Easter

I didn't take any pictures of the baskets this year (since my phone was already on the charger) but they were simple: a toothbrush*, two small chocolate bunnies, a stuffie and something specific to the personality of the recipient.  

This morning we made it to early service!  It was a nice service, though the kids unexpectedly (and happily) came back to us with filled eggs from a class egg hunt. = 0

After lunch, we switched out of coats and winter protection and took some pictures!  

We walked to the egg hunt, but Billy drove down, so that he didn't have to carry back 5 baskets full of candy. lol. = )

Strategy huddle!

We all donned our bunny ears for a picture with the bunny himself!

Billy couldn't help but appreciate the grass.

So the children feigned excitement too. hahahahaha. lol.

Then Billy threatened to push me in the river!  pah.

We didn't have much of a wait, but long enough that Grace began a whining regimen and William reverted to running around.

Once the whistle blew, the kids were off!  William & the twins were in the same age group this year.

And this was Alice's next to last year of egg hunting.  So, she has only one year left before she ages out.  How did that happen?

Emily was also in her own age group this year.  She was the only one in our famiy who found a special egg, and was awarded a pre-filled basket!

I love our little village.  It was such a sweet event, and much warmer than last year!

For our dinner we had ham, potatoes, peas & Hawaiian sweet rolls.

later days

*The toothbrush assortment at meijer left a bit to be desired, so I had to repeat on Alice and Juliet's from last year.  They were both really disappointed.  Alice didn't open hers, so I should be able to switch it out this week.  Juliet had hers completely out of the packaging before she complained.  So, she'll have to live with Ariel until Halloween. = /

April Snow, and Other Things

On April 15th it snowed. Again. 

According to my blog, it snowed for the first time of the season on November 9th.  That means that we have been getting snow for almost 6 months.  I am not okay.  Send sun, heat, summer and everything else Texas please.

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Grace drew a picture of her and Juliet in my belly.  There is a heart by my head because I love them. <3

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Emily read a scripture at Good Friday service. She was the only child, and did a phenomenal job.  She looks so tiny at the podium!

A moving sunset on our trip home from a poignant service.

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My children making a "crockerpillar."

The weather has improved enough (haha, lol, lulz) that the walking bus has started back up.  We are 3/4 of the walks this semester!  Because we have to get out the door 10 minutes earlier than usual, they have to bring their second (or first if they are being pokey) breakfast to eat en route.

It rained on my return trip last Thursday, thankfully, I alone was soaked.

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On our first zoo trip, the twins explored the gift shop and picked out things on which they wanted to spend their birthday cash.  Juliet picked out a super soft, environmentally friendly leopard (or cheetah) that was $27.  I put it on her list, but I am ruthless when it comes to purging toys, and told them that expensive stuffed animals were off the table.

It's hard to enforce that, and I know that if they planned ahead and brought their own cash, it would be sooooo hard to say no.  So, when I found a stuffie for $1 at the thrift store I bought it and presented it to Juliet.  She.loved.it.  The tail is particularly soft.

Grace kept trying to give me a dollar (at random times) to get her one too.  I told her I would search.  I didn't come up with quite as good of a replica, but Sarah found a tiger stuffie later in the week. I was unsure, but Grace's reaction does not leave much room for skepticism.  And hers was only 60 cents.  Now her plan is to buy an umbrella, since hers is defunct.

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On Wednesday, the twins don't have school, so we took time to go and get their hair cut.  There are 2 hairdressers here in town, but the barber is the only one open before 9, so that's were we went.

This was their second cut* ever (the first was from the neurosurgeon, when they had their craniotomies.)  They were nervous but did fabulously.

As a treat afterwards, we went down to the café where I thought we could all share a giant cinnamon roll.  Turns out, they opted for toast, since they could slather on their own with jelly.  So, I ended up eating the cinnamon roll.  It was really good; for the record.

Any warmer temperatures would be welcome.  I am so over the cold and gross and snow.

later days

*Technically, Juliet cut her own hair once, and tried to convince Grace to do the same, but I'm not counting that as a true haircut.

Impressions 5, Again, But Still Exciting

Y'all, this place is not very big. And it is quite cool, but 3 times in as many weeks*?  Eh.  However, they had a special video game exhibit this week, which included virtual reality options, and Alice could.not.wait.

We arrived a few minutes before they opened, and stayed for 5+ hours.  All of the games were created by MSU students (except for one booth with vintage games.)  Emily and Alice were happy to try out VR for the first time**!

Poor William was not old enough for the VR games, and there were tears.  Poor little brother. = (  He did manage to have fun anyhow.

Alice was in her element!

It didn't take too long before the twins were ready to move on.  So, we went in search of adventure!

Grace made a magnetic model of "Mutti & Daddy."  She told us that Billy is the red and I'm the blue.

Grace made me a 'throne.'

After a few hours, we all paused for lunch (even Alice.)

After lunch, Billy and Alice headed back to the video games, while the rest of us checked out the stop motion 'studio' they had set up.

We made 6 or more videos as a group, before William asked to go down with Daddy and Alice.  The twins were also ready to move on, so we left Emily to make her very own video.

We checked on her every 30 minutes, and she spent an extra hour and a half making a 3 minute video!  We had fun in the meantime.

Once Emily finished up, we put Alice on notice, because after h o u r s there, we were ready to go.  I think Alice would have closed them down, had we let her. ; )

It was a pleasant way to spend another cold rainy Saturday, but hopefully the weather will improve enough we can go wear out the twins' zoo membership!

later days

*If y'all go sign up for a membership, let them know I sent you! ; )
**I've seen too many studies with negative impacts on children, from consistent play, to allow VR at home. So, this was the perfect outlet for them to try it!

Impressions 5, Billy's first Visit

The kids loved our first trip so much, that they wanted to show Daddy the cool science museum!  

We did lots of the same things, and yet still managed to find new things to see & do.  

We spent little to no time at the trains last time, so they were a big hit this time.

Alice found a couple of other big kids, and they built up enough speed that the water almost shot up to the ceiling bucket!

Emily loves to be plaque

Billy taught the twins how to operate his favorite piece of medieval machinery.*

The inside of a fire hydrant.  I alone found it interesting.

We spent probably an hour at the paper plan launching station.  They had a great time folding, launching and relaunching their planes.

The bubble room was still a favorite.  Alice spent half of her trip in this space.

She also mastered catching a bubble on her hand!

She even taught grace her secrets.

Everybody loved it when daddy pulled them up on the lift.  But not a single one wanted to hang around for his lecture on why it worked. Poor daddy. = )

We all spent some time building with the variety of options they have available.

The closest think I could make to a cube.  They didn't have the correct connectors.  Juliet was the perfect assistant.

Alice's answer to building a cube.

Emily built an arch!

It got knocked over, so she had to rebuild it.

 Grace talked Billy into coming into the Eye.

Juliet's response when I told her we couldn't go into the baby room any more, since she is a big girl now!

Alice was able to enjoy time in the 9 years and up room (poor Emily was quite jealous.)  But, Emily will turn 9 before our membership expires, so she'll have an opportunity to enjoy it too.

William and I had to put a column in his "house," but it made the magnet panels stable enough to lean upon!

Somehow, we spent even longer there than we did the first time, and everyone, except for Grace, was still not ready to go!

And with the conclusion of this second trip, the membership cost is now less than the cost of any subsequent trips!

later days

*unless of course you consider the crossbow machinery instead of technology, then the trebuchet would be 2nd favorite.