Weeks 14 &15: Spring break etc

I finally (with Charlotte in daycare today) finished looking through all the photos from the last two weeks. A lot happened! And a lot more will happen in the new couple of weeks, which has been part of my distraction.

Looking back at my calendar, I remember this month started off busy. During the first week we had three doctor's appts in two days, on top of our usual exercise classes, Charlotte speech, cub scouts, and babysitting swap. Then school had a scheduled early dismissal on Friday, and we drove up to Jen's. We had a fun short couple of days with them to celebrate birthdays, then it was back home for our spring break. Or it could have been called our "play video games in your pajamas week." I set up the Wii U in the basement on our old TV. There was possibly way too much screen time between that and Paw Patrol on repeat for Charlotte and Pokemon on Netflix for Zach and Minecraft on the tablets, etc. But everyone stayed pretty happy (though I have no idea where my time actually went, ha!). Then Easter weekend was upon us, and Frank took the kids to a neighborhood egg hunt while I was at zumba Saturday morning. We decorated eggs that afternoon. And there you go. Two more weeks down...

A light, beautiful dusting of snow on April 7th. I'm happy we only had two snow days this year.

Friday night with friends at a place called Fun 'n' Stuff. There was skating, bumper cars, bungee trampolines, a laser room, video games, and a ball pit that Charlotte stayed in practically the whole time.

The boys loved playing with Ben and Maggie and their cousins.

Charlotte loved playing with Mia, and sometimes just all of the toys (so many!)

Group photos, which went as well as can ever be expected.

Age order

Zach got upset in the middle that we wouldn't let him go get Blue Monkey.

Zumba. It was a packed class on Saturday.

Charlotte could have dyed a hundred eggs. She was so happy. She ended up putting all her eggs, even the teal one, back into the pink because that was the only color she really wanted.

Week 13: End of March

And we're speeding along, as always. I'll be back to add captions if Charlotte stops asking me to play hide and seek with her!

Croissant sandwiches are always a good idea, especially at breakfast (sandwich and photo by Frank).

Bath in the big tub. Bubbles and more bubbles!

Little people can travel in every mode of transportation available, even slippers.

Pot pies. When they've overflowed you know they're ready.

How you know your oldest is getting big: the kids have moved from "Daddy Attack" to "Zach Attack."

Fishing with cub scouts.

The boys minecraft room now has more pixels and a couple of trees.

Ladies night. Fun with zumba friends.

Our plum tree got a much needed pruning.

Week 12: The firsts

Charlotte was excited to have her hair cut for the first time, but also said that she wanted to be like rapunzel. She just got a little trim.

Gabe was sure that he wasn't going to skate at a birthday party (he even had a small meltdown about it when we arrived). But after a little while he decided to try it, and he had so much fun that he was sad when the party ended. It helped that the rink has supports for the kids, though he went too fast and fell quite a few times. He definitely wants to go back with the whole family to skate.

Weeks 10 & 11: Cold and camping

We had one or two warmer days (we walked up to meet the bus), and then it's been cold and/or rainy ever since. We've gotten snow a few times, but never very much. Last weekend's excitement was camping for Frank and Zach, and I took the other two to lunch and shopping.

 

There was no sleeping outside in tents this year. Everyone stayed in cabins.

Saturday included a ceremony, some outdoor activity stations, a hike, and skits.

Weeks 8 & 9: Mommy needs a nap

The gentlest way to describe the past little while is that Charlotte is keeping me on my toes. Every day I wish for a nap, and I very rarely get one. These photos highlight the little moments (mostly) at home.

The first time we all went to the theater together. Charlotte had only been a time or two as a baby. She later said she wanted to watch Lego Batman movie again, but only on the big big screen.

She desires an audience for Play-doh.

Waiting excitedly for her speech teacher.

My car is overdue for a cleaning (that I actually did last weekend).

She loves playing Peppa. She always wants me to be Mommy Pig.

Gabe and his 3DS. He was either playing Mario or Kirby.

I went up to Ohio for Jen's Grandma's funeral on the 25th and met the newest family member, Nate.

Zach loves baking cookies.

Charlotte decided to pour milk into her cereal "because the (Chex) box says so!" Up to this point none of the kids has wanted milk in their cereal.

We registered Charlotte for Pre-K (starts in the fall). It only took about two seconds in line for her to start socializing.

Zach is growing a bean plant for cub scouts. It's even taller than this now (and I have no idea what we do with it).

Boys' school photos

Sometime I'm going to upload to Shutterfly my photos for the last (almost) year! Meanwhile, here are the new school photos. The photos from the fall weren't that great, so I'm glad the spring ones turned out! Third grade and first grade.