Paper Airplane Day

A couple of Sundays ago, Grandpa Richards took the grandkids over to the high school's football field to fly his new R/C airplane. They all had a blast, but Jer just couldn't get enough. By the end of the next day, he had built a 3-foot airplane model out of a turning stick from an extra set of window blinds and some cardboard. Since then, he's built three or four more amazing creations.

This last Thursday, Jer's class had "paper airplane day". In preparation, Jer built an airplane:



Yup. He informed me that he had cleared this particular model's design with his teacher. It was, indeed, made of paper...and Tinkertoys (which are made of wood which is what paper is made of...) and blue painter's tape, also a paper product. I LOVE his teacher, who totally supported him. Wednesday night, I found Jeremy outside on the hill behind our neighbor's home with a whole group of neighborhood kids, doing a test flight! The flight was successful, and the airplane was a hit the next day at school.

This week's model (he's already moved on) is made entirely of MDF. Jer took a sheet of it and a permanent marker and drew all needed pieces, labeled them with letters to show which attached to which, and asked Dad to cut them out at the shop. He was so excited for Mike to bring them home tonight! As soon as he arrived, Jeremy pulled them out of the truck and started gluing. He's informed me he still needs to paint his aircraft, but here's a peek at the unfinished product:

My Birthday Trip

For my birthday, Mike took me to Phoenix, Arizona. We've wanted to go for a couple of years, now, to Scottsdale to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West. Here's the cool part: we had a total ADVENTURE!!! We visited 6 major sites in less than 60 hours! Here's a synopsis:

We drove to Scottsdale last Friday night. We went through Kanab and down to Marble Canyon, where we crossed Navajo Bridge. We stopped to walk across the original bridge and read all the historical markers.

We continued on down through Flagstaff and on to Scottsdale that evening, pausing to sleep just a few hours before we got up for the 9:15 am tour at Taliesin West.

The tour was incredible! It was a 3-hour "behind the scenes" tour. We were taken through all the buildings on site, but the tour was also interspersed with mini-talks from experts and even some people who had grown up at Taliesin and who had known Mr. Wright! We even had a brunch in the dining room there.

We were so lucky, too, because we happened to be there right when everything, even the cactus, was in bloom!

This tour was amazing. It was SO worth the drive down! We were in heaven!

After the tour, we decided on the spur of the moment to stop by the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Miraculously, we were able to reserve a room for that night in Tusayan, just outside the park's gate. We headed toward Flagstaff, but stopped along the way to see Montezuma Castle.

We then drove through Flag and on up to the Grand Canyon. We were able to see the rim that night before it got dark!

Sunday morning, we drove along the whole South Rim, stopping at many of the viewpoints.

We also took a tour of The Watchtower at Desert View Point before beginning our trip home.

We went, on the way back, through Page, where we stopped at Glen Canyon Dam.

After getting a good look at the dam, we headed back through Kanab and then on to Zion Canyon. We decided to get in just one more fun site!

This trip was amazing. It was better than I could ever have planned. Thanks, Mike! I love you!

Disneyland!!!

Two days after the Hamiltons left, we headed out to California for Spring Break. We spent 3 full days at Disneyland. It was perfect! We all had a marvelous time. The kids are all old enough now to really love it, and they did! Jonathan loved the fast roller coasters (Space Mountain was his fav), Jen was so excited to show Jessie the princesses, and Jeremy adored the bumper cars and an amazing "virtual soccer" floor game in Innoventions! We were able to see and do just about everything we wanted to do...sometimes several times over. We mastered the fast pass and rider switch systems, so Mike and I were able to go on everything, too! Here are some highlights including the traditional 1st ride: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (Mike's favorite)!

New 'do

Did I mention I cut my hair?

Mike insisted on documenting the new look!

I'm putting it on the blog just for fun!

Happy Visit

Just before Easter, I got a call from my long-time best friend, Jenny. She said they'd be coming to visit. I quickly tried to persuade her to stay with us. We were so lucky--we got to visit with them for about a week, and it was great fun! The kids got along wonderfully well, and Jenny and I got "caught up" at long last!

Here's a pic from the traditional Brick Oven stop. We had dinner with our family, the Hamiltons, and Jenny's dad. The kids each got a creation from the most wonderful balloon artist we've ever met, too. If anyone wants to see his stuff, here's the website: http://www.balloonguyentertainment.biz/. Look at his "featured images" slideshow, and you'll get an idea of what he does. It was so cool!

Our Latest Adventures

Yikes! It's been way too long since I've blogged, so I thought I'd do a little catching up! We've had a full and very fun spring. After our holiday season (which was filled with LOTS of fun visitors and partying), we decided to focus inward and do a little home improvement. We started by painting and decorating the kids' rooms. We moved on to the hallways, and next will come the living room and kitchen. It's been a process. We've taken a section at a time, so we're not quite done, but it looks great! All the wear and tear on the walls is getting repaired (it's amazing how much there is after just a few years!), and the color is warmer...we love it!

'Twas Halloween!

We had a wonderful time on Halloween. It was nonstop fun, with parties and parades at school, a visit to Gram's, Trunk-or-Treat at the church, trick-or-treating at the neighbors' and our friends' homes, visiting our cousins', and chili and a healthy dose of "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" (our traditional Halloween movie) at home.

Jessie was a pirate princess:

Jer was a ninja:

Jennifer was a witch:

Jonathan was a "nerdy" mad scientist:

Jeremy finished up the holiday with a final decoration (on my office door):

Well, that's our report. Hope everyone else had a fun day, too!