Last Night of Spring Break

Photo 96 of 365, taken April 7th:

Reading stories before bed was a little bittersweet tonight. I always feel that way when the girls have been home from school on vacation. I know the next day, the house will be too quiet and I'll miss their silly laughter, Rebekah's constant requests for more food {how one tiny thing can eat so much is beyond me}, even their little squabbles with each other will be sadly absent. They were in cheerful moods though, and talked about being excited to go to school and see their friends.

Photos 94 and 95

I can't believe we have gotten this close to 100 pictures, I'm still running behind but working on it...

Photo 94 of 365, taken April 5th:

We met my Uncle Ted for breakfast one morning over Spring Break. It was great to see him. The girls love him and call him Uncle Teddy Bear.
Photo 95 of 365, also taken April 5th:

Rebekah and her friend Isabel had fun peeling bark of the tree that holds up the girls' tree house. Rebekah held up this long piece to pretend it was a huge beard.

Let's Go Outside!

It has still been pretty chilly for Spring, but we enjoyed some parks near my parents house. Our first stop was to The Jay Farm.
Photo 91 of 365, taken April 4th:

The girls were fascinated with this drinking fountain attached to an old fashion pump that one of them had to work in order for anyone to get a drink. They would have played with this all day if it was any warmer.

This long-time family run farm is now a great park for hiking, tromping through the woods, and visiting the creek that runs through. It's nice! After what has felt like a long winter spent indoors it was so nice to get out into the sunshine and soak up some vitamin D.



Photo 92 of 365, taken April 4th:

We took a quick break for an ice cream snack and then headed out to our second park of the day.

These merry-go-rounds are not too common anymore. I can at least sort of understand why. I remember having fun on them when I was little, but watching the girls whip crazy circles around on this thing was like watching an accident waiting to happen.

Explorer Alyssa.

It was not quite warm enough for the girls to be barefoot with their leggings rolled up like this so they could wade into the water, but they did it anyway. Rebekah kept asking if she could go swimming.

The treasures Emma found.

Photo 93 of 365, taken April 4th:

And because I don't think I have ever posted of this little guy here...this is my parents' dog, Gus. He is very sweet.

It's All About the Hair!

Photo 89 of 365, taken March 3rd:

While the girls were at my parents' house, my mom had a hair appointment and the two older girls went with her. My mom's hair dresser did each of their hair in a French braid that wrapped around to a curly side pony tail. Based upon all the photos they tried to take of themselves with Emma's kindle, I would say they were pretty excited about the fancy hair-dos. I wish I could do nice hair styles like this for them myself! I never been able to do much beyond a standard ponytail and regular braids.

An Animated Rebekah

Last night Dave and I took Rebekah to see Wreck-It Ralph.
Photo 88 of 365, taken April 2nd:

It was such a cute movie! Probably my favorite kid's movie in a while.

I was so distracted the entire movie by how much Vanellope von Schweetz looks like Rebekah. Their personalities are even quite similar, a funny mix of strong-willed feistiness that is somewhat timid and very loving. It was like watching a cartoon version of Rebekah on the big screen. Rebekah is certain, however, that she would never wear candy in her hair ~ too sticky!!

Rebekah Goes to the Domes

For the first few days of Spring Break, the two older girls are staying with my parents, so I am having lots of alone time with Rebekah. Yesterday, we went to the domes.

The theme of the show dome right now is Blue Bayou.
Photo 86 of 365, taken April 1st:


The flowers were beautiful, as always.

And my company was pretty sweet too...




I got such a kick out of seeing the things that interested Rebekah the most...above are three things she insisted I take a picture of.

In the arid dome she liked the silly names of some of the cacti. Pictured here are living baseballs, fingers and toes, baby toes and little pickles. She read all these names, giggling the whole time.


Photo 87 of 365, also taken April 1st:

Inspired by all the plants at the domes, we came home to start some cucumber, lettuce and spinach seeds in a window planter. We invited Rebekah's friend, Skylar over to help. The lettuce and spinach seeds were so tiny, the girls could hardly see what they were planting, so I may have some pods with dozens of seeds in them, and some with next to none.

This was the first April Fool's day in a few years that I have not prepared some kind of "trick recipe" for the girls. It didn't seem like quite as much fun without the older two girls here to share it, and Rebekah gladly eats just about any veggie I put in front of her, so I couldn't have pulled any prank on her that would not have been welcomed. Just wait until next year, girls...with a year off I'm sure to come up with something great next April 1st.