Dad's visit

Dad came for a visit back in May.  Unfortunately due to my work and Justin being in class we couldn't go pick him up from the airport.  But a transportation service dropped him off at my school and he got to help me and hang out in my class for the afternoon.  Thursday night was a little hectic as both boys had baseball games and Caroline had karate.  But I was able to get dad to see both boys play.  Friday was my last day of work and the kids had a half day of school.  In the morning Dad played 9 holes of golf then came home to get the kids, eat lunch, then took all 3 golfing!  They had a great time. (I don't have any pictures though)

I was gifted several things as was Miles since he went to school every week with me.  But the cookies from the local place Sis' Sweets are always delicious!

 Saturday we went to Science City.  The kids had a great time showing Grandaddy all their favorite things there.  The water thing is always a favorite!  Dad loved damning up the water, of course!

 Friday night Dad and I went on a bike ride with the local shop to Atchison.  It's about 30 miles.  It was a great ride but like all rides around here, very hilly!  Justin and the kids met us at the pizza place so we could all eat together.  The Friday night pizza rides with the shop are lots of fun.  The location is determined by the wind.  We go with a tail wind.

 More Science City fun with magnetic sand.

 Miles with one of his gifts from my students!

 Eric at his baseball game.  In his last game he hit a grand slam!!  He hit it way over everyone's head into the outfield!  HE was thrilled.

 Eric has been waiting almost 2 years for this moment.  And grandaddy was here to see it.  Eric was finally tall enough to ride the sky bike!  Dad has the picture of him riding.  He's getting so tall!

Thanks for the visit dad!  We love having company.

Mother's Day weekend

I know I haven't posted in a LONG time.  I've had/have computer issues and can't get all my photos from my photo stream to show up on my computer.  So I didn't blog because I didn't have all the photos from when we went to the Omaha Zoo (or anytime after that).  Then it spiraled out of control from there! lol

So now I'm back.  It's the last week of my school year!  I'm so happy I taught this year.  It's been really great and I have loved it.  Even the hard, trying parts.  The kids handled it so very well too.

The kid's last day of school is next Thursday so I have a week "off" before they get out.  So I am filling it with appointments!  And still have work to do at school actually.

Justin wrecked on his gravel bike about 2 months ago and hurt his left knee.  He didn't know how bad until a week ago when he found out the results from his MRI.  He has a partially torn ACL and will see the ortho dr next week to set up a surgery date.

By the way we leave KS in about 6 weeks!  

We found out our house in TX will be pretty similar in floor plan to our current house, but it won't have a basement.  Which means we have some downsizing and configuring to do!  

Which led us to the furniture store after dinner Saturday night.  

 Sunday was also our 18th anniversary.  We tried to go on a family bike ride at a park about 30 minutes away.  But Caroline didn't like the single track riding and it hurt Justin's knee.  SO they turned back and the boys and I had a great time!  The trail we did was 3.5 miles up and down, over and through!  They loved it.  We crossed little streams, went by the lake, Will hit a tree head on, Eric spotted a turtle, and they argued about who would be in second place behind me, and argued over going to slow and getting too close.  But I'm pretty sure they'd do it again!!
Let's just say the ride home was very quiet!!

Then Justin grilled steaks and we celebrated Mother's Day and our anniversary!  It was perfect!

Egg-stravaganza

Saturday morning while Justin and Mike went for a gravel ride the Cotovsky girls joined us for some Easter fun at science city.  We did different activities spread out around Science City to get a stamp, then you turned in your paper to get plastic eggs filled with a treat.

We made blooming flowers.

 Learned about symmetry with butterflies.

 This was just playing with the giant lever.

 Did some cooking chemistry.  And just had a great morning!!  They also had dry ice experiments outside.  The kids enjoyed playing but we were glad we went early as it got really crowded.  Our membership got us all in for free which was even better!  Thanks for the gift that keeps on giving!

 Then at the last minute (after dinner but before dessert) we dyed eggs.  I tried a new method I'd seen floating around and it was ok.  You take cheap shaving cream but the food dye in it and swirl it around, then roll the eggs around in it!  The colors weren't as bright as we had hoped for.  But I think I need to use more dye.

 The kids really enjoyed it and it was quick clean up so bonus!

 And after saying Justin was doing better on the bike he had a pretty nasty crash.  Hitting the ground going close to 25 mph on gravel just doesn't feel good.  He had to get a new helmet (thank goodness for those) and has a scraped up elbow and shoulder.

Weston Bluffs Trail

Friday promised to be a sunny, warmer day.  So Justin and I decided we should get outside!  We pumped air in bike tires, got on warm gear, and headed about 20 minutes down the road to the start of the trail.  

Caroline did not wasn't to go for a ride, but Eric and I did.  I knew she would like it as soon as she got going, and she did!  Will really wanted to go too but he still has a walking boot on.  He and Justin walked around the cute little town of Weston while we rode almost 4 miles along the Missouri River into town.  We stopped and read all the placards.

 And yes it was still chilly with temps in the low 40's.

 Caroline noticed the train car with Burlington written on it and wanted me to take a picture!

 Then she climbed the ladder!

After meeting up with Justin and Will we ate at the Tin Kitchen, a great BBQ place.  Justin then went out for a quick little road ride by himself since the weather was nice.

Riding and Reading

So Justin and his buddy Mike have taken up gravel riding.  He loves it!  Anything on a bike and outside is right up Justin's alley.  His bike handling skills have improved greatly since moving to KS and he hardly ever wrecks any more!!  There for a while every time he got on his bike he would crash.  The weather has not been great for doing anything outside but Mike is dedicated and drags Justin out any way.  He ends up happy he went.

The pictures below are from a ride I think was 50 miles or so, they left early in the morning (like 5am  crazy) and then we (Catherine, her 3 girls, and my kids) at a local cafe for a late breakfast.

 Caroline learned the great lesson of how-to-get-paint-out-of-clothes after getting paint on not one, not two, but 4 pieces of clothing!  Two of which were brand new!  Rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush and lots of elbow grease later and she agreed that maybe being more careful or wearing a smock might be a good idea!

 There for a few days Lili took a liking to this pillow and it didn't  matter if you picked it up while she was on it she wasn't moving!  Eric liked having her in his lap!

 And we have been doing a lot of reading with it cold and windy out still.  We are all anxiously waiting for spring and warmer weather to arrive.

Busy as Usual

Life has been busy as usual in the middle of the country the past couple of weeks.  

Caroline has promoted in belts again and has a goal to have her black belt by the time we leave TX.  

 Justin has been traveling more than usual lately.  He left on a Sunday for Germany, was back home Friday night.  He traveled around, ate great food (and drank a few beers), and saw his best buddy from HI, Mark Morgan!!

 After getting in late Friday night Justin was up with Caroline and at the jr high school for a 415 am departure for the Odyssey of the Mind competition.  It was 3 hours away and they didn't get home until 1030 pm.  The jet lag and early morning/late nights hit hard on Sunday.

 Trying a new braid I saw on a girl from Eric's basketball team.

 While Justin was gone I still had plenty of work.  I was making sure Will had rides to and from school as the walk is still too much with the walking boot on.  I had to get sub plans ready since I was going to an all day math conference.  Sub plans just mean double the work!  Then since the kids had a half day of school on Friday (I had a full day, plus prep for the next week) I had a friend pick up the boys and Caroline ride the bus with her friend and she feed them lunch and kept them until another friend brought them to me at my school.
Then I got the chance to have the boys practice some of the math I had learned at my conference while we waited for Caroline at karate!  It was a great conference and I loved it!

 Then it was a typical Friday night of trying to grade papers and Lili sitting in my lap.

Our next adventure

Well, the Redferns are moving to TEXAS!!!  We found out that Justin will take command of the 553rd CSSB at Fort Hood this fall.  It is not something we expected as Justin doesn't have any experience with division level stuff.  So it will be a bit of a learning curve!  He will have 7 companies and gain an 8th when all CSSB's in the Army will stand up new companies called a field feeding company.  So he'll start out with 1,300 and then add another 200 when he gets the field feeding company added!  Yikes that's a lot of soldiers!!!

So if you've ever wanted to visit TX we would love for you to come visit!!