This past week and a half was spring break for the kiddos and so we packed in the fun and chaos :). Craig and the team were out of town for half of it so it was just the kids and me so we had random activities at the house and a field trip to the "big giant store" here that has a play place where they all jumped and swung to their heart's content. Now they are back in school, Lucy and Elliot are beyond happy, Keenan, not so much, but the house is quiet and Im working through catching up and resting. There are a million pictures from our week, so here are 40 :)
We played with the plastic Easter eggs while "swimming" in their buckets
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| Elliot crashed out on the couch |
Then we were off to the big giant store for the day of play and pizza
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| The boys jumped and jumped and jumped and jumped. And laughed a ton! |
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| As he raced from one area to the next, Elliot would always stop by the hoops and shoot a couple shots just to see if he could make it. |
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| So close! :) |
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| My fearless monkey lady |
They did this for about 20 minutes straight. Love those sweet giggles!!
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| The boys played soccer with some of the other kids that were there and it was Keenan and Elliot vs the three other kids until about 2 minutes in when Elliot changed sides. He decided their celebrating hugging over a goal was much more fun so he joined in and then Keenan was left defending his goal alone. :) |
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| The floors were not so clean. Lucy's little socks after the day were black. |
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| And we watched some videos. I promise we have couches and stuff, they just always end up mashed together somewhere and I guess the floor was cooler this day. |
We had craft day where we painted and made new decorations for the house.
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| The first stage of the painting we did. I didnt get pictures of the other part, I was trying to guide them in their finger paint madness. |
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| The final product |
I was reading about dandelions the other day and although they are weeds they are pretty incredible plants. They grow in a huge range of environments and thrive well under a wide range of conditions. Their roots grow incredibly deep and strong making them hard to kill off and remove, and yet they are such a happy yellow flower which changes to a ridiculously fun puff ball that brings delight to kids all the time. As I pray for my family these are so many of the things I want to be true. I long for us to thrive under any situation, suffering, or celebrating. That we would be rooted strongly and deeply in God's word, not easily uprooted and swayed by cares of the world. That we would be fun and happy and bring delight to those around us. And finally that the way we love one another would be seeds of life to others just as a dandelion has millions of the seeds that spread everywhere freely. That many lives would be touched and changed as a result of the way we live, pointing to Christ the real reason for any joy or delight or strength. So, that's what we painted to hang in our dining room now. The kids did the background, I did the lines and the dots for the seeds are their little finger prints and swipes. Its not the prettiest painting in the world, but its ours and I love the memories that it holds now as well.
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| Keenan and I made some new stars to make a light garland for the archway between our dining room and living room |
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| And we updated our "mantel" with cardboard, glitter and new pictures |
We finished off their spring break with a day at the pool yesterday and had a blast. The clouds were out which made it for a perfect pool day without the glare of the angry sun!
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| Keenan's first time going down the slide alone |
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| Elliot has always been our fearful guy especially when it comes to water, but he has been getting better all the time and yesterday he was the happiest I have ever seen him jumping in like crazy and going down the slide non stop! |
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| Lucy girl could do the slide all day and every single time her face was like this. Pure joy right there!!! |
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| Me and the big guy |
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| The hotel where we swam has two huge turtles! |
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| I told Lucy she was a fish because she was loving the water and this is the face she gave me. :) |
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| Beyond excited |
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| Practicing his cannon ball |
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| Of course Elliot would do this. I think the water pulled them down a bit when he was coming out, but he had to show everyone just to make sure no one missed out! stinker. |
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| Elliot got super brave and went down alone. He kept giggling and after that he didnt want to set foot in the kiddie pool |
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| Craig and our happy little princess |
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| All wrapped up and ready to go! |
And now back to catching up and getting things done before the kids need to be picked up! Very grateful for a wonderful spring break with my family!!!
