Easter, Field Trip, Retreat and Other Fun

Easter was a great time with beautiful weather. Grandma and Grandpa came to town along with Aunt Christy and Gracie. We had a fire outside, an Easter egg hunt at church, and a delicious dinner thanks to all my mother in-law's help. We celebrated aunt Christy's 40th birthday too. 

A few days after Easter, we went on a field trip to the Johnston Farm that was built in the early 1800s. It is located in Piqua. We learned so many interesting things. Mr. Johnston had a wealthy mother who came here from Europe. She had inherited money from her ancestors who were Huegonots.  Mr. Johnston farms his land, works for the government in overseeing Indian trade, and later was part of the group that oversaw the canal being built through This part of Ohio. It ran through his land. That was no mistake! They have since dug out the canal again and made a replica of the canalboat.  We got to take a ride on it just like they used to do when they transported goods. A horse and a mule pulled us up the canal and back.  It was so cool.

The day after the field trip, was the women's retreat for Hillside Chapel. It was so much fun, and such a rich time with the women.   Our theme was Breathe. Wait. Receive. Rest.  Kings Domain was beautiful and it was the best weather of the season so far.

Some other things that have happened lately...Colin deciding to dress just like Daddy the day before the retreat.  Alexa tried her hand at the harmonica. Analiese and Alexa got themselves all cozy watching Chrissa, An American Girl movie. Analiese and I went for a walk and then watched a storm roll in tonight.

Saturday, April 12-a trip to Boonshoft

Colin had a birthday party at Boonshoft. His friend Isaac was having a science birthday. So Alexa, Analiese, and I, played at the museum while we waited for Collin. Then Colin (aka Spider-Man) joined us. The kids love the pizza shop, they dug for fossils, played at the water table, and the big tower, and of course, walked through the zoo. The otters were really fun as usual.

Testing and Shower and Cleaning, Oh My!

Today the kids finished up 2 days of standardized testing.  Great job, kiddos! DQ was in order so off we went. 

Cleaning the mud room and the storage room was a priority this week.  I usually wait until after school ends, but I felt I had to do it now so I could really focus on finishing up the school year without that distraction.  My happy place truly is being organized! I am such a nut!  Notice the glass on the floor.  Another one bites the dust!

Bridal Shower for Sarah and Carrie! Such a fun time and a chance to shower them with encouragement.  Catch Phrase, Quelf, and lots of laughter. Fun time with such amazing girls!

An Unusual Day

I wish I had remembered my iPad when I left the house this morning. No pictures from the day but what a day it was. We dropped Brandon, Analiese, and Colin off at standardized testing. Alexa had really wanted to spend the day with me, and go out on a date. My plan, was to clean the storage room, but I knew she would be pretty disappointed. I could clean the storage room any other time. So off we went. We started with a trip to Sam's Club, to find me a planner. No success. We then went to Walmart and found one there. We also got her some fun summer dresses. She liked that a lot. She enjoyed looking at the clothes, purses, belts, and headbands. She kept trying things on and asking me how she looked. Of course she was too cute. After too much time there, we had to go to a few other places. She knew we had to run some errands. However, we then went to Party City, where she loves to get 15 pieces of candy for one dollar. Believe it or not this is a favorite spot for my dates with the kids. She was so cute with her little basket and counting pieces of candy. We were ready for lunch. We went to Panera bread and she had what she felt was the best Mac and Cheese ever. She was thrilled to see that it came with a yogurt tube too. We headed to the mall next. At JCPenney she was quick to check out the manequins. She hates when they have no head so she was excited that most of them have heads. She made a huge declaration as we entered the store about it and I saw a few people chuckle. She later ended up posing with manequins and trying to act like one.  It was adorable. The next store was Macy's. She wanted to try all the make up at the Clinique counter on herself. We did go to Claire's and restocked her stick  on earrings. I had the revelation that they'll stay on better if I use a little bit of crazy glue. It does work but today, I actually glued my fingers together and called Jeff in a calm, but definite panic. Anyway, the next stop had to be Ritters. She wanted to go there for sure on our date. By the time we finished up there, it was time to go get the kids. Just imagine, her with a little party city basket, eating her macaroni and cheese, standing next to manequins, eating delicious ice cream, and my fingers glued together. Those are the pictures that would best describe our day. She had some great quotes today too. She said, "Mom, do you wish that you didn't have to boys who were so disappropriate?".  "My mac & cheese is so creamy and warm and delicious. It is the best I've ever had."  "When you come to Panera Bread with your friends do they want you to always pay for them?" She insisted on praying for our food and did it loud and proud. I think everyone heard it. It was a fun day. I am glad I didn't clean the storage room.

Disney Day 6 - Epcot

Views of Epcot, China,topiaries of Mickey, Phineas, Ferb. Our kids had a blast in the China gift shop. With the fans, parasols, ninja sticks, and keychains with all of their names on it. They even had one with the name Ana with one 'n'. They were ready to buy out the whole gift shop. Exciting stuff! Of course, they were deeply drawn to every gift shop for one reason or another.

Tower of terror was advertised on the way to Epcot. There is the famous sphere with Goofy and Donald topiaries in front of it for the Flower and Garden show.  We enjoyed tasting pop at the cool pool. They had soda from several countries of the world. I liked South Africa, and Zimbabwe the best. Italy's, sorry to say, was extremely bitter!

More shopping and posing. The magnets were favorite snacks that we enjoyed or wanted to enjoy at the parks. Mickey ice cream sandwiches, Mickey ice cream with crunchy fudge topping, Churros, Mickey rice crispy treats, donuts, and turkey legs. Jeff got to enjoy a turkey leg and it cost only $10.50! It was huge!

So, I assumed, that since the line for Anna and Elsa could get up to five hours long, that it would not be worth it to try to get in line to see them.  There was a recommended way to stand in line for an hour and a half, but that involved getting to the park really early. Since it was our last day in Disney and we had to get to the airport, we really couldn't go to Epcot that early. When we got to Norway, where Anna and else that could be seen, it was too late in the day to stand in line. We could have done so if we went there when we got to the park at 10:30 in the morning. So, that was disappointing. However, they happened to have the red velvet curtain open which divided the meet and greet area from the gift shop we, of course, were shopping in.  So, much to our surprise, we got to see them and get pretty close to take some good pictures. Alexa was still sad that she did not get to go in and meet and talk with them. We did get to spend a lot of time at Mission Space and that was really fun.

The house we stayed in. It was awesome. A perfect place for our whole family. I am glad I got these pictures before we left in the morning.

Disney Day 5- Animal Kingdom

Disney Day 2, 3 (Magic Kingdom) & Day 4 (Hollywood Studios)