Back in Peoria

Back to school, work, etc. this week.  Kris got to join other other local high school students to give a concert at Bradley University.  They did well.  The weather has been cool but I saw this daffodil today in a yard today (most yards are greener than this).

Spring Starts "Up North"

With a little snow still on the ground and temps in the 40s, there are few bugs outside.  Katie and I took advantage of this to get her some more experience riding a bike.  Kris rode on the UTV.  We also climbed around on the rock outcrop behind my parents' house.  We saw a bald eagle while we were riding around this evening.

A Walk in the Nicolet National Forest

The girls, my dad, and I went for a walk in the woods today in an area we have not explored much.  We got a little lost for a bit, but other than that it was an enjoyable outing.  With the first picture, the girls can tell people they went to the beech for spring break!  The round, mossy stones in the fourth picture reminded out of the trolls in the movie "Frozen".

St. Louis Trip

In St. Louis on Tuesday we did not do any St. Patrick's Day stuff, but we spent the morning at the Gateway Arch.  Turns out the monument turned 50 this year. Katie earned a Junior Ranger badge at the nearby Old Courthouse, and we rode to the top of the Arch for the view.  We saw the movie about how the Arch was built - I cringed to see those workers without harnesses. After all this we spent a few afternoon hours at the St. Louis Science Center.  Lots of cool stuff there, including when the girls got to don lab coats and do experiments and I was part of a battery.  In the evening we headed back to Peoria, and then on Wednesday, Kris, Katie, and I traveled to Wisconsin.

Heading to St. Louis

For much of the day Katie accompanied me to Bradley University.  The temperatures outside approached 80 F today, so we took our bikes so we could spend some time buzzing around campus.  Kris joined us for lunch (Karen was at a conference) so I got a picture of both of my girls on wheels.  This evening we drove down to St. Louis - Karen got a pretty good deal on a hotel. Our room has a balcony with a nice view of the arch.

Another walk in the woods

Katie and took a walk in the woods to fossil-hunt and find that little waterfall that I found three months ago.  We found some puffballs, a few butterflies, and a few green plants.

Happy Pi Day!

Today was the first day of Spring Break for Katie, Kris, and me.  This morning, Katie and I fixed up some rabbit fence around the garden that got squashed in a wet, heavy snow back on February 1. I got ambitious and planted a couple of onion sprouts in the mud and at one point I thought my boots were going to get stuck in the muck! Today also Katie and I went on a walk to a nearby open space to try to fly kites.  We had limited success - the wind was not very consistent and Katie had to run to keep her kite up.  On the way there and back, Katie worked on learning to ride her bike.  There is improvement.  Kris spent 11 hours of today working at a church choir fundraiser - a St. Patrick's Day dinner.  I am proud of her and others for working so hard on this - and the food was good, too.  Karen and I celebrated Pi Day by having shepherd's pie. One of my godsons helped with the cleanup.

Warmer Weekend

On Friday, Katie participated in her school's speech meet and did well. On Saturday morning, I did see a little of Kris rehearsing for Peoria Christian High School's production of "Godspell" - it looks like it will be a great (and sometimes intense) show.  On Saturday afternoon, Kris participated in a duet in a Solo&Ensemble event and did well (sorry, no pictures of that).  Meanwhile, some of Katie's friends came over to play in the melting snow in our backyard - it got to 50 this weekend.  With the all the melting I made a last attempt to see some ice falls a couple mile from here that I have been seeing from the road.  It is in a pasture surrounded by barbed wire, and as I found out, some brambles, but I tried to shoot some pictures through the fence.  It is probably not as impressive as the ice caves up at the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, but it is a lot closer.

Wintry February into March, 2015

Weather has still been cold and snowy across the Midwest.  My parents reported seeing part of a frozen turkey bowling tournament up in Wisconsin this weekend.  On Saturday, St. Anthony's Catholic Church had their annual Pancake and Sausage Breakfast fundraiser, and then we stopped over at Northwoods Mall to watch Kristine's team's wooden bridge compete in a test of strength and for Katie to get her ears pierced.