Spring Happenings

So much happened while we sneezed away with our spring allergies...

Baseball! Madsen did fantastic, with quite a few home runs, pitching, and great fielding. 

This kid is really growing up fast.

Much too fast.

Violin! Another concert for Miss Celia. I love that I never have to nag her to practice. She does it on her own, she loves it so much.

Flowers! On the trees outside my orchestra rehearsal,

...and the flowers in our yard.

Cousins! All 3 years old too!

More baseball! This is how we entertain ourselves.

Stripes, plaid, and argyle. Bowen is one of a kind.

And I sure love spending my days with him.

We went Downton, 

to the library,

ANOTHER library, (usually multiple ones every week! Ha!)

Cora and Bowen were "matching" in their pj style one night.

See that hand-holding? Unprompted. 

Maybe they really do love each other. :)

More baseball!

And a sweet big brother that lets little brother wear his uniforms.

Recitals!

Cora's ballet class was part of The Secret Garden this year. 

They were pretty much adorable.

Cora is far left!

Before we've even left rehearsal, she whips out a book. 

Wonder where she gets it. ;)

And the big recital day!

Grandma AND Great-grandma Enid came. We are so lucky to have them so close by!

Such a busy spring, but it's not over yet...

Color Run 5K!

The Color Run 5K was a blast! Perfect ending to Celia's running club.

Color EXPLOSION!!

Baking, Easter eggs, and Rodin

The rest of spring break was full of time spent with cousins, at baseball games and practices, Easter cookies, and Easter eggs. Here's Mighty Madsen at the bat!

We tried marbling the eggs this year and Madsen's (below) turned out the best! They were beautiful!

Vancouver Rocks is a group that's been going for over a year now, painting and hiding rocks at various parks and public places all over Vancouver. The kids LOVE it, and these are the ones we found just over spring break. We actually found a few more, but I convinced them to re-hide some of them for other kids to find.

Easter cookies!

I'm not very good at making and spreading Royal Icing, so it was bumpy, but after letting it harden overnight, the kids were ready to decorate them with the edible markers! So fun!

We hung out at home, had piano lessons, and spent time at Grandma's house with cousins (below)...

Look at that BLUE sky! So rare here in the spring!

Sharing my chocolate stash with Celia when the younger three kids ALL FELL ASLEEP one afternoon, at the SAME TIME. Yes, pigs were flying. Couldn't believe it. Had to document our quiet afternoon. :)

More baseball games with friends (below).

And a date! We actually went on a date! 

And this is our latest recipe favorite - Chocolate Banana Bread found here. 

Cake. It's basically cake. It's amazing.

So amazing, I miiiiight just buy too many bananas next time I go to the store so we can make more. :)

When the kids finally went back too school after spring break, Bowen and I headed to the Portland Art Museum before a Rodin exhibit closed! I love Rodin's sculptures - no one could create such writhing, twisting bodies and body parts like he could. Revolutionary for his time! Since Rodin sometimes reused the same bronze cast limbs on different sculptures, this activity for kids (below) let them take apart his sculptures in miniature, and put them together a different way. I think I had more fun than Bowen did. :)

He begged me for these "finger brushes" at the gift shop, and I'm a sucker for any art supplies, so...

Counting down the days until TAX DAY...