A Time Out

At the latter part of last week I was able to take off a couple days of school and Ken and I were able to go away for the night. My mom was able to come down and watch over the kids, which was fantastic because we knew they would be in good hands.

We ended up staying at the Oregon Garden Resort. It was beautiful. We were able to get a great package and we were really happy with the resort.

The weather was chilly while we were there, but each room had a gas fireplace and it was so nice to come back after a cold day and sit by the fire. While we were there Prince William and Catherine were married and it was kind of fun to watch the wedding and think about Ken and my wedding nearly 14 years prior.

The above view was what we could see from the restaurant. Also through the gate we could have after hours access to the Oregon Gardens with our hotel key. It was wonderful to roam the garden with no one else around.

The gardens are beautiful. We were able to visit 5 years ago and it was fun to see how things are developed even more. The below garden is the pet garden.

One of my favorite parts of the garden is the children's garden.

They have built a hobbit house, which my children would love to have in our back yard.

During the hours the garden is open a train runs through the children's garden.

Our stay at the resort included tickets to the Tulip Festival.

I have always wanted to go and it was beautiful. It was like a little piece of Holland in Oregon.

It was amazing to stand at the end of the muddy fields and then let your eye

graze up and see the rows and rows of tulips.

Ken and I kept commenting how funny it was that we could go so quickly without all the children. The day before we had arrived, and for weeks prior, it has been pouring rain. The fields were full of mud. We laughed that our kids would be covered in mud if we would have brought them. As we were walking back a family we were walking with their small child they had walked only a few steps from the parking lot when the child fell into the mud. When she stood up she was covered in it. The father replied, "You fell already! We just got here." Ken and I looked at each other and laughed because we knew it could have so easily been us.

It was a delightful trip and was so nice to spend time with one another. We were also excited to return home and see our children. Hanging over our house was a rainbow, which we took as a good omen that our kids had been well watched over. When we walked in the door. Baby Huck was at the top of the stairs and I peered around the corner and looked up at him. He got a big grin on his face and yelled out "Ma". He has never said Mama, although he has said Dada numerous times. Of course he hasn't said it since, but it still was really sweet.

Quite the Battle

Our sweet son was able to compete at the district level Battle of the Books. He was also chosen by his team to be the captain. Here he is introducing himself. Notice how many boys. There were only 5 girls and 15 boys, wow!

Here is the team. They were the only 1st grade team that was able to make it to the district competition. The little boy talking to Leo was impressed with his tie. His first words were, "You look tight".

He does look tight.

The team did their best and made us all proud with a great job. They won some questions and lost some. While they didn't win the entire competition we think they were perfect.

Afterwards we let him celebrate with a milkshake.

Leo's Soccer Game

Our little Leo is playing soccer again this season

and can I just say that I am so glad we have moved past

the crying stage

and him yelling in frustration,

"the girl's keep taking the ball away from me!"

Leo is quite the player and there isn't a whole lot of standing around for him during his games.

He dodges and weaves...

plays defense and offense

he is a force to be reckoned with.

Leo has a teammate that he often partners with.

I notice that our son is often comfortable

to assist others to make the glory shots.

I love this little guy. Every once in awhile I get a

glimpse of what he is going to look like when he gets older

and I am always impressed with what I see.

The team huddle. He has got a very devoted coach that works them really hard.

Leo's #1 fan - or at least until the snacks run out.

Every once in awhile Ken gets handed the camera and told we need proof - as in I was there.

Decorating Eggs and Hunts

Our schedule has been so busy that I wasn't sure when I would find time to dye eggs. I had to work all day on Good Friday but I had a 1 hour lunch break and was working near our house so I ran home and we dyed a dozen eggs. It ended up working out great because the kids were all ready and they pumped them out.

The girls ended up going to stay with Mimi and Papa so when Saturday dawned blue skies we knew we would be able to take the boys over to an Easter Egg hunt at a local nursery.

Here are the kids waiting for the go signal.

They hide the eggs throughout the plants and let the kids search all over.

Baby Huck was thrilled with his one egg.

They have a large koi pond. Huck was impressed and threw his egg in for the fish. The fish thought it was food and went crazy trying to leap over one another and eat it.