Happy Easter

Happy Easter! We've had a great week full of Easter activities. Wednesday we had a Easter egg hunt with our play group. We had lots of kids, lots of eggs and lots of fun! Daniel slept through the entire thing, but Ellie and Thomas had a blast.

Thomas was funny...all the other kids took off and scrambled to find as many eggs as fast as they could. He just kind of strolled out in the grass and picked up about 5. Then he notice that there were goodies inside, so he stopped in mid-course, opened every single egg and ate all the contents.

We had a primary activity on Saturday morning and were they taught us all about the true meaning of Easter. Later we attempted to go to the Zoo for their Eggstravaganzoo event, but as we made it about a mile from the zoo entrance and we saw cars backed up forEVER, so we opted to pass this year. In turn, we had a little Easter egg hunt with the kids this morning.

As you can see, Thomas is really enthused.

Morels Anyone?

This week Heath made the suggestion that we should go morel mushroom hunting. I was all for it...I had never gone mushroom hunting before, nor ever eaten morels. I'm always up for trampling through the woods looking for something yummy. However, Ellie's response to the suggestion was, "Dad, we can't go mushroom hunting, me and Thomas don't have any guns!"

We found what Heath thought would be a great spot for morels, and without our guns, we were off. Thomas and Ellie had a fantastic time. They tromped around "chopping" down trees and hacking away bushes with their sticks. We walked around for about an hour and found about a dozen yummy morels and a scared little turtle. I don't know who was more afraid, the harmless turtle or our scaredy-cat kids.

Here are a few of mushrooms we found. We fried them up and they were so delicious! The best mushrooms I've ever had, hands down!

"Best Day Ever!"

Thursday morning, driving home from the grocery store, we drove past the lake and Ellie asked, "Can we go swimming today?" The weather has been very nice the last couple of weeks with temperatures reaching into the 80's and even 92 last Saturday. So needless to say, this question comes up at least once a day. I had nothing planned for the rest of the afternoon, so I said "Why not!" After lunch and naps the kids put on their swim suits, I grabbed my book, and we headed for the lake.

They all had a blast! They played in the water, chased ducks, threw rocks and took in as much sunshine as possible. Ellie kept screaming, "Mom, this is the best day ever!" She was so excited I thought she would burst. She must have said it about 20 times. I was secretly amused, thinking if she was this excited over a stony beach with cold, dirty lake water...she's going to go crazy when we make it to beautiful sand and waves of Daytona Beach.

Everything was great until she slipped off a rock and scrapped her knee. She started crying and immediately ran to where I was sitting. As I rocked and comforted my soggy little girl, I just knew what was coming...."Mom, this is the worst day ever!" I couldn't help but laugh.

She soon recuperated and was back to having the best day ever. It was a beautiful day! It left me feeling great anticipation for our vacation and for long summer days to come!

My New Favorite Toy

I found this double jogger stroller on Craigslist for $30 and I love it! We have taken it to the zoo, to the Mall, and I've tried to go walking with the kids as much as I can. My sole purpose of buying one was so that I could go walking (at my own pace, not that of a 2 year-old) with Ellie and Thomas in the stroller and Daniel in the backpack. This was one of the ways I'm hoping to shed some extra pounds. I figured that it was my pregnancies that packed on the pounds so those three little monsters can help me tone it down at little.

I feel sort of bad though...like I might be contributing to childhood obesity while I make them sit on their butts and offer them juice pouches and snacks just so they stay put. I justify it by telling them if they go for a walk with mom, then we can go play at the park. No really, they read books and play and run too as we go on our walks. We do what we have to, right?

And yes I know that Ellie is entirely too big for the stroller, she is the worlds largest 4-year-old. She is the in the 95% for a 6-year-old, but still as cute as can be!

Here I Come!

Just in the last couple of weeks Daniel has decided that he can walk, and that walking is an appropriate means of transportation. He's just the cutest little thing walking around. He tries so hard to keep up with Ellie and Thomas, I just know that he'll be running in no time.

The Cowboy Kids

In the last couple of weeks we have found ourselves at Bass Pro Shop two or three different occasions. Mostly out of boredom, I think. The one thing that the kids LOVE to play with, and ask for as soon as we pull in the parking lot is the "cowboy stuff." They think they are pretty cool strutting the sheriff hat and guns! And I do have to admit... they are stinkin' cute!

I loved this picture because Daniel looks just like my dad!

It's fun to watch them play at home too... everything they do is cowboy. They lasso each other with their jump ropes, chase each other with their guns, and ride anything and everything calling it their horse - including laundry baskets, the arm of the couch and even Heath. Heath is routinely corralled by the kids in hopes for a wild rodeo!

Country Music Hall of Fame

Saturday we finally made it to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. It was really fascinating and quite interesting to step into the personal lifes of so many stars. We had to make our way through it pretty fast because of the kiddos...they were not so impressed as Heath and I were. But they were able to participate in a "petting zoo" with some instruments. Of course they thought they were pretty hot stuff playing some good ol' country music.

This video is just for you mom! I know that you'll love it!