I offered Eleanor a dollar if she could tackle Patrick one day when we got home from Girl Scouts. I don't know who was more delighted when she took me up on it - me or Patrick.
It turns out it's really difficult to tackle someone and she mostly hugged him and hopped around while grabbing his upper torso while our neighbors and Patrick shouted out helpful tips about going for the knees. She didn't get him down but it was a hoot to watch her try.
Matchy day! The girls didn't plan this but there was joy when I pointed out the purple black combo.
We had a fun game night with Laura and Juan. They had invited us over to just hang out but isn't it more fun if we hang out with games?
I had been sent a few games so I was excited for chances to test them out.
Here is a montage of animals in the sunshine.
Meg came down and yelled at Callie
And then stole her spot. Poor Callie!
Callie does okay for herself. She loves getting sticks on walks and then playing keep away with me.
Remi time!
And Sookie has been tolerating Callie affection in the sunshine.
Neighbor kitty Snowflake did not like Callie when she tried to jump around and play with her.
I'm getting in some really pretty walks these days.
Meg thinks there is too much dog talk these days and sometimes has to sit on me and stake her claim.
Kitty pile on the bed!
I sent Patrick outside for being too wild at the end of church and so he climbed a tree and got his friend Max and Eleanor to climb the tree too.
I don't remember what Juliet had going on this particular day, all I know is I was talking to her for the 8 minute ride to Costco, about things pertaining to her own life, and when I stopped talking for a minute and looked back this is what I saw. So so tired.
Eleanor signs up for every extra-curricular available to her, this was a choir performance at her school. She's a soprano because the teacher literally just picked a handful of girls without listening to them sign and told them they were now the soprano section. Eleanor is really proud of her section and I find the entire situation hilarious.
She did a great job!
Strings performance that night. She keeps quite the schedule!
Juliet graduated from yet another gymnastics class. I haven't told her she's in her final session of gymnastics for perhaps the rest of her life. It's a fun thing to do but it's mostly just play time for her and we are going to have quite the schedule when she starts picking up activities next year.
And we need time for cozy Saturday mornings making pancakes!
And games of Jaipur for me and my hubby. And Callie ...
Our spring break was amazing, we didn't go anywhere or do anything and the kids just ran around with neighborhood buddies the entire time.
Juliet practiced riding her bike a bit with Nathan, even though his back wasn't feeling that great.
Bluey Keepy Uppy game! A new favorite!
Nathan took a picture of my game night with my ladies.
And a round of Outfoxed the next morning with my little gamer buddies!
Patrick's friend Collin came over and everyone had their Pokemon cards out within about a minute of his arrival.
More spring break fun - we went by the playground and Patrick ended up playing baseball with a neighbor buddy Bobby and his family.
Nathan had some really bad back issues this month so we were relieved and happy when he was able to make it to the Guster concert he had gotten us tickets to a couple months back. And we unlocked a new achievement - my parents were out of town and our back up babysitter was not available. So we had Bradley go to a friend's house for his first sleepover and left the other three at home with a family cell phone and they watched shows until Eleanor put Juliet to bed. They were so proud of themselves and while we don't plan on making this a regular event, it was really nice to have it as a backup option. And we had to get Bradley out of the house because both he and Eleanor would have wanted to be the one true leader and Eleanor is better at managing Juliet so she was the one who got to stay home. Anyway, great success!
The concert was in a nice little venue and we had a really nice meal before going over there so it was an excellent evening.
Nathan was able to lean up on the wall and quite frankly I was happy to lean on the wall too for a bit from time to time. It was a bit to stand for three hours straight. We are old and we want chairs.
Towards the end of spring break Patrick and Juliet spent a day with Timmy and Casey and they got to go out for a fancy lunch at McDonalds.
Meanwhile, Eleanor had her friend Elise over and they were busy dressing up animals in clothes. Callie was confused but a good sport.
The cats said no thanks in no uncertain terms.
I helped shove the cats in a few cute items for a quick photo op.
Then they did some baking and used up a fancy dessert kit I had gotten for Eleanor a while back.
Patrick and Juliet were glad to be home in order to test it out, it got high marks from all the kids.
Callie was very tired afterwards.
More game time with Juliet who had been given fancy rainbow chalk hair by Eleanor and her friend.
Saturday was spent with Maya. We love Maya!
Bradley went through a stint of reading in the egg chair, which was super cute and Callie approved.
Callie has gotten used to play time with Remy after I take her on walks. Remy is sort of free range and is out in his front yard most of the time and he's very sweet and doesn't seem to get annoyed by Callie's desperate love for him. In fact when they play in front of kids there are always a lot of "ewwwws" based on the amount Callie and Remy like to chew on each other's mouths and give each other kisses.
It was a joyous day when Remy brought a toy outside and they got to play tug of war.
We went on a walk with Bear and Callie was so excited for TWO friends at the end! Although she very much wanted to remain the center of attention at all times.
Eleanor and I have a path we like to take that spikes off the main trail which we fondly refer to as "Adventure Trail". You have to climb through a few fallen trees that are across the faint path and even climb down a hill and jump over a little stream to rejoin the main trail at another point. We found some good bones on our last time going through the path - true adventure!
Juliet's teacher posted this picture of Juliet's art and I was terrified that I was going to have to display this at home and be haunted by it. The eyes! However, I showed it to a friend and they pointed out that it was drawn on a little white board and has surely been erased by now so we don't have to fear for our immortal souls.
They had a few events at the church during preschool for Good Friday and to celebrate Easter and I got to go be with Juliet. She clung to me and gave me kisses and basically paid zero attention to the service except for a few songs so it's probably for the best they don't have these events on a regular basis. It was fun though! I love cuddles and kisses!
Patrick and I made it to the Stanley mother son event. You can't really tell in the picture, but there we are together. Patrick really likes props.
Pictures with his buddy Zeke. They had an Olympic theme this year.
After he and Carter won the dance off. He got a free cookie from Crumbl Cookies which was genius on their part because of course when we went in to redeem the coupon we didn't get just one cookie. It was very fun and quite delicious though and Patrick was very proud of himself.
Lacrosse the next day! #40 is doing very well for himself.
Goal
Assist
Katie came for a visit and ran outside to give Juliet a big hug when we showed up for the first time at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
They insisted on sharing a seat at the table for dinner.
Eleanor made up stories with the Pez container characters after dinner, much to the joy of all involved.
Nathan caught me singing the Meow Meow song to Juliet at bedtime. We've discovered that the kitties don't really coming running for Here Kitty Kitty anymore, but they always come to check on me when I'm literally caterwauling so that's what we do now if we need to find a cat and can't. Meow meow meowwww!
Sweet fluffy Sookie. She comes downstairs so much now that Callie leaves her alone sometimes.
Only sometimes though.
Playing with little flying saucers at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Playing "Let's get Patrick"
Ethan loved this game ever so much. He was a little unsure at first but then Patrick kept comically falling over and Ethan was soon in full tackle mode.
And then the girls took turns playing horsie.
Sweet sweet kitties. They spend a lot of time cuddled up together, especially if someone kindly leaves out a few sherpa blankets.
Lucky Eleanor with a kitty buddy.
Lucky me getting some good squeezies from Juliet at another preschool service.
And then on Friday we went to gymnastics and then got Patrick out of school so he could join cousins for swim time at the Matt Ross pool.
Ethan was a good sport about the pink floaty he inherited from his sister.
Grandma with most of the crew
Patrick working hard
Ethan wasn't allowed in the hot tub (no swim diapers allowed) so I cuddled with him and warmed him up in a couple towels while the rest of the gang was in the hot tub area. He wasn't sure about being with me until I showed him all the pictures his dad had sent me of their cats. He loved that and kept oohing and ahhing over kitty pictures and if I didn't already think he was a cool kid I would after all the kitty love. He loved the Paw Patrol toy we took with us to the pool.
And that night Nathan and I got to take Bradley out for a special birthday outing! We had dinner at the Cardboard Corner and played the co-op version of King of Tokyo. And then we went by Half Price Books to peruse their collection and pick a few things out. It was a really nice evening.
I went by my folks' house to pick up the other kids and found a crazy pogo-sticking gang. Apparently they spent a fair percentage of the evening out there, which is super cute.
Juliet got to go to our neighbor friend Lilah's 5th birthday party the next morning. It was at an inflatables place called Jump Zone and it was super cool fun.
And that afternoon we had Bradley's birthday party on his actual birthday at Chicken 'n Pickle.
He had a few friends come and they played pickle ball for an hour followed by shuffleboard.
The weather was perfect and we supplied basically unlimited French fries and tots for the kids. We had all the elements for a successful 12th birthday party!
Wrapping up at the end of the party.
For Easter morning we made bunny pancakes for breakfast!
We had a nice time at the church service.
And had an exciting egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's!
There were even bubbles to find at the end.
Fancy times painting Patrick's toenails.
And then we got home and discovered the Easter bunny had visited our house as well!
The Easter bunny was very proud that Eleanor was so happy about the truffle chocolate assortment that had been picked out for her.
T-Rex giant chocolate? Yeah, the coolest.
And a Li'L Lamb that matched the one Katie got. So exciting!
Patrick bit the head off of his T-Rex with a bit of fanfare which made Eleanor laugh maniacally.
And then we had an amazing afternoon running around in perfect weather with neighborhood kids. Charleigh had never had a chicken melt before and we were happy to introduce her to the easy meal of her dreams.
Some roller skating help from Juliet on another day.
Lilah got a hoverboard with a pony attachment for her birthday (I'm still not used to how posh our new neighborhood is) and Eleanor left skid marks in the driveway when she took it for a spin. Oops!
Juliet took it on a spin or two herself. I'm glad other kids have these toys so I don't have to get them for my kids.
Evening play time. I was supposed to be making everyone go to sleep but look at how cute they were being?
