Black eye

I dropped Noah at a classmate's birthday party and when Shawn brought him home he had a shiner.  Poor guy.  The boys played Capture The Flag and Noah and another boy collided.  Ouch!

Selfie

Micah enjoys taking selfies.

For the record

This is what happens if you wear hot pink Uggs out to play in the rain.  I'm very curious how long it will take for the dye to wear off.  Soap and water are getting us nowhere.  

Spring Break

We had quite a spring break.  This post is packed with pictures of our adventures.  At the end of the week I gave myself a good pat on the back.  

We started break off by hitting the children's museum.  There were two new exhibits; one about dinosaurs and the other about a Native American tribe on the coast of Massachusetts.  The happy visit ended with Celia throwing an epic tantrum.  We had one more stop to make at the museum and she lost it.  It took about 20 minutes for us to get to the car and at least another 20 to drive home.  She did not stop crying and yelling until we pulled into the garage.  Now that is tenacity.  In those moments I remind myself over and over again that these traits will someday be of great benefit to her.  Aye yi yi.  

Weaving.

We even hopped in the photo booth.

We also went to an indoor playground.  I had heard about this place a few times but it is a bit of a hike.  The drive paid off.  The kids had a great time and it was cute to see them look after each other in an unfamiliar place.  

On Thursday we headed north for a little family getaway.  It turned out to be exactly what we needed.  We rented a cottage at a resort with an indoor pool with a slide just perfect for our family.  The place could not have been more our speed.  It snowed the first two days we were there and it was so pretty to look out the wall of windows at the snow while swimming or better yet lounging in the hot tub.  When we got into the cottage, Noah kept running to us and say, "Mom, it has a pool table.  Mom it has 5 tvs...awesome!"  Other than the two littles not going to sleep in the evenings it was such a wonderful time, my heart is bursting just writing about it.  The kids are still playing Grand View Lodge and pretending their outdoor clubhouse is Grand View.  Clearly a good time had by all.  I didn't take many photos, but here are a few.

 Checking out downtown Nisswa.

 Water fun. 

Easter

Uncle Darren, Brooklynn, Julia and Hallie came to visit us for Easter weekend.  The kids were pumped to see their cousins and we were so happy to have them.  

Dying eggs.

 Family shot.  This was #11 or so...Ha!

 This was shot #1 or 2 for them.  It does get easier!!

 Egg hunt.

 Cousins.

Performers

Shawn showed the kids Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" video several months ago and they loved it.  The video, the song, they love it all.  So much so that we often have Dee Snider concerts.    Here are two out of three giving it all they've got.  I really need to get some of this on video but it is so hard to be sneaky and get an authentic performance.  The pajama pants are supposed to be Dee's long hair, the underwear on their arms, I have no idea.  Rockstars in the making.

 

Star of the Week

Recently Micah was star of the week at preschool.  Our Mr. Loves to Be Center of Attention absolutely  relished in the specialness of being the star.  Each day of school he could invite a special reader.  The first day I read, then Shawn read "Pout Pout Fish," finally Noah read "The Knight and The Dragon" on day three.  It was too adorable for words seeing my three up there while Noah read and the rest of the class listening eagerly.

Oldie, but

...goodie.  My Olympians on the podium.  

3 musketeers

Celia choose a Barbie book from the library, she thinks it is about princesses.  The book is about Barbie and her friends becoming musketeers.  It is fabulous...ahem ahem.  Here are my musketeers.  They are truly fantastic.

Science Fair

Noah's school held its science fair last month.  Noah and his buddy, Easton, tested if hockey helmets really provide protection.  The boys enjoyed decorating the poster board with NHL logos.  Many thanks to Shawn for helping them come up with the idea and execute the experiment.  It was perfect for them.  We were so proud to see Noah present to his schoolmates, parents and teachers about the project.

• They weighed a mini watermelon.  It weighed approximately 3 lbs.
• Then they found that the average kid's head wears 5-7 pounds, so they added a 2.5 weight to the watermelon.
• Dropped the watermelon + weight from their height to the ground.  Splat!  The watermelon had a huge crack. 
• Strapped a second watermelon + weight into a hockey helmet.
• Dropped it from the same kid height distance to the ground.  No break, watermelon intact!
• Hockey helmets work.

Letter to Dad

Music Informance

Noah invited us to his music class informance recently.  The kids demonstrate some of what they have been learning throughout the year.  Boy, has music ed come a looong way since I was in school.  Impressive and fun.