The Kassel Family Project Life 365

All the boxes have been brought up from the decorations closet. It is time to pack up the Christmas decorations. I hope to actually be done by the end of Saturday…

I got a little crafty today. I made two new kinds of soap. This one is called, “Funfetti.”

I also made “Java Dream.” Yes, it is coffee inspired and it does contain actual used coffee grounds!

After that, I was not quite done for the day. I love the look of charger plates with napkins on our dining room table, so I needed napkin rings for the non-holiday months. That led to me making some out of leftover wooden beads from another craft project.

They turned out so well that I made some for Valentine’s Day too.

Sometimes, I just have to get my craft on.

We went to Springfield, Illinois, today for lunch at Portillo’s.

Yes, it was six hours total in the car, but the opportunity for Italian Beefs and Chicago-style hot dogs was just too much to pass up.

It marked the end of our winter break. John goes back to school tomorrow, and Laura returns to SEMO next weekend. The last few weeks just went too fast.

We went to the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium today and got to do lots of things.

We went to the Penguin March, which is the cutest 15 minutes of organized chaos!

We went to a penguin birthday party for Bumblebee, who is 39! That is really old for a Gentoo penguin.

We chatted with the Kookaburras…

…and, we watched the sharks swim in the aquarium.

We met the tiger while on patrol.

We rounded out our visit by saying hello to the polar bear.

All in all, we walked over 15,000 steps and saw lots of animals despite it being a chilly day. It was a great, family day trip.

I changed the look of my blog after several years. It will take some getting used to as I figure out all the settings, and Andy works to fix a few things for me. I do like it so far!

We spent the day hanging out and not doing too much. Our niece, Addyson, is visiting for a few days, so it was great to get some time with her. It was pretty much the perfect New Year’s Day. The real world calls tomorrow.