Spring Break

Even though we had to stick closer to home for the kid's spring break, we still managed to have fun. We had a surprise visit from some friends of ours who now live in Maryland. I used to babysit their two little girls who were some of Lynnsey and Spencer's best friends. I don't think Lydia and Spencer really remembered each other too much but of course Lynnsey and Ellie did and have sent letters to each other once in awhile so they were really happy to be reunited. They came by for a couple of hours on Monday.

Kaya of course, had no memory of them whatsoever since she was a newborn when they left, but being the friendly little soul that she is, she quickly warmed up to them and played as if she had known them forever.

Lynnsey had a friend over for a sleepover one night We played lots of board games and enjoyed the warmer weather at the beginning of the week before it got chilly again. Lynnsey was given unlimited power of choice on her clothing so we really saw some interesting fashion concoctions. I didn't get any pictures but let me paint you one instead. Picture an old day camp t-shirt with pine trees on it with a frilly all-girl skirt and soccer socks and and brown leather boots. Yeah. She might be the only person to pull that off. On Thursday I took the kids to a Pizza and a Movie event at our library where they watched the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie and had pizza and pop.

Friday I had the day off from babysitting and so I decided that we should actually get out and do something fun. The weather was too cold for the playground and picnic that I wanted to do so I left it up to the kids and their options were pretty wide open. They chose a visit to Barnes and Noble. Go figure. But it ended up being a really fun morning and everyone had a great time. (Except Taylor who said that the science and nature section of the store was too pathetic to bother with.)

We also experienced a small miracle that day. It lasted exactly 2 hours and since I knew it would be short-lived I snapped a picture:

Kaya actually let me put her hair in two little ponytails! This has never happened before and may never happen again. She hates having anything done to her hair and usually when I comb it she'll reach both hands up and mess it right up again, making sure to pull it all down in front of her face. I'm thinking we may have to cut bangs for her if this keeps up.

Friday night we put on a movie for the younger kids and the rest of us stayed up till about 1 a.m. playing Tripoley. It had been forever since we played. I love that Taylor and Kendall can play more grown-up games now! It was SO much fun.

We got our peas planted on Saturday! We are really hoping they'll work this year. Last year we only got a couple of meager plants out of the hundreds that we planted. We're keeping our fingers crossed. The kids all helped with the planting and putting up the fences. Kaya "helped" too by grabbing handfuls of peas and tossing them in whatever direction she felt like.

One of the jobs that the kids did was to rake and hoe up all the rocks in the soil. You'd think after eight years of gardening that we'd have gotten all the rocks out but every year more turn up.

Anyway, it was a fun if slow-paced week. I think we all needed slow-paced for once. And now it is back to the old routine. We are all looking forward to summer. Taylor informed me that there are only 47 days of school left. Until then I'm sure we'll keep busy with homework, school projects, field trips, more gardening, and spring soccer which starts up next week.

Oh, and I tried taking pictures of Lynnsey and Kaya in their Easter dresses. It was a disaster. Kaya likes posing for pictures about as much as she likes frilly dresses and having her hair done. I may post them anyway, but I'll try to get some better ones again soon.