I want to pack in the fun stuff, when Big L only has a few days left with us. So, today we went to Cedar Cove Feline Sanctuary. This is the third time we’ve been here, but I think it’s been over 3 years!

The tigers were Big L’s favorite.

On the left is a serval. On the right is a bobcat. When Gus saw the bobcat, he said, “Hi, my name is Gus. What’s your name? Do you want to be friends?”

This guy is a cougar named Tom. When we walked over to him, one of the volunteers was petting him. Tom walked off and the volunteer got up and turned away. Tom walked over and looked at him like this. It’s that classic cat look, “Where are you going?”

Voodoo is a gorgeous leopard. They got out a piece of meat to get him out of his den so we could see him.

This is Shanta, the lioness.

And Tonka, the lion. I enjoy seeing all of the animals, but Tonka is a sight to behold. Huge, gorgeous and that mane. He is getting his neck scratched by his favorite human.

Yup, that’s the spot.

Last, we saw the wolves.

And also the orange tigers.

Aaron’s favorite was the cougar. Reed’s, Lena’s, and mine were the lion. Gus’s was the lion and the cat (probably the bobcat).

I think that Cedar Cove should be a “must visit” for families (and animal lovers) in the KC area. You have the opportunity to not just see the animals, but also to learn a lot about them. I was really impressed that the facility is totally staffed by volunteers and volunteers who seem to love it there. At least two of the volunteers had been there 3.5 years ago when we were there, too! It’s definitely worth a trip to go see the cats and learn about them.

Split lighting is where you use light to illuminate just one side of your subject’s face. I had an idea for using split lighting for a portrait of Big L. I ended up not getting quite what I wanted, but the kids and I had some fun goofing off.

Lena is almost always my test subject, when I need someone to stand still and/or take instruction. She is definitely my most comfortable in front of the camera and also the most patient.

The middle expression is just a blank expression. What she gives me when I tell her not to smile, but not frown either.

The one on the right is what I got when I told her “you don’t need to smile”. The death stare.

Then, we did some up close shots of eyes. Because, why not?

Again, she was both the most still and had the most natural expressions. You can also see a bit of her rash from the strep throat she is getting over.

This guy was willing, but still is not something he’s very good at. Being 3 and all.

Big L is definitely silly. We love that about her.

She has beautiful eyes.

Just some silly portraits. Because Big L only has 3 full days left with us, I’m trying to pack in the memories. Her trip has gone by so fast.

Realizing that Big L’s time left with us was very limited, I decided to take a day off this week. Friday ended up being the best day.

I wanted to take Big L and Gus to the Kansas City Children’s Museum, called Wonderscope. I’ve been there a few times with Reed and Lena, but I don’t think I’ve ever taken Gus. The last time I remember going was about a month before he came home.

Wonderscope has a lot of different rooms to play in.

This is the vet and doctor room, where Gus is managing the vet office. (If you want to see Reed and Lena playing in the same room and looking really tiny, here you go.)

The room on the left is pretty fun. Golf balls and tracks that you can build. Right is Big L looking into the spaceship where Gus was playing.

We spent the most time in the building room, mostly with the Megablocks and Magnatiles.

But, Gus’s favorite was the fish. His love of fish and the calm that they bring him, as well as a Facebook friend’s post about how kids sleep better with a fish tank in their room, has me thinking. But, the location of his room would make it really hard to clean a fish tank. Anyone have experience with artificial fish tanks or alternatives to the traditional fish tank?

So, we didn’t spent as long at Wonderscope as I had hoped. I remember Reed and Lena really enjoying it and I think that they still would. But, I think that Gus and Big L’s ages are just too young and too old to really take advantage of everything. Which was interesting, because all of the kids we saw there were in the 1-4 year old range, but I’m guessing lots of their families have memberships and don’t mind coming for shorter visits.

When I told my mom we were going to Wonderscope, she said that we had to go to Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant afterwards. They have a location pretty close to Wonderscope.

You make a phone call on this phone to place your order.

Meanwhile, trains keep circling overhead. And then, the train brings your food!

Gus was clapping with delight. A train that brings him chicken nuggets?! This must be too good to be true!

Big L was pretty amused by the whole thing too, and not too old to appreciate the hat they gave Gus.

Fritz’s gets a 5/5 from us. It’s a definite must for little kids who love trains, but we all enjoyed it, not just Gus. The prices are just a bit more expensive than typical fast food and the food is great.

It’s hard to believe that Big L is here for just a few more days. I’m glad I took a day off to spend some time with these two, even if Wonderscope wasn’t as popular as I had hoped.

These long cold mornings and getting up early for school are wearing us out. Even Nina agrees with me.

She came and jumped into bed with me tonight. She doesn’t do that a lot, but I think she wanted some quiet time, away from Aaron and Big L’s crazy card game. Me too, Nina, me too.

It’s been a week for late nights. Big L and I enjoy staying up together– playing card games or practicing language or whatever. But, the past few days, I’ve been busy, so our late nights have been filled with doing. Reed’s birthday is tomorrow, so I need to bake his cake + school cupcakes and make his birthday shirt.

I made Reed and Lena their first birthday shirts before they were even home, because it seemed like a cute, Pinteresty thing to do. Now, the kids love them and still want them each year. Last year, when I did Reed’s birthday shirt, I told myself I’d just start buying birthday shirts off of Etsy. So, it seems like a great idea and that’s what I did for Lena this year, but I couldn’t remember to order one for Reed in the midst of the holiday season.

Cue making a shirt at 8:30 the night before.

I haven’t been screenprinting much lately, so I didn’t have everything set up to do that quickly. Painting by hand it was.

I made my own little DIY lightbox, small enough to fit inside the shirt. I just took a clear plastic storage container and put my phone + another flashlight inside to make this little lightbox, then I put the printout between the box and the shirt. Super easy.

It worked really well!

Big L played cards with Aaron, then came and sat across the able from me, working in an ESL workbook.

This is the almost finished product. It made a final pass over the black outline to get it a bit cleaner looking.