Oh-Bla-Di

I’ve mentioned here before that, in the Webb family, our two major holidays are Christmas and Memorial Day.  We don’t generally make it to Kansas for Christmas as we’re a little more pressed for time around that part of the year, but we’ve been trying to make it back for Memorial Day the last couple of years.

Last year’s visit seemed particularly poignant since so many things had changed about the place and our family.  This year, though, it seemed that we had settled into a new normal – accustomed to a new place, our new hosts, but preserving all those traditions that make the day so special.

As usual, we gathered at the Pleasant Valley Cemetery in the morning.

Maybe it seems strange to others, but I love that Whoozy thinks of this place as just another place to have fun and enjoy company and the outdoors.

The little girls of the youngest generation always seem to fall right back into step and become fast friends again each time they see each other.  The older girls watch out for the younger girls and they all play really nicely together.

This year, Ava not only had little girls to play with but also a new baby boy cousin and a baby kitten to love on and snuggle.  She tired of holding baby Blake fairly quickly, but sat and held the kitten for nearly an hour.  In spite of Larry’s best efforts, we didn’t come home with a new pet.

We spent all afternoon gathered in a circle, eating and visiting, telling a few new stories and several old ones.

Before we left for the day, we managed to wrangle the little girls for a picture and even got a shot of their mamas.    It’s hard to believe that these little  girls have changed so much in a year.

Their pretty mamas, of course, haven’t changed a bit.  

Thanks, Webb Family, for another great get-together and thanks to Pat & Larry for hosting all of us year after year.  We’re looking forward to next year’s picnic!

As it now seems to be an annual tradition, we traveled to Kansas during the week surrounding Memorial Day to visit my side of the family.  I managed to get some of the highlights of that visit posted here, but have been pretty slow to get the rest of it documented.  So, I figured I’d better get that done before the next major summer holiday gets here tomorrow.  

One of the best things about our visits to Kansas is the “free range” philosophy we’re able to adopt with Ava.  My parents have a huge backyard full of trees, birds, squirrels, grass, and any number of bugs…all of which serve as endless entertainment for our curious girl.  Add to that a couple of very willing grandparents and a friendly uncle to ooh and ahh at her exploits and the things she finds to look at and Whoozy just ends up in heaven.

Ava & Rowdy checking out the toads from the window well.

After our trip to the zoo and to the farm for Memorial Day, we spent the rest of the week mostly hanging out at home or in McPherson.  That’s not to say that the days weren’t busy, though.

We went swimming at the new city water park in McPherson…

…and swimming in a more casual location closer to home.

We tested the limits of playground fun…

…and then were wise enough to know when it was time for a rest.

We explored our creativity with art…

…and unique clothing choices.

And, when it was time to just find a spot to relax, it was really easy to just find a buddy to snuggle up to and have a chat or a snack.

Just to be sure we filled every minute, before we took off for the airport, we managed to cram in a little more adventuring with some kite flying in the park across the street.

All in all, we had a wonderful trip.  Thanks so much to my parents to playing host for a week and for keeping us so entertained.  Looking forward to our next visit!

…that Ava’s school also teaches her letters, numbers and colors, because when things like this come home (with an extravagant price sheet attached!) I just have to shake my head.

I mean, she’s really stinkin’ adorable in these photos – especially that fur-enshrouded sleepy girl one.  But there’s no way I’m paying $30 for a couple of 5×7’s.  So, I’m cheating and saving the proof sheet so that I can giggle at these long after I’ve returned them to school and said, “No thanks.”  I’ll bet my little pretender, dress-up queen sure loved doing this though!

Video courtesy of iPhone, sorry it’s so grainy!

Oh, boy, this girl has got an imagination!!  She’s always running away from sharks, monsters or spiders.  Strangely enough, when she “finds” them in her bed, that doesn’t bother her at all.  Wonder what she’ll come up with next?

After we  spent a day exploring Grammie & Grandpa’s backyard, which is quite the wildlife refuge in it’s own right, we ventured a bit further south to take a look at Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard, KS.  The ride to the park was pure anticipation.  Ava was very ready to go on her “special trip” to “see animals.”  Of course, she also spent some time with Daddy spotting more mechanical animals.  Shouts of “Pumpjack!” were ubiquitous on this drive.

Tanganyika is an “interactive” zoo.  We really had no concept of what that meant, but it turns out that means it’s smaller, you basically get to walk in the pens and it’s perfect for the littles.  The whole family went on the trip which was great because that meant someone was always ready to help Ava get to know the animals.

This was Ava’s first zoo experience and it was just exactly the right size and time for her to enjoy it.  We headed out to be there when the park opened and were done by lunchtime – having seen and done every last thing in the park in that amount of time. 

We saw giraffes, a rhino, kangaroos, lorikeets, goats, turtles, bunnies, a camel, snow leopards, white lions, and lots of lemurs.  We actually got to touch the giraffes, goats, turtles, bunnies, and the camel and then walk amongst the kangaroos, lorikeets & lemurs.  When they say interactive, they mean it. 

Feeding the turtles

Feeding bunnies

Feeding goats with Uncle Wes

Walking with kangaroos

Checking out the rhino, who finally stood up so we could see him!

Probably the biggest hit of the day, and the first thing we saw when we went into the park, were the giraffes.  They were wandering pretty free and then would walk right up to the observation platform to get some lettuce treats.  Super  cool that you could pet them.  Ava was very brave and went right after getting to know those giraffes. 

We had such a lovely time at Tanganyika and can’t wait to take Ava for more visits with the animals.  I’m pretty sure she had a good time too, since this was the view from the front seat of the car on the way home…