Holiday World

We let Kaylea miss school on Friday.  I decided it would be fun to go to Holiday World when it wasn't crowded.  She hasn't missed a day all year and she is doing well, so, what the heck. It was a rare occasion that I was able to talk Jordy into taking the day off of school.

We arrived just after it opened and it looked as though it was going to be very crowded.  There were buses and buses of students arriving.  However, once we finally got inside, things were calm.  Kaylea had a great time.  The lines were short.  We rode everything we wanted to.  I even rode the Voyage and the new Thunderbird roller coaster.

Kaylea wasn't quite tall enough for the big roller coasters this year, but she is getting closer.  Her favorite ride was the Revolution (also called the Gravitron).  I couldn't believe she was tall enough to ride it, or that she liked it, but she sure she did.  She rode it at least eight times.

We ended up staying at the park until almost 5pm.  We were all hot and tired and ready to head home.  It was a great day of family fun!

Ethan's Creek Exploring Party

Kaylea went to a birthday party for her friend Ethan on Saturday.  Ethan turned 7 and he is in Kaylea's class at Grant Line.  They are pretty good friends at school.  In fact, Kaylea wasn't very excited about a creek party, but she told me because he was a great friend, she should definitely go to his party.

The party was at Beckley Creek Park.  The kids had a great time.  I didn't know if Kaylea would actually get in the creek, but she got right in and didn't want to get out.  Thankfully, we remembered to have Jordy bring some shoes so he could get in the creek, too :)

Mikey's Junior Prom

When we pulled up to the riverfront and I saw Mikey, I got tears in my eyes.  I'm not all that emotional, but I just couldn't believe how old he was and how handsome he looked.  Mikey & Meleena were ready for junior prom.  Kaylea captured the first picture below when she had my camera.  It was probably my favorite of the night.  Everyone wanted to pose with the couple.  I got as many pictures as I could, but we had limited time.

Mother's Day Tea at Grant Line

Kaylea had been very excited about what they were working on at school for Mother's Day.  She was very good and never even gave me a hint as to what would be happening.  I arrived at school for tea at 9:15.  We were greeted at the classroom by our child, who showed us to our seat.  At my seat was a place mat and a poem, along with a coupon book and a flower.  I immediately used a coupon for a giant hug!  Kaylea liked the idea of me using my coupons.

The kids put on a performance.  They said a poem and made a video with the reasons they loved their mom.  Kaylea said "because I give her special surprises."  They made portraits of mom.  Mine was complete with fingernail polish and a large purse.  They then took us for cookies and juice.  It was a wonderful day.  I loved seeing how proud Kaylea was.  She told me how much she loved me.

When we were just about finished, I asked if there were any kids she wanted to take pictures with.  She took photos with Emily R, Emily Z, Chassidy, Halle, Ethan, Donovan, and Mason.  I love seeing her interact with her friends.  I didn't want to leave, but I had to go back to work and she had school work to do!

Derby Day 2015

We celebrated Derby Day in Indianapolis instead of Louisville.  I really wanted to get tickets for Derby, but it didn't pan out.  I think we ended up having more fun.  We headed to Indy to hang out with the Zuercher Family.  We met and got a sitter for the kiddos.  We went to Go Ape, the first treetop adventure course in the Midwest.  This is basically a course of obstacles and zip lines.  It was located in Eagle Creek Park.  I have to say, having zip lined before, these landings were a little rough.  After zip lining we ended up at Scotty's for dinner (where we did catch the Derby race).  We had a little time after getting back to the house to watch the kids play together.  It was a great time.  We were all tired.  Kaylea and I both fell asleep on the way home.

Fest-A-Ville

When we were driving home from the airport on Saturday, I saw the rides on the waterfront.  Last year we didn't make it down, but the year before we had been.  I told Jordy I really wanted to go, but I couldn't figure out when we were going to make this happen because I was leaving for Chicago on Monday.  I completely forgot we had nothing to do on Sunday.  After sleeping in, we headed to the festival.  I got lucky with an awesome parking spot right on the street (can you say free?)!

We started off with a helicopter ride.  I am proud to say I negotiated the rate.  At $40 a person, I just wasn't going to ride.  I was going to let Jordy and Kaylea ride.  However, when the attendant asked why I wasn't going, I told him it was too expensive, but if he wanted to cut me a deal, I would hop on.  I suggested $100 for all and he said what about $110?  I told him I would pass.  He came down to $100.  He said I was good - LOL.  What did they have to lose?  They helicopter was going up for $80 or $100 so he just made an extra $20.

We rode rides - Kaylea will ride anything.  The problem is usually that she isn't tall enough.  She wanted to play some games.  I made her bring her own money, but gave her $10.  She was happy with the two games she got to play and the prizes she won.  She did a dart throwing game and hit all three balloons!   She also had her hair colored and glittered.  We ended the day eating at her favorite restaurant, Red Robin!  It was a spectacular day - the weather was perfect and the family time was even more perfect!

Homeowners Once Again

Jordy and I flew to Virginia last week to close on our house and have all of our things delivered from the storage unit.  We arrived late Wednesday night and did the final walk through.  Thursday morning we closed on the home and the movers started promptly at 9:15.  It was a great crew of movers and they had us unloaded and mostly unpacked by 4:30.  We got a lot of stuff done while we were gone.  We knew we couldn't get everything finished while we were there, but we had set up a priority list of things we wanted to accomplish.  We wanted to mix in some fun, too.

We got all of the beds put together.  It was just a tease to sleep in a real bed for the night and come back to an air mattress.  We got a lot of the kitchen and basement unpacked, too.  We made time for dinner, a trip to IKEA, a trip to see where Jordy will be teaching, and brunch in Georgetown on Saturday morning.

We really missed Kaylea.  When we planned the trip, I had no idea how my mom would be feeling, so I made arrangements for someone different to keep Kaylea each night.  She spent one night with Nana and Pop.  Trina came and spent the night the next night, and the third night she got to spend with her friend Aubrey from Girl Scouts.  I believe Aubrey had some other kids stay.  It looked like they had fun.

I guess the countdown can officially begin!  Virginia here we come.

Bye Bye Car

I said good-bye to my Nissan Juke this month, after just paying it off.  It was bittersweet.  We decided it would be crazy to take 3 cars to Virginia when I will be riding the train everyday.  I don't want to pay insurance and property tax on an extra vehicle.  I decided to list it a little early in case it took some time to sell.  I should have known that I never have trouble selling anything.  I ended up selling it to a dealer for just below Blue Book value.  Of course, the next few days I got several calls. I enjoyed the car, but I didn't love it like I loved my first car.  In the meantime, I am driving around town in a Nissan Versa rental.