Hot Air Balloon

It has become a family joke that we would never actually get a hot air balloon ride.  We bought a Groupon for a ride in December of 2012.  It required we get a ride scheduled before April 2013.  We did that...then it didn't happen because of weather.  Repeat that about 5 times over 2 years.  It turns out they won't fly balloons if the heat index is above 95 degrees.  Or if the wind is over 9 mph.  Or if the ground is too wet.  Or if there are storms within 100 miles.  When we finally got to fly this month the balloon lady said it was only their fifth flight this year!  The other couple who flew with us also purchased their flight back in 2012.  So if you want to fly in a hot air balloon, I suggest planning it years in advance. :)

We were a little freaked out by the small size of the basket.  Five adults fit in this.

We got to help blow up the balloon.

looking up

We started in a subdivision around 199th & Mission and flew to the Blue Valley West High School at 159th & Antioch.  Three other balloons flew at the same time as us, so it was really cool to watch them inflate and take off while we were in the air.

I'm not really scared of heights, but it was still a little scary to think about the little basket that was holding us up.  Steve IS scared of heights and held tight to the ropes the whole time. :)

The black dot is our shadow.

If you look closely you can see downtown.

Lots of people waved and yelled to us from their backyard.  The white dots are kids.  We also got to throw bean bag flags out for the ground crew to pick up.

We also went up and down just for fun.  We got so close to these trees that we could feel the top branches brush against the bottom of the basket.

Science City with Friends

 We to Science City a couple of times in August with friends.  First time with my high school friend (and Steve's grade school friend) Sarah and her daughter Sylvia.  Then again with my high school friend Emily and her three boys.

Every time we go it seems like there is something new to see.  This time it was the UFO slide.

Prairie Village Parks- Part 3

Here is the exciting conclusion of our our tour of Prairie Village's twelve parks!  (Here are part 1 and part 2) We found out that some "parks" aren't really parks.  Brenizer Park, named for PV's first mayor, was really just a pile of rocks and a picnic table.  So we could just take a picture with the sign and go to the next park, right?  Wrong.  "Mama, we can stay and play with the nature!"  So I can't even drag them away from parks that aren't real parks.

Prairie Park was a little better.  It at least had some swings and picnic tables. 

And it has this statue of scary prairie people.

Schliffke Park was the worst.  It was pretty much just the sign.  Maybe the "ing lot" was left off the sign by mistake?  Because it was just a parking lot by Brush Creek.  Since all the parks are named after mayors, I feel bad for Mr. Schliffke.  Of course the girls tried to play here too by collecting nature.

Finally we get to a real park!  Bennett Park was actually under construction earlier in the summer and it just opened up with new trails, sand box, and stumps.  It has some neat playground equipment.  Hannah loved the spinning pole and giant monkey bars.  Olive liked the play helicopter.  I liked the teeter-totter...although it pales in comparison to the teeter-totters of my childhood, I was still happy to see one.  I guess they are "dangerous" and they aren't on playgrounds anymore.

And lastly our favorite park, which also happens to be the biggest AND closest to our house, Franklin Park.  It has the longest trails for biking (notice the bike helmets in the pictures).  It was the first park to be redone with a natural playplace with stumps and logs to climb on.  The nature area includes a running stream!  It has a huge sand box with lots of toys that people have donated.  And best of all it has lots of trees and SHADE.  It also has real bathrooms (not porta potty), which is always nice.

The stream is awesome.  This day we put a boat by the waterfall and watched it get carried along.

I love these trees.

This is the park of my daughters' childhood.  So many memories.  I remember thinking Hannah would be seven by the time she would be able to walk on the stumps by herself...then she did at age three.  I remember Olive going down a slide for the first time.  And pushing both girls in the baby swings when they were little.  And then watching them build sandcastles with kindergarten friends last year.

Olive climbed this for the first time without any help.

Did I mention we love trees?

First Day of Preschool

Today was Olive's first day of preschool.  She goes Mon/Wed/Fri from 12:00-2:30.  She stopped going to preschool/daycare right after she turned two (and she has no memory of it), so this is her first real experience with school.  She has been waiting for this day for awhile.  The outfit was picked out weeks ago.  In fact, she refused to hold a sign because she wanted to show off her dress.

At Open House the teacher gave us a school bag to decorate.  I told Olive we'd use markers to decorate it.  Then when I was on the phone the next day, she brought me this:

She doesn't know how to spell Kerr, but she knows it starts with a K...so she just kept writing them.  It was not quite the message we wanted to send to new preschool friends.  Luckily all the markers in the house are washable. :)

Hannah was also very excited about Olive going to preschool.  She woke Olive up this morning saying "Today is your big day!"  Then she wanted to take a picture of Olive with her camera before she left for first grade since she wouldn't see her in the afternoon.  I am continually amazed by how much those two love and support each other.

When I picked her up she said "I had a GREAT day!"  She ate pretzels for snack, made a rocket ship with her name, and played with a new friend at recess.  That's all the info I could get out of her.  At the end of the day, she finally posed with the sign she made.

Olive Quotes

Hannah:  Olive why do you talk so much?
Olive:  I just like to.  And at night when you are asleep, I get more words to say the next day!

me:  What cities do you know?
Olive:  Well...there's India.  And the planet Mars.  And of course....Chillicothe!

Olive:  Why do I ask so many questions?
me:  Because you are curious.
Olive:  What does curious mean?
me:  It means you want know more about something.
Olive:  Like Curious George!  I'm curious, but I don't have a George.

Olive:  Can I bring my toucan?
me:  What toucan?
Olive:  I have an invisible toucan that follows me wherever I go.

Olive:  You are the worst mama in the world!
me:  Wow.  I'm the worst in the whole world?
Olive:  Yes.
me:  Why?
Olive:  Because you won't let me watch two videos.

(talking about her canopy around her bed)
"If dragons come in the night they get stuck in it.  And they can't get out.  Because it is all jungled up and they can't figure it out.  Then they get stuck in it and then they are gone FOREVER.  And I can't see them anymore."