This month's Ageless Style theme is "Spring Transitions" and it was picked by ME! I chose this theme because I live in Wisconsin and every single spring I am tormented by my southern blogging buds who are posting these gorgeous spring outfits (dresses, bare legs, flats or sandals, etc.) while I am usually still buried knee deep in snow and dealing with frigid temperatures. Thus, it is always a "challenge" for me to dress according to the spring fashion calendar, YET, still stay toasty warm in my frigid Wisconsin climate. This year however has been a miracle! It has been so beautiful and warm it melted all the snow! The trees are budding, the bulbs are poking out of the ground, and I couldn't be happier. How long it will last before the cold and snow returns, I have no idea, but I'm praying it doesn't.
My usual way of transitioning from winter to spring is to toss out the dark winter colors and bring in the pastels! Here I have put together a spring outfit perfect for those early, chilly spring days.
I started with a lightweight cardigan in a spring color and then I built my outfit around it. Light cardigans are a must-have for me in the spring/summer months. I keep one always in my car or handbag to throw on when I entered an air-conditioned building. But I love them this time of the year for staying warm when there is still a chill in the air.
Next, I added a spring floral top, light wash denim, and a neck tie scarf. I use scarves for warmth more in the spring/summer months then I do in the winter. Most of my winter coats zip or snap right up to the neck making a scarf unnecessary, but in the spring/summer a lightweight scarf is perfect for those slightly chilly days and/or air conditioned buildings. They can easily be tied to a handbag or tossed inside to use only when needed.
I went with a neutral cross bag instead of a blue or pink one, because otherwise the outfit would have become to overwhelming pastel. My bracelet is a new find from World Market. I just love all the pretty colors in the beads.
My jeans have a pastel, floral embroidery on them on both the lower and upper legs. For footwear I chose an old pair of gingham sneakers I have owned for decades. Transitioning from boots and booties to flats and sandals in spring is always something I look forward to. I get so excited when I no longer have to put on a pair of boots to leave the house, and I can wear sandals or flats again!
If you live in a colder climate like me and you have to patiently wait to wear the newest spring fashions, you can still join in the celebration of spring with color! Just pack away your black and brown cardigans, and bring out the clothes that scream the color of spring!
And now be sure to check out what how the rest of the ladies transition into spring. Most of them already live in warm climates so they do not have the same issues as I do, so it will be interesting to see how they interpreted this challenge.
This week's travel post is part of a travel series of our visit to see our grandchildren in Carmel, Indiana. If you want to start at the beginning, go HERE. Other posts in chronological order are HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE!
Have you ever read a Bible story and wondered what it would have been like to see that in person? For me, I would have loved to have seen Moses part the Red Sea, or David slew the giant Goliath, to name just a few. Well, thanks to some very creative people you can now experience one Bible story yourself: Noah's Ark!
The Ark Encounter is full size ark built according to the dimensions and description in the Bible. You can read more about its construction in last week's travel post, plus see pictures of the exterior of the ark and the park grounds. This week, we are going to explore the INSIDE of the ark!
Below is my husband and I standing in front of the doors of the ark where Noah would have let all the animals in. They are massive, aren't they?
The ark is divided into three levels. The first level is mostly storage and small animals/reptiles. When you enter the ark, you hear lots of sound effects of wind, waves hitting the side of the boat, storm sounds, and lots of animal sounds.
In the storage exhibits they explain all the things Noah would have had to brought onto the ark to feed his family and all the animals and how they stored them.
There are many life-like displays of Noah and his family through out the ark, some are animontronic.
Here is another example of storage. One thing that amazed me was how they utilized every nook and cranny for storage.
The Ark Encounter showed how animals were probably kept on the ark and also how large animals fit on the ark. Larger creatures like dinosaurs or elephants were brought in as babies or perhaps even as unhatched eggs.
Here we see how the animals were fed.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about being inside the ark is the construction itself. This is a view from the first floor looking straight up to the top of the ark.
You travel from one floor to another via these long ramps; very stroller and wheel chair friendly!
Like the Creation Museum, there are many displays explaining Bible history and what was going on in Noah's time period that God would be so angry to cause a world wide flood.
The next two pictures are actually miniature window displays. Once again, they are "possible" scenes of what the world would have been like before the flood.
My favorite exhibits were the ones of Noah and his family. You get to imagine what life might have been like for Noah and his family on the ark.
The next two pictures show a "blacksmith shop". I imagine things were constantly in need of repair on such a busy ark.
This is the view from the top floor looking straight down.
Here's some examples of some creative storage: where every nook and cranny on the ark is utilized.
Now, the Ark Encounter does everything it can to make sure its attraction is historically accurate according to the Bible. But the Bible doesn't tell us everything so many artistic liberties were taken or "imagined" by creation scientists/archeologists of how Noah, his family, and all the animals would have survived so long inside the ark. Below are some pictures of their possible living quarters.
My favorite part of their living quarters was the kitchen. I'd love to have this kitchen now! It showed not only how they stored everything and cooked, but also how they grew their own vegetables on the ark.
This exhibit shows Noah releasing the dove to look for land.
I loved every second of our tour inside the ark. There is no time limit, you can spend as much time as you want strolling about. There are many different other exhibits inside the ark that I didn't even show pictures of because I don't have space in one post! Some other exhibits are:
"Why the Bible Is True" where you walk the pages of a graphic novel and explore the many objections of why people do not trust God's Word.
"Kids Spooky Animal Encounters". This is a fun, but scary, exhibit for kids. It's a hands-on learning experience about all the creepy-crawly things that might have been on the ark.
"Fairy Tale Ark". This shows all the children's books and toy arks that have been created with a caution to parents that the Biblical story of Noah's ark isn't a story about cute little animals, rather it is a story of God's judgement on a wicked world.
"Rainbow Covenant" This exhibit features an artistic description of the covenant God made to never flood the earth again.
"World Flood Myths" There are over 200 mythical stories of world wide floods, which Biblical scholars say is proof that a real flood actually happened.
"What Happened After Noah Left The Ark?" How was the landscape changes? How did Noah and his family repopulate the earth? What did they eat...these are some of the questions answered in this exhibit
After we finished touring everything inside of the ark, we headed over to the Answer Center to hear a Southern Gospel Concert and Ken Ham speak. The concert was such a fun experience and the singers were very good. It was so fun and spiritually refreshing.
We have listened to Ken Ham speak on tv for years, but to see him in person was a real thrill. His presentation was amazing! Neither the concert nor the special presentation cost any extra money. It was included with the price of admission.
Here is a short video to give you a taste of what the concert is like.
And here is Ken Ham, the inspiration behind both the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, speaking himself.
An adult Ark Encounter ticket costs $49.95 and there are discounts for seniors, youth, and kids. Children under four are FREE!
I am so excited for Easter this year as I will get to see my sweet little grand babies once again! I put together some Easter Baskets for them and I made these cute little cards using all old supplies I already had in my stash. Both cards use the same supplies and layout, but I changed the colors: pink for my granddaughter and blue for my grandson.
The bunnies are those cute inexpensive adhesive felt pieces you can find in the seasonal aisle of any craft store. I used my Spellbinder's Nestabilities to create the oval shapes behind the bunnies. I chose an oval shape to represent an egg.
The little eggs on the cards are just dimensional stickers I had in my stash already.
For each card, I just changed the color of the designer paper in the background.
I stamped the sentiment directly onto the oval panel and tied a coordinating ribbon around the card.
And for the inside of the card, I stamped this cute little chick and colored him in with pencils.
