April Fun

April finally gave us nice enough weather for the kids to use their Christmas presents.

It was so muddy they had to stand on cardboard.

We hit a skating rink and everyone had an absolute blast!  Hooray for activities that successfully satisfy the age range!

Bridget and Alice used these cool PVC pipe guides.

Isaac and Lydia singing along to the great music. 

Isaac made baked Alaska for FHE treat one night.  He read about it in a science book and wanted to give it a shot.  It was neat to try, but I don't think we'll have it again.  

Lydia is doing track at school.  I am totally impressed!  Especially since she's like a clone of her mother who has no athletic ability whatsoever, the fact that she even wants to do it is impressive.

And she's doing hurdles!  Like I said, way impressed.  It's not a great picture, but she's the one with the white leggings.

Alice, Bridget and I enjoying an after preschool snack and dancing in the Central College pavilion.

I love this pavilion! 

Oma and Opa came up so Opa and Mike could play with chainsaws and cut up a neighbor's tree.  It was good fun!

We went to the dentist.  I brought Alice along thinking she would just sit in the chair and maayyybe get her teeth counted.  I know 3 yr old Bridget wouldn't even open her mouth for the dentist, so I had low expectations for not yet 2.5 yr old Alice.  She surprised us all, even the dentist, by getting an entire cleaning without a peep.  

Evelyn, Isaac, and Lydia got to go to work with Mike for half a day.  Not only were there donuts for breakfast and pizza for lunch, but they learned a lot too.  The three dads there set up a great morning of teaching the kids what they did with diagrams and Legos.  So awesome!  

I came with the younger two to pick them up after lunch and come see the office myself.  

Fun day for sure!

Bridget had a petting farm come to her preschool.  Look at this turkey!  Australian bush turkeys have nothing on these majestic American ones!

Looking at ducks.  There were goats and a pig.  They got to pet rabbits and lambs too.  How fun!

Easter Conference Weekend

What fun to have General Conference and Easter together on the same weekend!  Saturday morning we had a ward breakfast and egg hunt.  

We got home in time to eat lunch in front of Conference.  Then we dyed eggs!  We haven't been able to do that for 5 years because in Australia all the eggs are brown.  It was great fun!

You can see our General Conference lunch table in the living room behind Bridget.  (And our weirdly painted wall.  Decided the first color was too light.)

Mike also got to use his smoker for the first time and made us some good pig!  Yum!

Easter morning we had our own Easter egg hunt.  The kids patiently waiting on the stairs.  

Ack, so cute!

The kids get toothbrushes in their Easter egg hunts.

More partially painted kitchen walls.  Almost done.

The lamb cake!  We joined a family for dinner so no, those are not my granite counter tops.  I wish!

It was such a lovely Easter and General Conference weekend.  How wonderful to join together with others around the world to rejoice in the life of our Savior.

Spring Break Cincinnati Style

The kids and I drove down to see Oma and Opa for 3 days of our spring break and had such a good time, even if it was pretty rainy and grey.  Isaac in a tree.

We started a walk around the lake but the rain got us.  So we headed home to get in warm, dry pajamas for dinner.  

It was such a vacation for me!  Even if Bridget threw up all night the first night.  Oma and Opa took the older three to split wood at Eddie's while we had a serious nap.  Bliss!  Aside from scrubbing vomit off the bathroom rug I didn't have to do laundry or go to the grocery store.  The kids were so happy playing with Oma's toys and reading books that I even sat on the couch and read to myself!  When does that ever happen while the kids are awake?  Alice entertained herself with a little toy juke box that she could push the button to play over and over.  She is such a cute dancer.

Playing with Oma's dolls.

Rat head!

Making our own personal smoothies with Oma's Magic Bullet was a huge hit!

I took Lydia, Isaac, and Evelyn to Jungle Jim's, the coolest international grocery store ever, while the little ones stayed home and played with Oma.  822 lb of cheese and cheese sculptures!

And the famous Jungle Jim's Port-a-potties.  I loved watching Evelyn's face when she opened the door and saw it wasn't a Port-a-potty after all!  

What a great visit.  Thank you, Oma and Opa!