Hi, everyone!
The Tuesday after Easter, Grandma and I took James and Uncle Steven to the Strong Museum! Grandma got tickets for the high ropes course, but now it doesn’t open until an hour after the museum does. So when we got there, we had to figure out what to do while we were waiting for the ropes course to open. James decided to play Journey. Because he was the first player of the day, he was able to start the game from the beginning. He got so interested that he was still playing when the high ropes course opened. That meant he and Uncle Steven had to wait in line for a while before they got harnessed up to go!
There were already other climbers on the rope course, so it’s a good thing James already knew the routes. He took the direct path to the zipline landing. That meant he and Uncle Steven had to get across the section that has a rolling tube underfoot! There was a line waiting for the zipline, too!
After that, James and Uncle Steven went up to the higher level of ropes. They were almost as high as the ceiling! When they were ready to quit, they noticed that there wasn’t much of a wait for the zipline. They did that again before they came down!
James and Uncle Steven headed back to the Journey game, but I wanted to see my Sesame Street friends. I stopped to make friends with Snoopy, too, before I caught up with James. Guess what? The game was practically where he’d left it! With Uncle Steven coaching, James played the game all the way to the final scene!
By then it was lunchtime, so we went to the diner that’s right under the high ropes course! Then James decided to go to the second floor exhibits. We made our usual stop at the Duplo wall before it was time to go home.
When Grandma and I got home, we made sticky buns! We barely had time to get them done before dinner! I helped make the dough and checked to make sure Grandma kneaded it enough before we put it in a bowl to rise. While it was rising, we made the caramel for the bottom of the pans and put in the pecan halves to mark the places for each cinnamon roll slice. When the dough rose, Grandma and I rolled it out, put cinnamon and sugar on it, rolled it up, sliced it, and put it into the pans. Then the pans went into the refrigerator to rise overnight. Grandma and Uncle Steven went to a chorus rehearsal together after dinner. When Uncle Steven brought Grandma home, she sent one of the pans along with him to bake at his house the next morning. The ones we baked were yummy!
That Tuesday was cold and rainy, but we had sun on Wednesday! Grandma said it was time to start looking for my flower friends at Highland Park! Lots of people were there, looking for springtime! I met some plein air painters looking for colorful scenes. Another artist left a springtime message on the trail! Some of the springtime trees were blooming, but most of my magnolia friends still hadn’t opened their buds. The earliest magnolias to bloom had brown on their petals, because we had had some frosty nights!
I was happy to see my heleborus friends in the Poets Garden. Snow doesn’t bother them at all! I said hello to the hollow tree before Grandma and I went to look at the lilac hillsaide. The gardeners were mowing, so we didn’t see any of my groundhog friends. We did see a lot of burrows! The ones in the grass were all marked with orange spray paint so nobody would step in them! The pansy bed was already planted.
On Friday after Easter, Grandma and Grandpa and I went out to the bay. We went to the Point to watch sunset for the first time this year. The sun set into clouds, but it was still pretty. We had a pretty sunrise on Saturday, too! Grandma and I walked down the road to see which of my wildflower friends were blooming. The red trilliums and trout lilies were, and the may apples were just sprouting. With no leaves on the trees yet, I could see how many fallen tree trunks were on the ground! The water level in the bay is getting even higher, but Grandpa says we aren’t likely to have flooding this year!
When we went back to Fairport, we finally figured out what kind of bird was building the nest on the back deck light fixture. It’s a pair of robins! Sunday was a very warm day, and more of my Fairport flower friends started to bloom.
On Sunday, Grandpa put fertilizer on the lawn in Fairport, then we all went back to the bay so he could put fertilizer on that lawn, too! Sunday and Monday had summer temperatures, but rain was predicted to move in after that. We had another pretty sunset at the bay Sunday night.
When we came back into town on Monday, Grandma said we should go see what two days of summer weather had done for my flower friends at Highland Park. There was a big change! Most of the magnolias were in full bloom! The cherry trees along Reservoir Avenue were also blooming, and some of the tulips were open!
The buckeye trees had flower buds. None of my groundhog friends were home when I stopped by their burrows. I could see the tents being put up for the Lilac Festival, but there was only one lilac with any open buds at all! The festival doesn’t start for another week, so there should be more lilacs then! Before I left, I made friends with a weeping cherry tree!
After our two very warm days, a cold front came through. We had a big windstorm that knocked down trees, and then we had more snow! None of it stuck, but I keep hoping that spring will come and stay!
Today, Grandma and I made another AWACS cheesecake! James’ birthday is coming up in May, and he needs two cheesecakes to feed all the guests he’s invited to his party. Uncle Steven asked Grandma and me to make one of them, and he’s making the other one. The little succulent plant that came in a Christmas ornament suddenly shot up a blossom stalk! It was sunny and in the 50s today. Our apple trees have leaves and blossom buds, and there’s a lot more green showing around us. I think this year we’ll have gradual green, rather than a single green day. I hope we’re done with snow!
It was warm enough today that Mama Robin left the nest open for a little while. Grandma climbed up and aimed the camera so we could see inside. There are at least four eggs!
Love,
Lion-san
You are so fortunate to have wonderful museums and parks and climbing places near you. I LOVE spring and all the blossoms. Our magnolias blossomed then we had a big cold storm but the magnolias were not harmed as they are sometimes by spring cold. So glad they are still pretty. We may go for a ride today to see the apple orchards near here in bloom. Happy spring!