farewell to april

This year is going by amazingly fast. I cannot believe that it is May already! Here are a few pictures from the end of April and the 1st of May.

More of my flowers are in bloom. This ajuga (bugleweed) back by our shed has really spread since I planted ONE plant two years ago! This photo only shows a few of the plants we have now ~ there are quite a few more:
Carpet phlox and some "wild" vinca vine:

More "wild" plants... violas that surprised me this spring by popping up in front of our porch. I certainly didn't plant them, but they sure are pretty!
I LOVE my forget-me-nots! :) They have really spread as well, and now almost completely fill in the area along the east side of our house:
On April 29th I helped to chaperone Ben's preschool field trip. They were supposed to visit one of our town's fire stations, but it was closed earlier this month to save money. Instead, a few fire fighter's brought a fire truck and ambulance to the library parking lot for the kids to see:
Ben "drives" the fire truck:

One of the fire fighters put on all of his gear for the kids:
Next, we spent about half an hour at a nearby park. The kids had a blast playing there!

Then we walked over to the library, which reopened last summer after extensive remodeling:
One of the librarians took us on a tour of the preschool area. Of course, Benjamin already knew where everything was since we visit the library regularly!
She read the kids a couple of stories:
And they all danced to a few silly songs:
Then the kids had some time to play with the various toys and puzzles:
It was a fun little trip! :)

On the 1st of May, our friends Scott, Janet, and Eleanor came to visit, and we all went into Chicago for the day. We spent several hours at Shedd Aquarium:

Janet, Eleanor, Ben, Emm, and Nick by the Man With Fish statue:
We all had a good time at the aquarium, although I do NOT recommend paying money or wasting your time watching the new Fantasea show. Even Ben was rolling his eyes at it! The old dolphin show was much, much better.

We loved seeing all the sea creatures, like these jellyfish:
The penguins (I took photos of real ones, LOL, but they didn't turn out the best):
Beluga whales:
and dolphins:
Nick pets a starfish:


We saw much more than "just" fish at the aquarium. We also saw several turtles:
Some caimans:
All kinds of frogs:

And many other creatures, as well. Afterwards, we all headed over to Pizzeria Due for supper. Yum! Their pizza is the BEST, hands down!
Janet and Eleanor:
George and Scott:

It was a great way to start out the month!