A Beautiful Survivor

These lovely blooms were peaking out of overgrown landscaping. I can't grow a clematis for anything but this one is persisting through neglect.
 

Sometimes You Wonder

I see this and wonder ... is this something affected by the storms or is it an art installation that I don't understand.
 

Sneak Peek

Lowell and Vala got to see a rehearsal of the Indian Hills Middle School production of "Newsies." Hayden is assistant director so she let us watch. A chorus member talked with the girls and we got copies of The Banner, the newspaper the Newsies produced.

Near Miss

This huge branch missed the house by a hair. Fortunately, too, the car was in the garage. We have a love-hate relationship with our trees. This is on the lesser end.
 

Amazing High School Chefs

I enjoyed experiencing the Broadmoor Bistro yesterday with a group from church. It's a restaurant in the Shawnee Mission District Center for Academic Achievement and was excellent. We also got a tour of the kitchen. Amazing for high school students.

 

KU Relays Picnic Tradition

Every April while I was at KU we had a picnic and went to the KU Relays. Usually we were really hot. You can see Susan and Dad and our Jamaican exchange student Carol. The photo below is labeled Jim Ryun running but I don't see anyone on the track. Ryun broke the 4 minute mile that year at the relays so it would be cool if you could see him.

 

Enormous Hosta

Colin was demonstrating how large this hosta is. He asked if I could even see him.
 

Family Outing

Mom and Dad took the goslings for a swim in honor of Earth Day at South Park Lake.
 

Sun Rises

The sunflower art installation in Meadowbrook Park reminded me of the sun as the sunrise glinted on it at sunrise.

Experiment in Planting

I tried a new approach to potting. Place the pots for the plants in the soil and fill in around. Then remove pots and place plants in the soil. Supposedly an easier way to get plants where you want them. 

Three More

Lowell and I went on a hunt for hearts. We found 3. Above is "My Heart Resides in Strawberry Hill," which is at Merriam Marketplace. We found "Forever Bonded" (below) at McCarthy Honda and "Stitched Together" by the bearpit fountain in Merriam. We had fun hunting.

 

Heart #1

This is the first of the Parade of Hearts 2024 we found. This is Take Heart by Laura Noll Crossley. She says "So, while the entrepreneurial journey may be filled with ups and downs, it’s the mosaic of experiences that makes it truly beautiful."
 

Unpredictable Spring

In April 2009, the day for touring the renovated stadium was quite chilly with a brutal wind.
 

Happy Fountain Day

Colin and I had to search to find one of the fountains on for Kansas City Fountain Day. I'm guessing rain delayed some and the ceremony was up north in the afternoon so we took a pass on that. Colin thought the Meyer Circle Sea Horse Fountain was great.
 

We visited the Second Cup Cat Cafe in Olathe. You have an hour to interact with the cats. Many of the 12 were sleeping when we visited. It's called a cafe but there is no food involved so cats can roam everywhere. All the cats are adults and available for adoption. The idea is that it is less stressful than a shelter situation. None of us were in the market for adopting but we wanted to see what the cafe was like.

 

Nuisance or Magic?

Mostly dandelions are a nuisance, I know, but sometimes at this stage it's fun to blow and wish. Just not in my yard. 😎

 

Spring Splendor

Dogwood blooms are so fascinating. They look like they're floating.

 

Among the Tulips

The tulip festival in Kearney provided lots of photo ops.

 

Living the Fairy Life

These fairies have their own screen in porch. These displays make my walks so interesting.

Always Squinting

Easter April 14, 1968. I never think of Ingrid as being short but she seems quite a bit shorter than Susan and I but then maybe she stood in a hole. 😁

Poetry Walk

Colin wanted to see the Poetry Walk signs along the sidwalk in Strang Park. We were headed to the playground but had to take this detour. (It is the same poem on the other side.) The Poetry Walk is provided by the Johnson County Library during April, which is apparently national poetry month.
 

Eclipse Viewing

It wasn't as cool at the total eclipse but fun to experience. We even had cookies for the event.

 

Eclipse Practice

Vala tried on her solar eclipse glasses in preparation for today.

 

New to the Pool

Lowell and Vala had their first swimming classes of the season so were recognized at the door. Both are still wet from their swim but did well.
 

Spidey Twins

Adam and Vala were excited to find themselves both wearing Spider-Man shirts.
 

Splash with Me

Water tunnels, slides and water fountains made for a fun time at Lenexa Rec Center for Adam and Lowell.

 

That 70s Look

Easter photo from 1973. It appears we've changed out of our Easter finery. We have Jaryl in the middle.
 

Learning and Exploring

Colin and I visited the Overland Park Arboretum to learn about making a seed pod with milkweed seeds. That took about a minute so we braved the freezing wind to see the trains, which of course weren't running. He had a grand time.

It may have been cold but it looked like spring!

 

Morgan Pew Heading to a New Home

The pew we Morgans have sat in for 60 years is moving to a new home on the Fergusons side porch. Renovations to the Colonial sanctuary include new pews so it's nice to have Hayden adopt our piece of history. You can see the scratches from Dad's years of fidgeting.

 

Happy Easter!

A beautiful Easter day. The kids and cousins participated in the Children's Conversation.

And of course family lunch.