Great Wolf Lodge!

 Lauren & Ben are on spring break this week so we headed to Great Wolf Lodge with Oma & Opa for a night of fun! Lauren was in heaven- this girl would live in water if she could.

 After a few hours of water park fun we headed to the restaurant for a tasty dinner and the kids got more wolf ears:)

 Benny & Mama

 After dinner Kevin & Lauren headed back to the water park and had a ton of fun riding the slides for almost 2 hours! Oma, Opa, & I took Ben to the arcade since he just doesn't have quite the same level of energy as his sister (no one does!!) 

 He had the best time, got lots of tokens and earned tickets which he thought was so cool. He didn't buy anything with them, he brought them home and they are in his special "treasure" drawer! 

 He loved this motorcycle ride, of course!

 The next morning we got up and headed back to the water park for a few more hours of fun! 

 The kids loved the bunk beds!! 

Thanks for joining us Oma & Opa!

Everyone was SO tired tonight. That's what I love about this place, it's fun for the whole family and it's so active, lots of great exercise! 

1st boat trip of the year

 Saturday afternoon we headed up to the boat to enjoy the sunny day. We went on a long walk and found 3 seals swimming all around one of the docks. I was so bummed I didn't have my camera. The seals stuck around for a good half an hour and we had the best time watching them. My dad went and bought some herring and the kids got to feed them- it was like our own personal SeaWorld! Very cool! 

 Loving the sun!

 Up on top, so brave;)

Braver than mom, who just climbs up high enough to take pics! 

Can't wait for more sunny days! 

Spring has finally arrived!

 It seems that Spring has finally arrived and we couldn't be happier. Saturday we went to Flower World to get some plants and there were a bunch of cute little lambs out, so fun to see them! 

 We planted our garden- this year we planted snap peas, strawberries, and broccoli. We also have our blueberry plants from last year that appear to have made it through the winter. Fingers crossed our garden grows! 

Took this through my sun roof the other day. Love the blue skies that follow the rain!

Tulips

 Kevin & I had a little "date day" last week and we went up to see the Tulips. We were a little early (or maybe they are a little late!) so not everything was in bloom, but it was still beautiful. 

 us

The daffodils were in full bloom and so beautiful! 

Lauren's Cheer- she is the 1st one in the front row by the wall

Easter Fun!

 The kids were SO excited for Easter this year, they had the best memories from last year and just couldn't wait! It was very cute. 

 The baskets!

 So excited!

 Yay!

 Ready for the morning egg hunt!

 Wow, look at all those eggs.

 Ben of course wanted to sit and sort his eggs and go through everything. 

 Later in the day we went to Bob & B-Z's for their annual Easter Extravaganza and it did not dissapoint! Wow- as always it was amazing and the kids had the best time! 

 The bunny not only hides eggs but cool toys hanging from trees. It's truly amazing! 

 The bunny hid eggs in some tricky places, Ben loved finding them. 

 Lauren said to me, "Mom, it is so cool that the Easter bunny knows that Bob & B-Z have lots of kids over so he makes sure to come to their house to see us every year." 

That bunny is pretty darn thoughtful:) 

 Carson was really proud of his blue egg, he carried it all around and kept showing it to us. So fun that he is in on the action now too! 

 Lauren was very excited to see the bunny this year. After she saw him she came up to me and said, "Mom, that wasn't the real Easter Bunny because he had tennis shoes on." I convinced her that he needed shoes because he had a really busy day and his feet were sore. That night when I put her to bed she said, "Mom, I KNOW it wasn't the Easter bunny because I also saw people legs when I saw his shoes." After some chatting we finally agreed that the Easter Bunny was probably so busy that he had to hire some helpers. She bought it for now...ugh, I'm afraid our years of believing are dwindling, so sad:( 

 Ben was shy with the bunny but no tears!

 Going through their baskets- this Dora doll was one of the things Lauren found during the egg hunt- I tell ya, this was the fanciest egg hunt I've ever seen! 

 There was a random cat in the backyard and Ben & Maddie, the two animal lovers, spent a lot of time with it. It was so cute to watch them follow the cat all around and give it so much attention. 

 We got home and both kids plopped down on the floor to rest. 

 Ben moved to the couch and next thing we knew he was out!

We tried to wake him up but we couldn't, he was so tired. He slept from about 5pm to 6:30am- Easter is apparently very exhausting! 

What a great day! 

Easter Prep

 Last week Ben & I made Easter sugar cookies. This boy was in heaven, he loves to help me do everything in the kitchen and making AND decorating cookies was his idea of perfect activity! 

 Lauren, Hadley, & Carson joined in on the fun part- decorating!

 LOTS of frosting and decorations!

 We spent a lot of time trying to keep this boy from dumping all the sprinkles:) 

But with a face like that he can pretty much get away with anything! 

 Hadley Jane lovin' her cookie!

 Later on that night we dyed some Easter eggs, we still have about 18 hardboiled eggs...anyone hungry for an egg? 

 Can you guess which plate I decorated and which one the kids did???  

Juanita Beach

 We had a couple of really nice days (70 degrees!!) so we took full advantage and went to the beach for a picnic dinner. 

 The kids were totally crazy and actually went swimming! 

 They had so much fun splashing around in the ice cold water- it was SO SO cold!

 Carson was a riot to watch, all over the place, eating sand and just being his crazy self!

 Warming up with Uncle Ryan. 

Hadley Jane thinking about going swimming. 

Can't wait for more warm days...it's raining as I type this. Come back sun!!!