Spring Break

This past week was Eli's spring break. We kicked it off with an Easter egg hunt hosted by our friends Cyndi and Joey on Monday. 

These happy kids are rarin' to go with their Easter baskets (or "Easter baskets").

 Eggs were found.

 Fun was had.  

 Candy was devoured.

The kiddos had a super awesome play time afterward. Later that afternoon, I decided to try my luck at an Easter "photo shoot" outside, since it was supposed to snow later in the week. I am learning some things about taking pictures of kids. One is that the best shots usually come at the beginning. The kids' attention spans have an amazingly short half-life whenever the camera comes out. Also, they think "look at the camera" means only for a second. We're working on that. Some of the pictures turned out cute though, even if Eli's expression is one of pain.

March is Alien Month, and we got our annual extraterrestrial visit Tuesday. Emmie was totally freaked out at first, but she calmed down when she saw the aliens came in peace (and bearing treats). 

Wednesday we got hammered by a surprise blizzard. We were expecting some 4-8 inches, not the 18 inches that blew in with winds over 35 mph. Justin drove to work that morning, expecting the snow to stop, but it kept on coming all through the morning and afternoon. He left work early when they sent everyone home, and he miraculously made it all the way to the base of our cul-de-sac before the car got stuck. He said he had never seen the roads that bad before, and that tons of cars (and trucks) had slid out on the freeway. We had to shovel a place for him to park at the bottom of the street. 

 The kids played outside for awhile in the morning. We came in dripping wet because the snow was blowing in so fast and hard. It slowed up later in the afternoon, and they were able to go out and play again. The kids took a bath after playing, and Eli thought it sounded fun to jump in with his clothes on.

Thursday was sunny and the snow had melted considerably on the streets. The kids and I decided to go out sledding, but then we couldn't find our sleds anywhere. Rather than give up on the excursion, we found some things that might be acceptable sled substitutes and gave it a whirl. Turns out there is nothing like a sled when you want to go sledding. Of the cardboard boxes, plastic tote lids, and toy trays we tried, the ink-coated diaper box worked the best. It worked until it started to get soggy, then it was no good. Putting it in a garbage bag would have been smart, but I didn't think to do that.

My mom helped the kids decorate sugar eggs that afternoon. I took no pictures because I was helping Emmeline with her sugar egg. I did, however, take a picture of the adorable snails my mom made out of clay. They are seriously amazing.

Earlier that day I made a cake for the Children's Home. The birthday girl requested a chocolate cake with red icing and M&M's on top, so that made it easy for me. While I was making dinner that night, Emmeline got into the sprinkles that were with my cake decorating stuff and dumped one of those big, six-compartment containers all over her play kitchen.

It was seriously a disaster. The picture does not do justice to the glorious mess.

 This is her "I know I did something really bad so I will throw a fit before Mom can get mad at me" move. Well played, Emmie, well played.

Friday we went to the Museum of Nature and Science with Cyndi and Joey. It was packed because of Spring Break and field trips for kids not on Spring Break. We stayed in some of the less crowded areas, like the animal dioramas. (picture from my phone will go here)

Thus concludes the Spring Break post. I will do a separate post about Easter weekend!