Tulip Festival

I was hoping to make to the Skagit Valley for their Tulip Festival, but couldn't. It is 2.5 hours each way to get there. Hard to justify that kinda driving for some flowers. So I found one down south that was only 1.5 hours each way. Definitely more manageable. The boys had a lot of fun. They had a bounce house and some live music. There was also a lady doing face painting (a big highlight for Anthony). She painted a snake on his arm.

In the end, we had a great day. Here are my unedited photos. I am hoping to start editing them later today.

Watering the Flowers

The boys worship Grandpa Keith. So the day we were set to leave, my dad stayed home to play with them. Grandpa Keith had the brilliant idea to let them help water flowers. After several buckets of water...mostly on the boys...they decided to take a break.

Gabe is at the helper stage in life right now. So while Grandma Kerry was sweeping, he thought he would join in.

Arboretum in Dallas

I love being in Dallas in the spring. It is warm but not too warm. All the flowers are blooming...and best of all, it isn't raining :-) My kids wore shorts and even played in the water, something we won't get to do in WA for another month.

On Monday we met my college friend Becky and her 2 daughters at the Dallas Arboretum. The Arboretum has a bunch of giant storybook houses set up for the kids to run around in. It was a perfect day and the kids had a great time.

Gabe still loves anything with a steering wheel.

And there is nothing cuter than two little boys staring at the water and having fun.

Budding Photographer

Anthony found Rob's little digital camera and spent the morning taking pictures. I think it is sweet what he chooses to take pictures of. Even funnier is listening to him direct everyone in the photos...wonder where he learned that from? Gabe is by far his favorite subject followed by his stuffed animals. He also tried to take a picture of a spider web and was disappointed when it didn't turn out.

Here are a few. He had the best time.

And the best part

Nara will be in New Jersey when Rob and I are there visiting his family! Yeah!!!!

Small thing...

Big impact! My friend Nara called today. Nara and I were friends in Alaska and now she lives in Germany. We never get to talk and hardly ever get emails to each other. But when ever we do talk it is like no time has passed. I miss her terribly. Today had been a rotten day, the kids were on my last nerve. Now it is all better!

Easter Day

We got up early and let the kids hunt for about 2 eggs and the 3 baskets each they got (next year I will remind grandparents that Easter shouldn't be a bigger candy haul than Halloween). Then we headed to church. They didn't have Sunday school, so the kids were with me for the whole service...a bit trying during the sermon but other than that OK.

Oh, and I made Eggs Benedict for Breakfast...with Hollandaise sauce from scratch.

The Steam Train

Last summer I really wanted to take the kids to ride the steam train just south of us in Chehalis. But, the whole are flooded and ruined the likelihood of that happening. With the move, it is unlikely we could fit it in since they don't run regularly till Jun. Then I found out they do an Easter Train. So today after much difficulty we all loaded in the car and drove the 35 miles to Chehalis.

The boys loved the train and had fun hunting eggs too. Anthony now understands the egg hunt concept and is very focused. Gabe just follows Anthony. At the end, the boys actually got to climb in the engine...oh how cool!

I was a bit disappointed in the 25 min ride, but my kids are easily entertained and for that I am grateful.

Hands On

We have a membership to our local Hands on Children's Museum. I would have killed for something like this in Fairbanks. The boys get to run around playing with toys we will never have at our house. We try to go once a month, but this time I just needed to get us out of the house. There was a special touch tank with animals from the local waters on display for spring break.

We began at the food section. They have a delivery truck, and orchard and garden to 'pick' fruits and veggies, a little store, a small kitchen for cooking. It is fun to explain how our food starts in the garden and progresses to our house for dinner.

Next we moved to the building section. Gabe serenaded us with his rendition of the "Bob the Builder" theme song. This is the first time Anthony focused on building with the boards. I like that he is starting to puzzle solve.

Finally they found the touch tank...and Anthony remained there for most of the afternoon. He camped next to the high schooler acting as the guide, Evelyn. He told her all about the sea creatures...the great whites that eat the seals (Discovery channel), the barracuda that eats the eggs (Nemo), the whale shark, the penguins. She just smiled and nodded for him.

Lately, Gabe is into art...especially drawing and gluing. They have a huge art station which he liked hanging at.

We ended with the dress up station. Anthony wouldn't let me take his picture as a leopard. Gabe tried on the horse and the lady bug before settling on the alligator.

When we got home, the kids took a 3 hour nap :-)

A little brag

So I could complain endlessly about all the things Rob doesn't do, but today he has been great. Actually, all week.

He has put the kids to bed every night since he returned from Alaska. Tonight he came home early so I could go to a Step class at the gym without the kids. He took care of dinner. And now he is over playing with the neighbor's dog so I could finish my quiz in Human Resource Management (yes I finished before moving to my blog).

I am starting to back date posts of the kids with my mom visiting so watch out.

97

That is my score on my test for business data analysis. Since I still have no idea what we are doing in that class, I am quite pleased with the score.