More Whirlwind...

I forgot to mention a few things we did that I didn't have pics for! Sunday when we got home from the airport we showed Super G around AU for a while. The campus is not quite as pretty right now because everything is dead and the tulips haven't bloomed. Probably in a month or so it will look pretty again. Oh well. We told her to use her imagination! Then we came home and had a a nice Easter dinner. I forgot to mention on Wednesday we went to M's school and the custodian was so nice and unlocked her classroom door so Super G could see her class. Then we let the kids play on her playground for a while. They think that is so cool to play on it when no one else is there. Thursday, M and Super G went to the park and had some special time together. Then they had a picnic lunch while J napped and I cleaned. Thursday avo we spent some time outside and let the little ones rode bikes, played soccer, and dug in the dirt. Thursday evening Mr. J and I went on a date!!! It was so nice. We really enjoyed ourselves and had some adult conversation and stayed out (sorta) late.

Yesterday was a big day.
We went to the beach first:

Then we went to a kids' museum. They had  special Egyptian activities this week:

(we made pyramids out of sugar cubes)

We also made collars and played archaeologists:

Then we explored the rest of the museum:
M loved climbing :

J especially loved the water table:

Then we had some fun on the Carousel:

And M got her face painted:

J tossed bean bags while we waited on M:

Such a fun day!

Whirlwind

Having Grandmomma here has been a whirlwind! We certainly are trying to make the most of her visit with us. On Monday we had a birthday party for Emily, Caroline, and Panda-complete with party decorations, hats, pie with candles, and games!

Then we took the boys to get their hair cut:

I don't love what she did to J's hair, but she did do it pretty fast, so at least that's something. And it is short so I won't have to do it again for a while...

Tuesday, J and I had to get the car fixed so we dropped the lovely ladies off to get their nails done. M absolutely loved it.

Tuesday afternoon we drove to Mishawaka and saw The Croods. It was very well animated. We all liked it a lot. Then Grandmomma treated us to Olive Garden. So we stuffed ourselves there (M ate three breadsticks and 1/2 bowl of fettucine alfredo). Then, we HAD to go get doughnuts.

Then and Now

A couple things we have done in past weeks:

This was a mistake:

 I don't know why I didn't realize how muddy the kids would get sledding on dirty snow. I knew it was dirty, but I didn't realize it was muddy. Bad muddy. And then J decided to rub the dirt up and down my white car. Lovely.

And here are a couple pics M took for fun:

And now we have Grandmomma here with us! We were all very excited. M could hardly contain it.

Yesterday we showed G one of our favorite parks and then had a photo shoot.

M requested I take some "fashion shots":

After the park and library outing we came home and recuperated. Then we spent some time at Target. And Meijer. It was fun/long! (I always thought that when I finally lived near a Target I would go there all the time, but I really haven't since I've been here. One reason is because it is just not that much fun to shop with little J. The other reason, I realized yesterday, is because there are too many things I want/like in that store! I could've easily spent $300 on stuff I wanted for me/my house.) Anyway, after supper and baths the kids decorated special boxes with Grandmomma. They spent quite a bit of time on their boxes and loved having some quiet/craft time with her.

Easter Weekend

We had a lovely Easter weekend. Saturday the kids opened their Easter baskets (not pictured) from good ole' E.B. (also not pictured). Then while J was taking his nap M and I went to an "Easter egg hunt" which turned out to be a dud, so we pacified our disappointment with delicious ice cream. I got salted caramel= delicious!

When we got home we had an egg hunt in the yard.


I forgot to mention that earlier in the week we dyed eggs:

M was very methodical and artistic about the whole thing. J just wanted to do as many as he possibly could as fast as he could. But he was focused and stayed with the activity the whole time, which I was glad about. He kept painting some of them over and over because he just didn't want to stop! This is really one of my most favorite traditions. I have also enjoyed eating them as deviled eggs. (By the way: if you come across a "healthy" deviled egg recipe that contains yogurt and honey-don't make it. It's not worth your time.)

Back to Sunday:
Mr. J and M went to church and J and I stayed home because he has a cold. We don't believe in bringing snotty children to church and we don't do it. Then when the time FINALLY came, we loaded in the car and drove to the airport to pick up Grandmomma! On the way in , M said "I've never been so happy in all my life!" She has, of course, but she was so very excited to see her grandmother-as we all were.