am surprised by how many people I have spoken to that have never been there.  It is well worth the trip.

After Botanica, Dennis and I checked out the new Lincoln Street Dam.  It is very impressive and looks like a fun place to go fishing. 

Spring is finally here - I hope

After three weeks of saying "hope we get the yard mowed before it snows" I think it is safe to say spring has finally come to stay.  Having thunderstorms this week - last night slept with the window open and had a crack of thunder that sounded like it was right in the room.  I jumped out of bed and shut the window and pulled the blind.  We need to rain though so that is fine with me.  Just rain though please - no tornadoes.

The last couple of weekends have been great fun.  Couple of weeks ago Jimmy and the girls went with Dennis and me to the Trailerhood for the day.  We really had a great time.  It was a little chilly and damp feeling but we started a fire in the fire pit and made s'mores and later roasted hot dogs.  Dennis got a little bow and arrow set and the girls learned how to shoot an arrow.  I kept them inside the trailer while their dad and grandpa did some target practice and they loved watching the lava lamp.  Lily was shocked I didn't have a bunch of toys down there so guess I need to start looking at garage sales for some to put in a box for their visits.  :)  At one point one of the girls looked at me and said "I love this place!"  That made me very happy.

Last weekend was also a ton of fun but it went by way too fast.  Jimmy and Maranda signed up awhile back to run in a 5 K called the Color Me Rad (google it).   They told Stacy about it and she and Jessica signed up too.   So the Renfroe family came on Friday after work which made them getting here around 11:30 at night.   The run has three different starting times since so many participate - 8000 were running in this one - it sold out.  The kids were in the 9:00 start so Stacy, Jessica and I had to be at Jimmy's house by 7:30 so they could get to the run by 8.  The lead story on the news the night before was to avoid the area because the traffic congestion was going to be awful - that turned out to be overblown as the kids said they had no issues.  I watched the triplets and then took them to gymnastics and the runners met me there after they were finished.    In this run they stop occasionally and the audience throws colored corn starch at them to color their clothes.  Here they are before and after - I didn't even recognize them when they came in the gymnastics area.

While we were at the race Dennis took James and James Jr to the Trailerhood for target practicing but since I didn't go, there aren't any pictures.
We then met back at our house and had a little birthday party for James Jr with cake, ice cream and pizza.  We had a great time - wish Laura could have been here too!