April & May shenanigans

At the beginning of April, my mom and sister went to the family cabin on Camano Island for a little girls getaway before the new babies are born. So relaxing! The weather was beautiful, and I saw the most wonderful sunrise from the deck. One of the fruit trees fell over, from the crazy winter weather!















During my weekend away, my darling husband was on Daddy Duty at home with the girls. One of their fun activities was discovering frogs at Rood Bridge park. These girls are not shy about slimy things!











This year for Easter, we had plans to go to Renton to be with my family. Oh the plans we had... Unfortunately, throat infections took over our family and we were stuck home sick for a week! Marin did get enough energy one day to decorate her eggs... A few weeks later, all the grandparents came to church with us so we could show off their yellow Easter dresses! Such a precious picture with all their favorite people!






Kyle went on a motorcyle trip to Bend with his friend Alex. No broken bones!! Although it was in the 20's at night (they camped outside in tents), so there might have been a little frostbite.








Marin just completed her first set of swimming lessons in the pool without mom. I cried the first day, seeing her in this huge pool with her class and teacher. Welcome to turning 3, there is a whole world out there, people! She thoroughly enjoyed it, and even pulled out the nose bubbles in the end, allowing her to graduate and be able to move on to the next class.













As much as we threaten to send her off to the glue factory, Ivy really is a good dog. She puts up with everything from the girls, and is our expert mole catcher (I think this might be #8 or 9). Even with those grey hairs, she can still hunt with the best of them :)











Check out my new haircut!











Recently when friends Sommer and Jordan were over for a BBQ, Marin asks Jordan "Can you climb that tree?"... Lickety split, Jordan and Kyle are up a tree. I think there might have been a few scrapes (these boys are not teenagers anymore people)... She was in awe.









We planted our garden on Mothers Day, and Kyle surprised the little girls with their very own red shovels. Thrilling! That and the worm (again, slimy things impress them greatly). What didn't impress them was the stinky fertilizer. Pee-ew! Did I mention the darling dog Ivy already ate all the broccoli plants? (Here's where the glue factory threats come in.)














Sisters are funny... I found Marin feeding Madeline like a baby, and they were both enamoured with this exchange. Even after Maddie had a "beard" (their words, not mine) full of yogurt, she just threw up her hands as if to say "what mom, do I have something in my teeth or something?"

Bubbles make the party complete! We had our end of year community group gathering at our house, and we got out the Bazillion Bubble Machine (yes that's what it's actually called)... So fun! Check out the one of Marin blowing them to Ivy, who loves them as much as the people.