2012 Summer Olympics

Here at The Preserve we are getting very excited for the Summer Olympics! Did you know that there are only a number of sports that have stuck with the Summer Olympics since the very beggining? They are athletics, swimming, fencing, and gymnastics!

Some other interesting sports that are no longer practiced in the Olympics today include tug-of-war, golf, rugby, polo, lacross, duelling pistol, tandem cycling, pigeon shooting, and one hand weight lifting. I'm sure you can understand why they no longer have duelling pistols in the Olympics anymore!

We have some really promising USA athletes this time around including but not limited to:

Diving: Chris Colwill

Fencing: Lee Keifer

Decathlete: Bryan Clay

BMX Super Cross Racing: Alise Post

Synchronized Diving: Troy Dumais and Kristian Ipsen

Rowing: Andrew Campbell

Platform Diving: Haley Ishimatsu

Sailing: Anna Tunnicliffe, Debbie Capozzi, Molly Vandermoer

Gymnastics: The US National Women’s Team

Equestrian: Margie Engle

Lazy Read Summer

There's just something about leaving our world for a bit to visit someone else's especially if it's a can't-put-it-down story! It's summer so that means vacations are on the horizon! What better way to spend your traveling time than to settle down with a good book-- or even if vacation isn't in your future, who really wants to be outdoors in this heat? Settle down in the cool air conditioning with a great book! Escape into someone else's world for a bit. Here are some good ideas to get started with:

From the New York Time's best sellers list
- Fifty Shades of Grey
- The Amateur
- Wicked Business
- A Game of Thrones
- In the Garden of Beasts

Stop by one of the local book stores such as Half Price Books on 119th in Olathe (one of our personal favorites), Barnes and Noble in Oak Park Mall, or Cokesbury on 91st in Overland Park.

Have fun and dive into reading this summer!!

It's a BBQ summer!

It's that time of year where you can smell it in the air, from your neighbors house 3 blocks over... BBQ season!! Have you had the chance to use our grills yet? If not, make sure you pencil it in. It's not America without a good ol' fashion BBQ.

Here are a few websites that are helpful for any of your BBQ needs:

The beginners guide http://www.bbqaddicts.com/blog/

The healthy, girls can grill too website http://grillgrrrl.com/

The grill master http://www.grillmaestro.com/

The addict http://www.bbqaddicts.com/blog/

KC style BBQ http://barbeque-rib-recipes.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-make-kansas-city-style-bbq-sauce.html

We hope this helps in your venture to cook up the summer! Enjoy and be safe out there!

Pool Rules and Saftey

The Pool is getting so close to opening, we can smell it- literally! Make sure you brush up on your safety before you get to splashin!

Please read over these safety rules. The rules will be enforced and parents should review these rules with their children. Our staff will be monitoring the pool.


The Preserve at Overland Park's Pool Rules:
1. Our swimming pool is open from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm Monday through Friday and 10:00am to 10:00pm Saturday and Sunday
2. You MUST be a resident to use the pool
3. RESIDENTS MUST ACCOMPANY GUESTS
4. Children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult (NO EXCEPTIONS!)
5. Please be considerate of those who live around the pool
6. Running and horseplay in or around the pool area is forbidden
7. NO DIVING!
8. Glass objects, including bottles, are not allowed in the pool area
9. There is no lifeguard on duty SWIM AT  YOUR OWN RISK!
10. No alcohol of any kind is allowed in or around pool area
11. Swimming after hours is not allowed

For more pool safety tips, visit http://www.poolsafely.gov/

HAVE FUN THIS SUMMER!

Want to win free T-Bones tickets?!

 

 

 

Do you love baseball? We have a couple of T-Bones tickets that we want one lucky resident to have ... 2 tickets, free popcorn and a parking pass for a game on May 15th. If your interested, please leave us a comment on our facebook page www.facebook.com/thepreserveop with how you would describe The Preserve at Overland Park to a friend and we will draw one lucky winner on Friday! Send us some love!

What exactly IS the Farmers Almanac?

So often, after moving here from Florida, I always hear people talking about the "Farmer's Almanac" and the prediction for the winter we are going to have. I never really knew what they were talking about and haven't given it much thought. But after this SCORCHING summer we've had, I decided to google it. I wanted to see what the prediction for winter was from this "famous" Farmers Almanac.

What I found out is that the predictions will not be released until the end of August. HUH? I thought the Farmers Almanac was written LONG ago by some old wise man? Goes to show how much I know. It's written annually by just a normal guy. How does he know what the winter is supposed to be like any better than the meteorologists on the local news? And why does everyone give him so much credit? (If you could only see the confused look on my face right now?)

Wikipedia says ... The Farmers’ Almanac publishers are highly secretive about the method used to make its predictions, only stating publicly that it is a "top secret mathematical and astronomical formula, that relies on sunspot activity, tidal action, planetary position and many other factors." They also said that independent studies have shown that their predictions are no more accurate than just chance.

I guess we will re-visit this again in a couple of weeks and see what the prediction is but let's hope that after the ridiculously hot summer we have had, that we will be blessed with a long and beautiful fall and a very mild winter. One can dream right?

Until next time,

Melody :)

How to escape the heat ...

There are lots of places to enjoy inside this summer. Overland Park, Lee's Summit and Kansas City all have indoor pools that residents can enjoy. Overland Park actually has 6 outdoor pools to keep you cool and 1 indoor pool. The cost is only $4-$5 for residents!

You can visit http://www.opkansas.org/ for more information on where the pools are located.

How about visiting the Great Wolf Lodge? They have some good summer deals. I took my son and my nephew there last year in June and it was a great time. It was HOT so we played outside for as long as we could stand it and then went to the inside water park. Once we were done playing, we just walked back to our room. You can have dinner inside the hotel and really shouldn't have to leave the hotel for anything, at least we didn't. You can find out more at www.greatwolf.com/kansascity. Make sure you look under the "Suites and Deals" tab for Summer Specials.

Whatever you choose to do this summer, it is important to hydrate by drinking lots of water and avoid outdoor activities in extreme heat to stay safe. People of all ages should be careful not to overexert themselves. Getting out of the heat if only just for an hour is said to give your body a chance to recover.

Follow these TIPS to stay safe in this blazing hot summer:

*Wear lightweight, light colored and loose fitting clothing.
*Stay hydrated.
*Eat smaller meals more often.
*Avoid caffiene, alcohol and carbonated beverages.
*Take regular breaks.
*Slow down ... If you have to get your hour of exercise in despite the heat, do it in the morning, usually between 4:00am and 7:00am.

According to the Mayo Clinic, signs of heat exhaustion are: feeling faint or dizzy, fatigue, excessive sweating, heat cramps and a headache. "Heat exhaustion is one of the heat-related syndromes, which range in severity from mild heat cramps to heat exhaustion to potentially life-threatening heatstroke," reports the Mayo Clinic website.

If you suspect someone is suffering from heat exhaustion, you should get the person out of the sun and into a shady or air-conditioned location, lay the person down and elevate the legs and feet slightly, loosen or remove the person's clothing, have the person drink cool water or other nonalcoholic beverage without caffeine, cool the person by spraying or sponging him or her with cool water and fanning and monitor the person carefully. Heat exhaustion can quickly become heatstroke, so don't be afraid to call 911 if you need to. Heatstroke is an EMERGENCY!

I moved here from Tampa, Florida 6 years ago and I have to tell you that it is HOTTER in Kansas now then it ever is in the dead of summer in Florida. It is a different kind of hot here! Colder winters and hotter summers. What was I thinking??

Keep cool ...
Melody Goss :)