The Accidental Boilermaker

The zoo is back open!  Normally we wouldn’t go opening weekend but rain is predicted for the upcoming week and today was a beautiful day. We got to see the new monkey and otter exhibits.  The mongooses and giraffes were out too.  We finished up by giving the goats a little love. 

Yesterday was a beautiful Easter. I got to run in the morning. Then we went to church. After church we went for a bike/walk and then went over to Bella and Millie’s house for dinner where the kids got to do their Easter egg hunt. 

Our 4th annual Good Friday visit to the botanical gardens with Bella and Millie!  The best part?  It wasn’t raining while we waited outside to get in : ) No one was afraid of the Easter bunny but I still don’t know why he insists on talking. Even that creeps me out.  All the cute and soft baby animals were there.  Of course we got popcorn, everyone’s favorite.  We ended with the egg hunt. The kids also got to bring home a pansy plant and make little Easter necklaces. 

Today was Evelyn’s class Easter party and I was the party organizer. Our first activity was to make bunny ear hats. Then we did a jelly bean graphing activity.  We also dyed eggs with rice, food dye, and ziplock bags . It worked pretty well and the kids had fun shaking the bags. Here’s an upclose look of how Evelyn’s turned out.  Our last activity were garden pudding cups but the kids ate them so quick I didn’t have time for a picture.  I felt bad throwing away all the rice so I brought it home.  Then I had the idea that Evelyn and Jameson could make pictures with it.  It worked surprisingly well and was only kinda messy. 

Isaac, Joshua, Amanda and Aunt Celia came to visit for the last days of spring break. On Friday we drove out to Eagle Marsh for a hike. I really wanted to hike along the continental divide trail. Fort Wayne is actually the highest point along the Wabash-Eerie canal and acts as a divide between the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico watershed and the Great Lakes/Atlantic Ocean watershed. The continental divide is important because it acts as a barrier, keeping Asian carp from the Wabash River out of Lake Eerie.  We stopped for a snack on the divide trail.   The hike was nice. I’d never been on that side of the marsh. It would be nice to go back when things are greener.  Saturday morning we toured the deBrand chocolate factory on the north side of town.  The tour was a good length for kids and included several samples. We all bought some extra chocolate to enjoy later.  Next was a picnic lunch at a nearby playground.  The ...

Evelyn, Jameson, and I went to Chicago to stay with Katherine for a few days.  Evelyn and Jameson were very excited to see Buddy again. Sunday after dinner Kate treated us to popsicles from Pretty Cool.   Monday morning we took Buddy for a walk and played at a park.  After the park we got coffee and mini donuts. The kids got some screen time after lunch and then we drove out to Loyola for a walk around campus.    Tuesday we went to the Brookfield Zoo.  Our first stop was the dolphin show.   Of course I had to take a picture with Olga.  The real Olga was my favorite animal at the zoo when I was little. I really wanted to see the monkeys in the tropical world exhibit.  We also saw the anteater and later we saw her carrying her baby on her back. Evelyn thought this would be a nice place to take a picture with Aunt Katherine. Little river otters. The bison were out and rel...