Easter Weekend

It was an amazing weekend, full of twists and turns. 

We celebrated Liam's 7th birthday on Saturday. The kids had a great time playing outside in the beautiful weather. How is it that this boy is 7?!?

 

And, 2 beautiful kids woke us up at 12:30 am to see what the Easter Bunny had brought. Lyla woke Cade up when she said she saw an orange light outside her window (probably a street lamp). They crawled in bed with us instead and went right back to sleep. Heaven.

The morning started with an ER visit to hobbling Cade, who had been complaining of a foot pain since Thurs. An X-ray showed that he had Kohler's syndrome, a condition which weakens the navicular bone temporarily. He has to wear a boot for 4-6 weeks. Nothing stops this boy...he still had a great Easter!

 

We were so happy to have Mimi visit us today:

 

 

The Easter egg hunt was at Natalie's this year. Her new home is beautiful and we had an amazing day in spite of a few rain showers. Here are some photos:

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

What a blessing this weekend was!

 I'm so proud of how our little boy really made lemonade out of his lemons today. Nothing held him back. 

 

 

 

Preschool Easter Egg Hunting

Today, Lance and I were so happy to attend Cade's Easter Egg Hunt at the preschool. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and Cade found his 7 eggs in record time. He was so happy through the whole thing. Mrs. Tobe is an amazing teacher, and she's told me several times lately that Cade is growing up and is ready for kindergarten. In fact, she's now sending Cade his own personal set of homework home on Thursdays. She says he's ready for more of a challenge since he told her his homework was "tedious". 

Here are a few photos:

 

    

Bowling With Wonder

It was a rainy, cold day which totally interfered with our plans to go to the alpaca farm in Waddy. So, went to lunch and bowling with Aunt Chz and Rand instread of our original plan. Numerous plastic ducks and pop tarts later, we were settled into our lane where Rand smashed us all, and I came in dead last. 

Lyla was extremely upset when she lost to Cade by 3 after several strokes of bad luck, including a child who hurled her ball into Lyla's lane, taking her turn away. 

It was such a fun day, though, ending with Cade asking Aunt Chz and Rand about Grandpa Dog's recent death. He really loved that old boy.

Here are a few photos:

 

  

Conner Prairie Part 1

If you've never made the 2.5 hour drive to Conner Prairie, get in your car now and go. My only regret was not having more time to explore this one of a kind interactive history museum in Indiana. Complete with Prairie Town exhibits, a hot air balloon exhibit (which wasn't open today due to unfavorable wind conditions), a Civil War exhibit and hands on physics wind stations, it is the ideal place to go for kids and adults. It was a fascinating day of learning from so many people who played their "characters" to teach so many historical lessons throughout our time there. 

We had an amazing time with Lyla's best friend, Maya's family. 

Exploring the physics of wind:

 

  

 

Meeting the baby animals:

 

    

 

The Loom House:

 

    

Exploring the original Conner residence:

 

Conner Prairie Part 2

Part 2:

Writing on real slates after meeting with a school teacher. She explained that most of her students are male (9 of 12), and school only takes place in Dec., Jan., and Feb. because the children are needed to cultivate the fields all other times of the year:

 

 

The Blacksmith Shop:

 

 

Cade loved the Carpenter's shop so much we had to go back to discuss Cade's desire to become sheriff of Prairietown, a card he chose at the jobs station. The Carpenter told him he would have to learn the laws of Prairietown and become a resident. Cade told him he thought he would be a good sheriff because he would save people from dangerous situations. 

 

  

A face in the Carpenter's window:

 

The Potter's house:

 

And, then there was the 4 story treehouse:

 

 

 

  

Candle making:

 

And, just when I thought this place couldn't get any better, we were able to walk into a Civil War re-enactment that was absolutely fantastic. Again, the acting was so good, and the "characters" told us, in vivid detail, of a Confederate raid that transpired the day before in 1863. Cade was really inspired by this and wanted to hear the story again and again. "Was the Civil War really yesterday, Mommy?" "Do you remember the Civil War from when you were a little girl?"

 

  

It was a beautiful day, and I'm so grateful for this experience for the kids. I can't wait to go back!