Kids Spring Break

The kids are all back in school after 10 days off for Spring Break. And it was actually mostly bright and sunny. . and COLD. What looks like nice warm sunshine out your window ended up being quite deceiving. How could the wind still be so cold in the middle of a sunny April day? Everyday I sent the kids back inside to take off their shorts and put on their coats.

One day Brent came up with a new idea and harnessed up his kids and helped them repel out of the tree house. Camille was first and bravest as usual.

While Brent was in school, we went to the park a lot. I usually am not that excited about hours upon hours at a park unless I can be running around or doing something active myself while they play. But lately with Marcus I just love it. Because he loves it. I just stand there mesmerized watching him enjoy every part of being outside from the slide, to the swing, to just watching a squirrel or bird pass by.
One of our favorite parks around here is Delaware Park. It's the one with the very large "Naked Man" that greets you from the freeway. We have yet to drive by without Caroline calling out, "Naked Man" and then they are all giggling. And It so happens to be on our way to church. We snapped a picture of his less graphic side last week when we spent a morning walking around Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park. I just figured it has been such a big part of our lives here that we needed to preserve him in our memory book.
Anyway that is definitely not the reason it is our favorite park. Rather it is because:
It's close
Home of the art museum that has free family night every Friday, the history museum, and the second oldest Zoo in the country.
In the summer people race boats around the lake
A walking/biking/rollerblading path surrounds a city golf course. I haven't passed by once, even in the dead of winter, that I haven't seen at least one faithful runner. It inspires me to stop hibernating. (On my side of town I feel like a freak to be out walking/jogging around. I always run around our little park while my kids play and you wouldn't believe all the people who ask Kennon, "Why is your mom running?")
Shakespeare in the park every evening for a couple weeks in the summer
Live Jazz music every Sunday night for a time in the summer
Variety of dogs strolling by that keep Marcus entertained
The slipperiest slide we have found yet
Beautiful in the fall for family pictures
People who hang out there seem to embrace the city they live in. You don't have to drive very far on almost either side of the park and things get dicey. But adjacent to the park the homes are well kept and historic. I think this neighborhood may have been the one that gave Buffalo the reputation for being the home of Good Neighbors. If it weren't for the situation in Buffalo schools we totally would've loved to buy a home in this area. Well I would've anyway. Brent was kind of stuck in the $30, 000 price range.

Spring Break really was nice. I decided beforehand that I was going to enjoy each day and not just being dying to send them back to school. And I knew that I didn't need to leave town to be a fun mom. There is plenty of stuff to do around here. I may have overdone the park though. The last day I said something about going to the park and Camille said it sounded boring!

The last 3 days Brent left us to fly with a couple classmates, Josh and Vera, and a local dentist in his private plane to Tennessee to spend the weekend offering free dental care. He even got to do some flying after all these years too poor to be a pilot anymore. AND he pulled EIGHTY ONE TEETH in two very long days!! So many people that were in dire need to have their rotten teeth OUT! Brent was glad to help but came home feeling really bad that now they have no teeth at all and no money to replace them.

Third year has been a major year for Brent in the process of becoming a dentist. After three weeks in Alaska this summer I'm thinking he's going to feel about ready to start getting paid to year from now. It was such a big decision to begin the journey to becoming Dr. Casper, but now it's down to one year it seems like it has hardly been any time at all. And either way we have loved the experience it afforded us all .

Dr. Angelo and dental students -Vera, Brent and Josh Twiss