A Little Getaway

Over spring break, we went on a mini-getaway for two days and a night.  Jeff didn't have spring break, of course, but he took a couple of days off to be with us (or mostly off, anyway, since he's never 100% off unless we're "off the grid.")  Anyway, it was a great time for all of us.  We kicked off our getaway with some hiking in a national park that was totally new to us, thanks to the recommendation of Dave and Jen.  I think we experienced a different part of the park than they did, but we still enjoyed it!

Here we are starting off.

Our little crew and me.  Jeff was behind the camera.

We hiked up a trail, through a cave, and up to a lake.  The cave was never completely pitch black, and it had stairs and bridges so that we knew where we were going, but it still felt fairly adventurous to me since we were doing this with kids.  When we made it to the little lake, we took a break and had lunch.  I love the above picture of the boys.

And here are the girls.  Again, Jeff had the camera.

A little time next to the water.

I'm afraid this kid gets away with more than he should because he's so cute.

Pretty, right?

Jeff and Jonathan spotted a woodpecker, and even though we weren't using my new, fancy camera, Jeff got a picture of the bird.

We had planned to look at the seismograph in the nature center at the end of our hike, but the nature center was closed.  Not a fantastic picture, except for this part...

A hugging picture.  How can I resist?

After some time hiking, we had planned a stop at an outlet store.  Sounds strange, but it's far enough from us that we wanted to stop there when we had the chance!  Then, we went on to another favorite town for some pizza…and a quick visit to the ocean...

 and ice cream.  This little shop serves the same kind of ice cream we enjoy at family camp, so we will definitely come here again to enjoy some 1020 flavor - our favorite!

The views from the highway were gorgeous on our drive the next day.

We visited our favorite science museum and took in our favorite exhibits.  There's still so much there that we haven't done or seen, but we enjoyed taking advantage of our membership (yay Groupon!) and hope to visit again soon.

After our mini-vacation, it was back to the daily grind for Jeff, and on to a stay-cation for the rest of us, which is what Jonathan said he was hoping for anyway!

Easter at Our House

Even though Easter seemed to be later than ever this year, it still seemed to take me by surprise, and I wasn't very prepared for it.  We mostly focus on the core meaning of the holiday around here, so leading up to the big Sunday, we had been reading the book Benjamin's Box and opening Resurrection Eggs.  The kids really enjoy the book and request it at each meal…and we only read it at mealtime (when the kids are a fairly captive audience and have a better chance of hearing the story, right?)  Benjamin's Box is a fiction book but I still like it and it seems to share the Truth accurately while the kids can relate to the story.

The night before Easter, after the aforementioned swim and baths, at Jeff's request, we colored eggs, just for fun.  Jeff took pictures.

Here's the crew from my point of view.

And here they are, close up, just because I couldn't resist.  I think we had fun coloring eggs, although I think we got a little too irritated at someone who kept cracking eggs due to carelessness.  We probably could have been more patient with that child, who shall remain nameless.  :)

On Easter morning, we got to go to our old church.  The kids were super excited to go back, and Jeff got to play trumpet in the service, which meant a lot to the folks at our old church, and our kids enjoyed it, too.  It was the third anniversary of my dad's death, and even though we were missing him, that sadness was appropriately overshadowed by the excitement and joy of Jesus' Resurrection.  It was our first Easter without our friend Scott, and our friend Patty (his wife) said that Scott always called Easter the Superbowl for Christians.  Which I think is funny, especially considering Scott was an ordained minister.  I imagine Scott and my dad are trading some pretty good jokes in heaven.

Here are the pictures we got of the kids before we went to church.  I'm not always patient with my kiddos, but I sure can't get enough of them.  They are precious.

Here we are, all clean and dressed at the same time!  It's really hard to get a good smile from Jonathan while the camera is clicking these days, but he did the best he could, and I still like the picture.

After church and lunch, we stopped by my mom and Don's house for a visit, and Mom had made berry yogurt popsicles.  They were amazing.  The kids always like to go there for playing and visiting.  It topped off a good Easter for our little crew.

I hope that you and yours had a wonderful Easter, too, filled with the joy that only Jesus' forgiveness can bring!

Only Crazy People Swim the Day Before Easter

My very favorite crazy people.

First one in!

He never was so sure about the idea.  When we got out at the end, it was because he was shivering.

These two thought it was the best.  73 degrees was enough for them.  Not for me!

I'm loving the action shots I can take with my new camera.  Watch out for lots of swimming pics this summer!

All four of my very favorites.

I love this look on Benjamin's face.

Yay for swimming season!

Outside Stuff

We have been blessed with beautiful spring weather, and we're enjoying it for as long as it lasts, before it gets too unbearably hot.

We've decided that our favorite thing about this house is the little outdoor eating area that's cut out of the footprint of the house.  The yard is very small, but this little nook is perfect for lots of things, and we use it all the time…even for a game or two of chess.

When we moved here, I thought the backyard would be too small to do much except for swimming.  I didn't have any expectations of the kids using it for biking or scootering.  Thank goodness I didn't share my skepticism with the kids.  They don't realize that the yard is too small for wheels, and the younger kids go outside for some riding almost every day.

Well, this isn't outside, but since Grace's coloring session happened in the midst of the rest of the outside pictures, I had to include it.  The "youngers" got coloring books and bubbles in their party favors at their cousin Charlotte's birthday party, and they have really been enjoying them.

Boys' club!

We are really spoiled with the beautiful climate we enjoy here.  We don't want to take it for granted, even though the drought is worrisome.  Going outside every day is great!