Early Easter

 Last Saturday was a BIG day! Brian and I left the kids with someone else for the first time in over a year! Our friends Kim and Rob who host our Easter gathering every year offered to watch the kids and they just loved it. We can't make it to their house for Easter this year so the kids got to celebrate early. They helped decorate the house, color eggs, do an easter egg hunt and were completely spoiled with Easter basket goodies. To say they were disappointed when we showed up to pick them up would be a huge understatement. The kids even managed to get the dog Milo into the Easter festivities. Everyone had a great time and it was a much needed break from our never-ending "family together time."

Yesterday I took the kids to cash in their coin loot which they have been collecting for years in their piggy banks. Lots of easter eggs and tooth fairy visits resulted in each kid having over $30 in coins! 

A new day

This was a big week for Cameron. He got to go to school in person! This also meant it was his first time in his new school. The district started with 2nd graders so Cameron got to be one of the first 12 children back in the entire school. He loved it and was so excited to be able to meet his teacher and go to his school in person. Wearing a mask was no big deal and he was lucky enough to get his same teacher. He is thrilled and we are too. It is nice to have a change of routine and it's nice for the kids to have a break from each other. Addy is exited because she gets to start in the middle of April. 

It's also officially Little League season so now we get that to look forward to as well. It's a very different reality than a year ago which is a nice change. 

A Walk in the Park

Last weekend we had beautiful weather and decided to take advantage of it and head over to Whidbey Island to check out some parks and spend time outside. The first one we went to was a park that had art throughout a trail that went through the woods. It was so cool! Tons of variety of artwork by local artists, all outside in the forest. It was such a fun adventure and the kids loved the variety of art. It was a short walk so we did it twice and the kids selected their favorite artwork shown below.

From there we went to one of the old forts that had gun batteries from over 100 years ago. It was a perfect day for flying kites and we brought ours! It was a beautiful day outside so lots of people had their kites as well, we even saw a deer.

It was a great escape outdoors and a reminder that we've made it through winter and spring brings sunshine!

Sign of the Times

 It's hard to believe it's been a year now since the kids have been home from in person school. While they desperately miss regular school, there have been some perks with remote learning. At the top of the list for the kids is wearing pajamas all day. Last week Cameron had both crazy hat day and pet day. His classmates were all showing their animals on the computer and I snapped the following pictures of Cameron showing off our chickens. Definitely not every day that you get to do this at school. 

Cameron is getting excited because he's planning on going back to school 2 days a week in person starting in two weeks. We explained to him that he might not get his same teacher, that he'll have to wear a mask and that it may not feel like regular school. He emphatically stated, "I don't care if I have to go to a split kindergarten class, I want to go back to school!" There is no question on where he stands on this issue.