GREAT Plains Zoo, Indeed....

Lily has been desperate for a trip to the zoo ever since Spring sprung. I made up my mind earlier this week that today was the day, rain or shine. OK, rain would have stopped me but the wind did not. My little shadow and I spent the morning strolling around the zoo grounds, unhurried and without a care in the world. The animals must have been anticipating our visit and wanted to put on a show for their favorite fan. All the creatures, big and small, were so much fun to watch but even more fun to watch was Lily as she laughed, gazed in amazement, spoke Dr. Doolittle style to all the animals she encountered and delightfully scampered from one exhibit to the next as though it was her first trip ever. "The zoo is my favorite place to go!", she exclaimed and I totally believe her.

She chased down the free to roam the grounds peacocks...

spent many minutes watching the very funny monkeys wrestle...and was amazed when the duck she was admiring stood up to reveal four perfect eggs she had been protecting.... I played amateur nature photographer.... And am expecting a call from National Geographic anytime now.

Lily posed with the tiger...
the wrought iron bears... the wallaby...her favorite bird of all time, Paco... a pretty white tree... the wolf... and this creature, very rarely seen in the wild and extremely difficult to capture in photographs...

Lily happily fed the goats and cows... starred in a movie with a giraffe... And even banged a gong... We couldn't have asked for a better morning and I couldn't ask for a better "zoo-mate" than this one...

Weekend Fun...

Weekends are the best and this one was no exception. Friday night brought about the yearly excursion to the circus. I have to admit the circus is not my favorite kid friendly event but I was willing to grin and bear it for the smiles of my girls who absolutely love it. We settled in on the less than luxurious bleachers to take in the three rings....

The girls were mesmerized by the sounds, sights and of course, the clowns. Girls spinning on ribbons suspended above the arena floor, elephants and tigers putting on their show, dogs driving a car and the crazy motorcycles were as wonderful as you can imagine and then some. All three girls were pleased as punch to purchase their very own light up star wand....

And then tragedy struck. Poor old cowboy girl Lily saw the ponies. Poor old cowboy girl Lily wanted to ride the ponies. And poor old cowboy girl Lily has the meanest mom in the whole world and was not allowed to ride the ponies and here is the aftermath...My lame attempts to head this meltdown off at the pass obviously didn't quite pan out. In my omnipotence, I had anticipated this issue. Lily and I had a long and very mature conversation about the horse riding issue before we even left the house. Unfortunately hypothetical pony rides are very different from real life pony rides and Lily cracked. Understandable for a three year old with a dream. Of course, the circus worked it's magic and Lily's smile returned before you could say "Yee-haw". And now, as I predicted to Jason before the big show began, Lily not only wants to be a cowboy girl and and baker when she grows up, she also wants to be a circus performer.
With rain in the forecast for much of the weekend I was certain soccer would be postponed. Luckily the weathermen were wrong and the sun started shining and it was game on. Although Ella was bummed out to not score a goal, she assured us she played her hardest, did her best, helped out her teammates and they came out victorious...
which pleased her greatly... Lily used her time wisely alternating between petting the coach's new dog and eating caramels... Grace played right after Ella and put on quite an exhibition. She played soccer like it was her job. She ran, kicked, assisted and chased the ball down and kicked some more. She was on fire and then the big moment came~her first goal ever! It was so exciting, she was so proud of herself and if it weren't for the public spectacle issue, I would have cried like a little baby. I was so proud of her. She really just got out there and played with a focus and determination I have not seen from her and it was awesome! Lily wasn't quite as impressed with Grace's prowess, preferring to spend her time protecting herself from the non-existent elements. She informed me that she just loves rainy days so she can use her umbrella. I wasn't about to burst her bubble and let her know that it wasn't actually raining. Following our sporty afternoon, Jason and I were very much looking forward to a big night on the town. The girls were so thrilled to have Angela over to babysit that if I was a more sensitive type of person, my feelings might have actually been hurt. They had a fabulous time getting their nails painted and playing school while Jason and I enjoyed each other's company. Dinner at Minerva's (YUM), birthday shopping at Target and a few nightcaps at a local watering hole with a couple of good friends was the perfect way to celebrate 11 years of wedded bliss.

Exciting by any stretch of the imagination? Nope.

But would I have it any other way? Not.A.Chance.

To Jason,

Thirteen years ago, you came into my life
And changed it.

Twelve years ago, you asked me for my hand
And I gave it.

Eleven years ago, you joined your life with mine
And completed it.

Happy Anniversary. I love you.

"Love one another and you will be happy. It is as simple and difficult as that."~Michael Leunig

I've been served....

First, the back story (please bear with the TMI), Ella has been struggling with a planter's wart on the bottom of her foot for months now. Key to this story is the drama that goes hand in hand with the wart. Jason initially thought it was perhaps a sliver and attempted several extractions using the point of a razor blade. Ella met this method with resistance one would typically reserve for the removal of one's leg with a jigsaw. Any and all calming methods in the parental handbook were completely unsuccessful any time Jason or I tried to even look at the bottom of her foot. Screaming, weeping and gnashing of teeth were her defensive mechanisms until we finally would just leave her alone. In addition to this extreme anxiety and according to her excruciating pain, the wart was causing her some discomfort when she walked so I took her to the doctor a few weeks ago to have it treated. Medication was applied which would then form a blister. Once the blister is removed, it should take the wart with it, in turn restoring our resident drama queen to 100%.

Yesterday afterschool, I noticed (due to the "ouchs" and "ows" quietly coming from the vicinity of the couch where Ella was carefully perched) that she was picking at the blister. Of course, it was clear she needed some assistance so Super Mom to the rescue! After a quick assessment, I determined the thin layer of skin/blister was ready to come off and one swift yank later, the blister was gone, hopefully taking with it the wart and definitely taking with it my hearing. Ella screamed bloody murder, cried as if I had just informed her she would never again be allowed to do the monkey bars and just could not pull herself together. I assured her we were done and I wouldn't touch her foot again. I inquired as to why she was crying because it just couldn't possibly hurt anymore. And finally, I requested that she retire to her room until she was able to be calm.

10-15 minutes passed and Ella had not yet surfaced. I leaned over the railing and asked her to come upstairs. When she stoically climbed the stairs, I asked her what she had been doing down there. She didn't not reply, just handed me the following note, I guess she didn't care for my bedside manner. Bless her little but really, really big and sometimes incredibly mature heart.

Time to stop and smell the...dandelions???

I've often contemplated how wonderfully innocent and pure children are and how they can find such happiness in the little things. I've wondered how funny the world would be if we never lost that quality and it wouldn't be uncommon to see an adult skipping on the way up to a buffet or trying out some sweet, new dance moves during a meeting. Obviously I am not going to be the adult that starts that trend but wouldn't it be great to hold on to some of that careless abandon and the ability to find joy almost everywhere you look? How freeing would it be to not always worry about what others are thinking, how your actions or words are going to be perceived or even to just do whatever it is your little heart desires without first considering twelve possible consequences.

It just amazes me how different kids see the world and I am honored to be able to catch a glimpse of that every day. Today Lily excitedly informed me that there were a whole bunch of "those beautiful yellow flowers" on the big hill across the street and she wondered if we could "please go pick some". Of course, I knew these "beautiful yellow flowers" were in fact weeds but far be it from me to rain on her flower picking parade. We crossed the street and suddenly we were in Lily's dream world. Happily, she took off running across the empty lot, headed straight towards all those beautiful flowers...

She picked and picked until her purple bucket was filled, all the while narrating this awesome experience. She talked about how lucky the people with the yard nearest this field were because they got to have all these pretty flowers in their yard. She was quite sure they wouldn't mind sharing some of their flowers with us. And she blissfully told me, "I just love doing this!" I believe she really did. It's funny how just one hour today was able to change my perspective and instead of seeing this... All I could see was this...So often it takes something super exciting and out of the ordinary to really make an impact. Unfortunately those big deals are pretty rare and while you are waiting for them, you may be missing out on a whole lot of happiness.

Take a minute today to stop and enjoy the little things. They're there and they are beautiful. It may just give you a whole new perspective.

No words, just pictures...

OK, just a few words (because, of course, it just wouldn't be me if I didn't say at least a little something)...

We went to the butterfly house last Friday and had a great time. Observe...

Let me just interject here~No, I did not select Lily's outfit but yes, I did let her out of the house in this get up.

Last night was the girls' first soccer practice of the season.

Lily decided that even though she isn't officially on a team, she is still a player...

And as such, still works up a sweat and needs a water break (an extremely dramatic water break).... Grace got reacquainted with her teammates... Observed her surroundings...
Played a little ball...
And even seemed to enjoy herself which was awesome to see...
Ella, predictably, took a minute to acclimate herself... And then proceeded to go full out...
She was quite pleased with her first goal of the season... She and Lily were both quite pleased with her pit stop at the playground while waiting for Grace to finish up...
And really just both quite pleased with themselves in general...

Finally, there were some hot air balloons that came floating by. I love hot air balloons and had to try to capture the moment and ended up with a pretty cool picture....

It was a fabulous evening.

Happy almost weekend from the Kolbs!