Day 1,432 - Marble Day!

While it's really special to be able to do things with Ethan every day, I really love those days when Ellie gets to join in the fun. As she's growing up, I definitely do miss all of the hours that I got to spend with her before her formal schooling began. However, one can't sit by and pine for the days of yonder. Instead, it's time to make new memories and have new experiences to look back on. You know, like finally making that long awaited trip to Moon Marble Company.

Ellie had been really excited to go to Moon Marble Company for quite some time. Unfortunately, the last time I promised to take her coincided with me coming down with a 48-hour stomach bug. However, I promised to make it up to her by taking her when she was off school on Martin Luther King Day. Therefore, as soon as I verified that the store was open and that there would be someone there making marbles, it was time to load up and head to Bonner Springs.

Now, Moon Marble isn't just a marble factory. It's actually a full vintage toy store. Once we arrived, the first thing we did was start checking out the toy store section of the building. Of course, Ellie and Ethan wanted to touch every single bucket of marbles located at the front of the store which resulted in more than a few falling out of the buckets and landing on the ground. Luckily, there was no employee in the front of the store at that moment so there were no angry looks or frustrated sighs from employees.

Soon enough, I was able to shoo them out of the front room and into a back room of the building where we began looking at high-priced custom marbles. At this point, "Don't touch" and "Look with your eyes, not your hands" became constant refrains spouting forth from my mouth. Some of their favorites included one designed to look like the planet Earth as well as a collection of animal-themed marbles nestled upon a replica of Noah's Ark. From there, Ellie and I found our way to another room which housed a 3-foot-long game of Mancala with large, polished stones for game pieces. As Mancala is one of our favorite games, it was only fitting that we played a round. Yours truly took the win, in case you're wondering.

Not long after we finished our game, it was time to watch a demonstration showing how marbles are made. The kids and I took our places front and center on a series of bleachers, where we were soon joined by Ellie's friend, Paul, and his parents. Then it was time to watch a marble be made. The craftsman started with several pieces of black glass and slowly shaped it into a ball over a torch. Then, he began adding crushed pieces of colored glass to it to provide a symphony of color before shaping the marble one final time and putting it inside a kiln to slowly cool. The kids were absolutely enthralled by the entire process with both Ellie and Ethan offering a running commentary of everything they were seeing.

Once our demonstration was completed, it was time for us to leave Moon Marble Company. However, we had one more series of stops before we could head home. Since DFA was on our way home, it was only fitting that we stop and eat lunch with Bethany. Therefore, we picked her up and headed to Panda Express for a quick lunch of tasty Chinese where Ellie and Ethan talked her ear off while sharing everything about their morning at Moon Marble. Once our lunch was finished, we then went across the street to Aldi where we bought a package of cookies to share for dessert. After that, it was time to drop Bethany off and head for home.

Whenever the kids and I have an adventure like this, I never quite know exactly how much they enjoyed it. According to Bethany though, the kids absolutely loved it. At bedtime last night, they wanted her to stay in the room with them for five minutes while they fell asleep. Instead of falling asleep though, they proceeded to talk her ear off again about everything they saw at Moon Marble Company. I'd say that's a good sign that they enjoyed themselves plenty.

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Day 1,427 - Flashing Lights, Waterfalls, and Giant Pieces of Fruit

I'm constantly amazed by how the simplest things can seem to bring joy to a child. Sometimes it takes a lot. Other times it can be something relatively small and insignificant. Spoiler alert: For my kids, it's generally the latter.

Last Tuesday marked the last day of Ellie's Christmas break. While it was certainly one that was full of adventures, activities, and lots of traveling, she found herself not quite ready to bid adieu to her break when Tuesday rolled around. Instead, she really wanted to have one final adventure. Seeing as how I was cognizant of that desire, I had planned ahead for us to drive down to Bonner Springs to check out the Moon Marble Company. I've been there before but it's been years since my last visit. I had told the kids of my plans in advance and Ellie was stoked to watch a craftsman create a marble in person. Unfortunately for dear Ellie, sometimes things don't go according to plan.

Despite my best efforts to stay healthy leading up to and following the Christmas season, I finally came down with a case of the stomach flu. Most of my day on Monday was spent with a variety of fluids rushing out of my body. Needless to say, I didn't feel well. Once Tuesday rolled around, I was definitely feeling a little better but I was cautious to take off towards Bonner Springs given how Monday had turned out. Therefore, I knew I needed to make a back-up plan for our day.

Sometimes, when making a back-up plan, simple is good. Therefore, I decided that with some library books needing to be returned, the simplest thing for us to do was to head to the new Green Hills library branch to hang out for a while. Even though the Green Hills library opened earlier this fall, Ellie hasn't had many opportunities to go and hang out there yet. Ethan and I go practically every week so that's caused a few hard feelings for Ellie since she feels as if she's missing out.

As soon as we showed up, Ellie wanted to head straight for the kids' area where she would sit down and enjoy coloring some pictures. Ethan, for his part, picked out a couple of books he wanted to look through and took a seat in one of the giant pieces of fruit built into the wall that doubles as seating. Yes, you read that right; there are giant pieces of fruit built into the wall for kids to sit down and read inside.

Soon enough, the time came for us to leave the library with a bag full of new books as well as some new pictures to color. Luckily for Ellie and Ethan, I had one more stop in mind as we headed home. That's right; it was time to go to the GO Car Wash.

Now, I realize that most people probably don't view the car wash as being an irresistible treat. However, my kids aren't most people and the GO Car Wash isn't an ordinary car wash. First of all, it's one of those car washes where a conveyor belt carries your car through all of the various stations, making certain that your car is absolutely spotless. Also, it needs to be said that the GO Car Wash understands the concept of showmanship. There are certain areas on the car's journey where there's not much in the way of lighting and the combination of soap and colored lights turns the windshield into a veritable kaleidoscope of colors until a few seconds later when your car travels through a legitimate waterfall.

While all of this is happening, Ellie and Ethan are absolutely mesmerized. The two of them are taking turns providing a running commentary of all that they are seeing. In fact, they are so enthralled that they insisted I pull out my phone and take a video to share with their mom.

Overall, while things didn't meet Ellie's high expectations for her final day of winter break, I'd have to say that it was a success. Ellie still got to have an adventure, albeit a little closer to home. Also, don't tell her, but I'm planning to take her to Moon Marble Company on MLK Jr. Day when she's off school. Shhhh!

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