Maple Festival

The 2nd and 3rd weekends in March are always Maple Weekend around here, so to celebrate we went to our local maple farm, the same one we went to last year. 

It was a beautiful, crisp, snowy spring day. Below is the sugar house where they boil the sap. The dark smoke is the wood they burn for the fire and the white "smoke" is steam from the sap (but they were actually boiling water this day since it was too cold for the sap to run).

Logan was as snug as a bug in a rug all cuddled up with Mom. I don't think many people realized that I had him inside my coat, it was pretty funny. One woman said "you are about to pop out of your coat! Oh wait, there's a baby in there!"

This was the farms 50th year in operation. This was Father who built the farm from the ground up. They literally do everything here from collecting the sap, boiling it and even bottling it right there. That is what he was doing. They also make maple candies, maple sugar and maple cream. All YUMMY!

We got to ride a hayride back and forth from the sugar shack. I can't remember what she was pouting about in this picture.

There was an animal area where the kids could pet bunnies, goats, chickens and a pig.

There was also PONY RIDES!!

Somebody get this girl a horse!

Cowboy K had a good time too.

Do you know what happens if you stare longingly into the cotton candy machine?

You get free samples!!

(And maple cotton candy is the BEST!!)

The kids even got a ride from a Newfoundland! How cool is that?!?

Matt and I think that this might be the next dog that we get (if we can convince ourselves to buy a dog from a breeder), his name would be Chewbacca.

Big Lance!

Big Lance (Matt's big brother) came for a visit over St. Patrick's Day weekend. He had actually been trying to get out here for about 6 weeks, but because of weather and busy flights and work schedules he was not able to get here until now. But we were sure happy to have him!

We went bowling! It was our kiddos first time, and they did GREAT!

K bowled both with and without the ramp.

C was NOT going to let anybody else carry her ball for her. She carried it to the ramp each time for two games! That's 40 times!!! (right?)

L just chilled. It's what he does best (as long as Mom is not trying to sleep).

The kids LOVED having him here. He gave them all extra special attention, wrestles and cuddles, and Mom & Dad were grateful to have an extra set of hands around.

Big Lance came to church with us on Sunday before heading out on Monday. We wanted a picture with Big and Little Lance and Big and Little Matthew, but Little Matthew was sleeping and didn't want to wake him up.

Thanks for coming Lance! We all had a GREAT time with you here and you (and your family) are always welcome at our house!

L noises

L has been making some louder noises lately (besides crying). Pretty cute! 

Pink Sparkly Shoes

A pair for any occasion.

My 5 Year Old

Can you believe that my little boy is 5?!? Seriously, I know I'll say it every year, but where does the time go?

K is such an amazing boy! He has grown so much over the last year. He has started reading and writing. He is thriving in his PreK program. He loves Legos and can follow detailed directions to put together elaborate pieces. He and Dad read The Hobbit and the first two Harry Potter books. He has such a great memory that in the mornings he will recite, in detail, about what they read the previous night. He is an amazing big brother to his siblings, especially his little brother, and a big help to his Mom.

Best buddies.

I love you K!

A few of C

During K's 5 year photo shoot we got a few of C too. 

 

With the magic of editing I was able to get this beautiful picture...

... from this! Crazy K!!

2 Months

Superhero Party!

Although we have had some fun princess parties, I have to say that this was the best kids party we have thrown yet. Matt got very excited about the theme and planned some fun superhero games, hand-crafted some props and even did the shopping for decorations. K invited two buddies over and everybody had a great time!

  The superheroes in training arrived and checked everything out.

What is one thing that a superhero needs? A cape!

I seriously love this picture because C was going to be part of everything 100%, and of course it was going to be done in pink!

Superhero poses before training:

The training games:

The buddies, L & J.

After the games K opened presents while Mom got lunch ready.

He was thoroughly spoiled. Thank you everyone!

I know, I said I dislike Play-Doh. But can you really keep a kid from enjoying it during his childhood? Now he is well stocked.

K wanted Lunchables for his birthday lunch. This is what I came up with, and it was a hit! All kids cleaned their plates!

The cake. 

I opted out of baking for this party.

This is when they really started letting loose!

The after training (or sugar) superhero poses:

The final game was to shoot the badguys with silly string. No pictures of the action, but here is ...

Yep. I try to be...

Aunt Jo came up for the weekend to celebrate with us.

This is what L thought about sleeping through it all.

"I Am a Child of God"

This is C's version of "I Am a Child of God" in sign language, or as she says "in Spanish." My favorite part is the fingers in the ears. :-)

 

Brothers

People keep saying that L looks exactly like K, and here are just a few pictures to show that people are correct. They have their own individual features, but they definitely look related.