Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Gone Fishin!


I feel like this adventure was classic east coast.
Ruston Va. stocked a stream with over 400 fish, and opened it to kids 12 and under
for a free fish day.
Creating an outdoor experience for the wanna be but not outdoorsie type.
We went. Much to Jeffs shagrin!
The mountain lover in me wanted my kids to have a rustic experience,
and hopefully catch a fish or two.
That was not the case.
The stream was about 6 ft. across, shrubs and branches galore, not to mention the hords of people that showed up for such an event.
What can I say. I succored for the "outdoor" experience.
Everyone had a role.
Jeffs: to look rustic, dashing and capable of catching up to 4 fish.


Charlie: Stunt man.


Henry: Bobbin cleaner.
There was no bobbin un-touched by his mouth.
(I can assure you we were the only ones there letting our baby suck on bobbins....all the more for him to clean!)


Luce: making sure all the food we brought was eaten.
Oh, and she did a great job of this.



Jax: Keeping well hidden in the bush, with my bright orange camo on.
I chuckled when I tried to duck behind the bushes to take Charlie to the bathroom.
Even if I really was hidden, my camo would have given us away.
Really, I had a great time. Really.
It was nothing like fishing in the Uinta's, but nothing is, and they'd never know.
They had a great time!
We scurried off after fishing to our neighborhood easter egg hunt.
This picture is so funny.
If you look close, there is a rope that was tied to keep the yungins back,
until the count of three.
Charlie didn't cross the rope, rather bent it till it would allow him to reach over,
and snag an egg. Clever boy I tell ya.

There, Henry found true love.
He has been so fond of animals, and this little pup zippy, was the perfect Easter treat for him.
Lucy listening to the instructions.
She's always so worried and cautious, thus the plugged ears.
Why on earth was I pointing eggs out to my child?
Really? I have associated plenty of eggs with a memorable experience, but after this year,
I will no longer encourage more eggs.
They would have been happy with 2, and I'll know better next time.
Henry could have cared less about the candy, rather, loves spotting air planes.
The loot.

Easter morning.
It was GLORIOUS weather here.
In fact, a bit to hot.
It made for beautiful pictures before church.
This is part of our back yard. it is so beautiful back here this time of year.




Lucy sporting the sunglasses the Easter Bunny brought her.
Cannot believe she is my daughter!
Her favorite colors are pink and purple, and I could not be happier!! :)
We had an easter party in our back yard Sunday night.
Another Easter egg hunt for the kiddies, food, games, food, candy, and it honestly was so fun.
A few families /friends and neighbors came over for the festivities.
We've been so fortunate to find such fantastic people back here,
who've become our closest friends.
The cupcakes (among other things) that I brought.
Just tryin to look good for the ladies.
Bocha ball.
Team Sanders did win, although it was close.
It was such a fun weekend, and we're looking forward to many more outdoor parties before the nasty humidity sets in!
Hope ya'll enjoyed your Easter festivities.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

From 50 to 80

True story.
Monday, 50 degrees.
Inside our house, jackets on, sipping down some hot chocolate.
The bed time routine, bath, bottle(for big H), story, teeth, prayer, potty and Bed.
Oh, all after snuggling with the mama on the couch.
And after dada gets his thigh master work out.
Back to the story. Monday, 50 degrees.
Tuesday, 80!
we did everything possible outside.
I was painting a few things, so the kids insisted on painting as well.
They were armed with water and paint brushes, and went to work.
Goofy picture, but I love these overalls.



A view from my front yard.
By the looks of thins, we
A. Run a day care
B. live in a neighborhood with TONS of kids
C. are too poor to afford swimsuits
or
D. just LOVE having a dang good time!!!!
If I haven't said it enough, we love love LOVE our neighbors the Ellis's
They have 5 fantastic kids, 2 of which are close to 2 of my kids ages.
They are ALWAYS doing something crazy,
and it doesn't take much for us to jump on the band wagon.
(Don't fret. Charlie is doing who knows what, but NOT what you think he's doing)
We have these huge construction cones we throw in the street when the kids are out,
and they work wonders!
I think we even have less cars now then we did a year ago, because they all hate navigating the cones.
Life is so good.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

It must be April


It must be April, and I'm in love!
I can hardly remember what its like to live away from these cherry blossoms!!
Even in our neighborhood, it is transformed with these practically edible blossoms.
Its just beautiful in the spring.
We ventured to the Cherry Blossom festival (much of which was canceled due to the unseasonable cold) to see the beauty.
Parts of the Potomac are in just a canopy of these blossoms.
Its spectacular, and we hit them right at the peak.

On the way back to the car I insisted we feast our eyes on the creatures from the underworld!
I love seafood, and certainly saw one of everything on this excursion!

Just a day in the life.
What to do when the weather is just not picnic appropriate?
Bring the picnic to you!

Lets go fly a kite.....or maybe not.
We headed off to get our new shark kite on its maiden voyage, but were a bit unsuccessful.
We were not totally discouraged, as there was a playground near by....
Henrys been training for his up coming Iron Man.
Working on his pull ups

Fast forward 12 years.
Lucy, driving a real car.
Charlie, wanting to be taken somewhere, on Lucys "lame" list.
Lucy, rolling her eyes, embarrassed as she comes to a stop light, and sees her BFFS.
Oh Lucy, only time will tell!!