The Rooms at Easton

School was scheduled to be dismissed 90 minutes early one day last week, so we made a special trip to nearby Easton Town Center for a special COSI exhibit called The Rooms at Easton.

The name is pretty self-explanatory. The exhibit included several bedroom-sized rooms with different themes -- mirrors, colors, optical illusions and such. The kids liked choosing where to place their round stickers in the sticker room above. I liked the mirror room below.

An hour or so is a perfect amount of time. The Rooms at Easton is open through May 19.

Edith the Ballerina

Edith had long asked to take ballet classes. I had just as long suspected that she wanted to do ballet for the fancy outfit. Nevertheless, the requests kept coming, so I knew it was time to sign her up.

Instead of a formal studio, we opted for ballet classes at one of Columbus's recreation centers. Of course the training would not be as rigorous, but I figured she would get some basics and fulfill what I can only assume was her lifelong dream of owning ballet slippers.

The classes met 30 minutes once a week for two months. It was perfect. The teacher worked hard not only to teach them a few positions, but also to empower them to become kind and strong girls as they grow up.

The dress code was lax (wear whatever feels comfortable!), and the same was true for the short recital they held earlier this month. Edith was so excited to dance on a stage! I'm glad she got the opportunity, but also a little relieved that she didn't seem too disappointed not to renew the classes this session. (Her teacher isn't leading a ballet class during the next session, and I was a fan of the teacher more even than the class itself!) This spring: art classes!

Our Block's First Progressive Dinner

I'm never shy to say that my street is the best. We have an awesome annual block party and a terrific monthly book club. I'm good friends with neighbors whom I would still love to hang out with even if our houses weren't in such close proximity.

To add to the neighborly fun, this past weekend I added what I hope will become an annual tradition -- a progressive dinner. This is when a group of friends moves from house to house for different courses. In our case, the first house hosted a happy hour with appetizers, the second house had entrees, and the third house offered an assortment of desserts.

Several households contributed food (Paul made an excellent seafood paella), others made strong mixed drinks and still others donated money to the cause. I'd been to one progressive dinner more than a decade ago, and I had a blast even as we drove from house to house. This one was even better since each house was only feet from the next.

In the summer, our neighborhood basically lives on front porches and front lawns, but the winter is long around here. It was great to come out of hibernation to talk to neighbors that we haven't seen since practically last fall.

Good food, even better conversation and calls for us to do it all again next year -- a wonderful evening all around.