Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year was spent up at Silver Lake.  We did a combined  family birthday party for Mia/Mother's Day BBQ all in one.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and everyone got a chance to get out in the boat to do some fishing, too.  Just as the clouds started to roll in, we all packed up and headed home.  It was a great day to relax and hang out together.

Mia has found a new hobby this week.  Eric took home a bunch of scrap wood with the intention of using it for ramps and roads for the boys matchbox cars.  They never actually ended up using them for that purpose but they have been used to keep Mia busy.  She's been busy constructing houses for snails (after watching Hotel for Dogs) :) and also making American Girl doll furniture.  Which, she informed me, is MUCH cheaper than the real thing.  Good work, Mia!   You're making Dad proud. 

The cute thing is, Mia received this American Girl Doll Crafts project book as a gift and now she has a little desk for her dolls to work on their crafts at.

The girls turn

The girls had their turn to go fishing on Thursday night, Grandpa came along, too.  Eric's parents have been the lucky recipients of all these beauties (from the other night and tonight). Holly even parted with her prize catch, she caught the BIGGEST one and Mia caught the MOST. (I saw all the tally marks as proof) While they were out fishing, L, T, and J and I were deciding on what to do for dinner.  Lucas really wanted me grill the rest of the clams from Saturday, so I did.  

Grandma had stopped over for a little while and was roped into eating one.

I know I accidentally cut Grandma off some of these but Lucas' expressions are priceless watching her eat it.   Thanks, Grandma, for making his night!

The fishermen return

It's opening week!  The boys headed out tonight and caught some dinner.

Girls just having fun

For Mia's birthday, we talked about having a couple friends over but never really settled on what and when.  I was at one of her friends house last week and her and I came up with a plan to surprise Mia on her birthday with a little party.  I had Grandma take Mia out for ice cream after school and Mia's friends were dropped off during that time.  Here they are killing time before Mia arrived.  (and yes, Holly has it ALL on video!)  ;)Finally, there was a knock on the door (since I locked her out) and her friends opened the door and yelled "SURPRISE!"  She wasn't exactly sure what to think. 

I had planned a little photo scavenger hunt for them to keep them busy.  Here they are fulfilling some of the necessary requirements.  (Check my Simply Enjoy blog  for full details.)  It was then time for Eric to try out his "trick", Diet Coke and Mentos combo.After we brought the girls home in the morning, Eric and the boys went clamming so we decided to take advantage of the great weather and head to the tulip fields that were in full bloom.  Grandma had sent these awesome costumes for this years Holland Days festival and we thought we'd try to get a few pictures.  

After an awesome clam feast we crashed for the night!

A Decade Old!

Happy Birthday, Mia!  It's hard to believe your a decade old already (although you have continually reminded us of that for the last several months!)   We LOVE you!!!  (if you want to see the pictures a little larger, just click on the image)

Ahhhhh, it really feels like spring

It was finally sunny and WARM!  Today it reached 70 degrees so when the kids got home from school and asked if the water could come on outside, I said "why not".  I'm still plugging away on my Project 365 and am really getting sick of inside photos. Last weeks were terrible.  So when the sun and the kids were outside enjoying each others company I took my camera out to see what they were doing.  

The worm...seriously, I didn't realize these little details about a worm.  I was snapping away and when I downloaded them on my computer I realized that you could really see right into that poor little guy.    Thanks, Joey, for torturing the poor thing just so I could learn a thing or two. Then, Mia decided to set up the swing sprinkler.  She entertained herself and a few others throughout the afternoon.  These pictures make it look nice and warm but it was pretty cold yet (or so she told me!) 

We're back!

After an incredible week in Yosemite National Park, we're home.  The sites were spectacular and the company wasn't half bad either.  :)  (we met one of my sisters and her family there)  Good times!  I just uploaded way to many pictures on Facebook so if you're my friend over there, you'll be able to see them.  If your not my friend, just ask me...I'd love a few more.  I may add a few more here but for now, the couch is calling. Everyone else over here is already enjoying an Easter afternoon nap.

Mia found a cool spot at the top of Vernal Falls.

Mirror Lake

Yes, it snowed!

At Columbia Rock with Half Dome in the background.

Can't go to CA without a stop at In-n-Out Burger!

A little entertainment

Mia told me it was time to update our blog or else...So here's some recent activity in our neighborhood last week.  It was quite entertained for a while! And anytime we can get outside right now is a good thing!  Maybe tomorrow I'll find something a little more exciting to add.  :)

A little of this, a little of that

Mia was on an organizational kick and decided to go through all our DVD's, CD's and videos.  She particularly enjoyed organizing the CD's by Artist wondering why there were so many Amy Grant, Jimmy Buffet and Van Halen CD's?  :)  Holly has been learning about wolves this week and one thing they did was learn how to make origami wolves.  One night after she "went to bed"  she was busy putting this pack together.     Just a crazy quad cousin shot! Aren't their feet just the cutest thing, Emma's match exactly.  

And then this....Show-n-Tell.  I can't tell you how many, MANY times these 3 have been their sisters Show-n-Tell.  Holly asked if they could come Friday to school and they said they wanted to.  The kids got to ask both Holly and them some questions and Holly's teacher asked some questions too.  One of the questions was what their favorite thing to eat.  Lucas said peaches, Tyler said pears and Joey said watermelon.  Another question was if they could go anywhere, where would they want to go?  Lucas wanted to go to the park, Tyler wanted to go to the zoo and Joey wanted to go to Mexico.  And in the end Holly's teacher made a point of saying even though they all look a lot a like they're all very different with different answers for each question.  

Good Morning!

Someone was having just a little to much fun with their breakfast! :)

Caution:Kids in Charge

With 3 days off of school last week we had a few days to play.  Friday, Amy and I decided we'd let the kids plan the day (some other friends of ours had done this and it sounded like a potentially great idea)  :)  When we first told the kids what we were doing,  6 out of the 8 chose going to the "Jump Fun Zone", one chose a trip to Treasury of Memories for some crafting supplies and another chose a trip to Target.  Since Ella had school until noon we had to stay around home until she was finished.   The thought of sitting at the Jump Fun Zone for a couple hours didn't appeal to me.  (see how good I am at letting my kids pick what they want!)  We then decided to just make it a day where everyone chose something different and told them little to no money could be spent.  It ended up being so much fun and way more creative(these are 2 "pictures" I'm using for my Project 365...you can check it out HERE!  You can also see what else we did with our days off.)  Here's what they chose

1. Tyler wanted to go for a bike ride.

2. Holly wanted to play Rock Band and have Hot Chocolate.

3.  Jake wanted to play football with everyone.

4.  Levi wanted to play Carcassonne. (kind of like Settlers of Catan for kids)

Lunch stop at the new Sonic...yummy!

5.  Ella wanted to go to Hovander.

6.  Joey wanted to play some basketball.

7.  Lucas wanted to play a couple rounds of Duck-Duck-Goose and Telephone.

8.  Mia wanted to go swimming.

9.  We crashed from exhaustion! :)  Thanks, guys, it was a great day!

Hey, Best Buddy!

Thanks for having us over today!  We had a great time!!  :)

Remember me!

That's what Mia and Ellie's snowboard instructor told them to do after they win their medals in the Olympics for snowboarding.  :)  It was the girls first time snowboarding and their wise Dads took advantage of the 1 1/2 hr lesson before taking them on the mountain themselves. 

 It was a great way for the 4 of them to spend their Saturday.

But they couldn't be the only ones having all the fun.  The rest of us went and visited Baby Ava, Emma, Lily and Aunt Mandy.  They're all doing great!