We have seen the elephants but . . . .

We made it to see the elephants -- but not with Dad yet.  Aunt Gayle and Uncle Tom were in town from Florida and stopped by for a visit after their birding expedition up into Michigan and Canada.  We had such a great visit and went to the zoo to see the new African elephant exhibit.  We will go again with Dad and hopefully see the elephants again.  Keira was a little shy at first and didn't want her picture taken.  So here is Maura with Willie.  So we have seen the new exhibit, but not with Daddy yet.  So we won't cross this one off the list yet.

And here is a fun link to the zoo's site when Shenga went swimming -- http://www.africanelephantcrossing.com/content/shenga-goes-swim-pool.

Yikes! April is almost over.

How did this happen?  Where did April go?  Need to get back to the list and plant some flowers.  Hopefully the weather will finally break and we will get some sunshine and warmer temps and we can plant those flowers.  The good news is that I have seen the peonies popping up -- my favorite!!

Cleveland Art Museum -- check!

One down -- countless to go.  Last Saturday we went to the Cleveland Art Museum and toured the new East Wing.  Such amazing works and it is awe inspiring to see pieces of such great artists.  The number of Picasso's is astounding!  We even made it into the old building briefly before the girls got tired and hungry.  We tested a new interactive game for the museum, too.  The girls were very observant and pointed out several pieces of art that they had seen in the game as we traveled the galleries.  Then at lunch, Maura recreated her favorite piece -- a woman in a white dress with a green parrot on her shoulder.  I have to find out the name of the painting and the painter for her.  So fun.  And the girls want to go back!

Not on the list, but still something fun.  The girls went to their first Cleveland International Film Festival showing.  We saw the Family Shorts.  Keira's favorite was called Snowflakes and Carrots where a little girl stole carrots from snowmen around town, took them out to the woods and fed them to rabbits.  Maura said her favorite was the same as mine, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.  A writer gets blown away in a storm and is taken to a place where books fly.  I took away that reading books add color to your life and a book is only alive when someone has read it.  There was also a really cute short called Mobile.  A crib mobile seems unbalanced with  a lonely cow on one side that wants to make friends with all the animals on the other side.  After a wild "ride" the mobile finally comes to rest in a more balanced way.  The other movies were: Cankered and Cursed, Play by Play, Amazonia and the Oscar nominated short, The Gruffalo.  We enjoyed them all!

Already adding one

Keira had a friend at school that went on a "Disney Crew".  So she came home and really wants to go on a "Disney Crew".  And Grandma Kathy likes that idea better than walking around Disney World.  So our first addition to the list . . .

26.  Disney Cruise

We should be knocking our first activity off the list tomorrow.  Planning on an Art Museum visit tomorrow after I took a behind the scenes tour of the new construction.  The new atrium is going to be so dramatic --see pics below. And the completed new East Wing is amazing!

Family To-Do List

We have had such a snowy winter this year.  One ice and snow storm knocked out our power.  I had heard on the radio the idea about creating a Family "Bucket List."  So in the dark we sat together and came up with a list of things we would like to do together as a family.  We did not set a time limit but just offered ideas of things we'd like to do.  Every idea said was written down and everyone contributed something.  Here it is.  I hope to report out on it as we go!

First 25 created February 2011

1. Go to the Art Museum
2. Plant flowers
3. Go to a water park
4. Disney World
5. Return to Aruba
6. See a play
7. Take dance lessons
8. Go to the zoo and see the new elephant exhibit
9.Take horse back riding lessons
10. Honey Hut ice cream at the beach
11.  Strawberry picking
12. Cedar Point!
13. Visit cousin Charlotte in England
14. Travel to China
                Italy
                Ireland
15. Visit Washington DC
16. See Niagra Falls
17. Butterfly catching
18. Idelwild Park
19. See the horses at Preque Isle Downs
20.  Take a train ride
21. Nature Hike -- in the Metro Parks with a picnic
22. See an IMAX movie
23. Go to a baseball game
24.Visit one of the Lake Erie islands
25. Go camping

As we mark some of these off , I assume we will think of more to add.