Spring Break

It's been a few weeks but we had such a great spring break. Chris took off work so it was family time the entire week.We accomplished some cleaning throughout the week which was nice (especially behind the kitchen appliances, ew!). Chris and Xander built a toy catapult and a bookshelf. And then we did fun family activities. The kids and I put together a Spring To-Do list and managed to accomplish most of it.

We adventured through Franklin Park Conservatory. The kids loved the butterfly exhibit the most and bought some butterfly trading cards (shown by Xander, below).

We made it to the zoo and explored the North America and Polar Frontier.

We made it to the theater to see Cinderella. That was beautiful! We also used a break in the rain to go a local park and play for a while.

Since it did rain most of the week (of course, it was spring break), the kids found ways to entertain themselves. They had borrowed a game called 'Scavenger Hunt' from the sitter and that involved Xander and Josie running all over to collect items and Hannah messing with the timer. Fortunately the last round of the game involves returning all of the items. They also made a paper plate toss. And our local library has started lending out board games. Not like checkers or Monopoly but games like Settlers of Catan which have lots of pieces and rules. I managed to get Smallworld which is a fantasy world where different races take over. Xander and I had a blast learning and playing. He would often play by himself. Here is Xander trying to help Josie play and Hannah being the banker (the game does not actually involve a banker, we made up the position to get the girls involved).

Overall, it was a great break and we all returned to the real world much refreshed.

Easter 2015

Nothing like an eight month break to get back on the blogging bandwagon, right? I will (hopefully)(maybe) catch up on all of the past events but I figure I should keep up with the current goings on.

Which means Easter photos!

A neighbor is kind enough to arrange a mini Easter egg hunt in her backyard for some of the neighborhood kids. The weather is always chilly and wet, but we still have fun. This year it was the day before Easter.

Hannah was a little slow in borrowed Crocs. Josie helped her out by sharing some of her eggs.

Josie!

Xander!

 We were actually able to get seats at Easter Mass this year. Granted, we didn't get to sit together. But at least we weren't huddled in the back, letting people squeeze through. However, Hannah's favorite church activity is going to the restroom. It was so crowded that I squeezed her through the crowd and hustled her over to the school restroom. Twice.

Happy Easter! It's Xander's first tie and he's obviously very serious.

Chris dyed eggs with the kids this year. They tried a couple different techniques including rubber bands, tape, and different colors. These were the eggs that were hidden throughout the first floor Easter morning. This was a first for me because I always had plastic eggs hidden.

Not pictured was another egg hunt and kite flying at the grandparent's house. Needless to say, the kids were pretty tired by the end of the day.