Spring Break

One week - a lot of pictures.

We escaped to the Eastern Shore for a few days, and soaked up this view.  

Captian Bob's house is such a refuge - my kids are never bored.  Will was in Thomas heaven.

It was pretty cold for April, but Will was determined to eat breakfast on the porch.  We even got out in the canoe!

After dinner one night - down by the bay ;).

The Andrew's.

Dinner at Ava's - a must.

Getting the littles out for their first canoe ride.

The big boys were of course pro's.

Buds.

Ready to geo-cache!

We found one!

On the hunt in Easton.

A hole in the wall fish taco place.

Some of the crew went birdwatching at Blackwater Wildlife refuge.  This mama enjoyed a quiet afternoon reading and napping overlooking the water.  Truly a birthday treat!

The Crab Claw.

First time our boys have had crabs - much to my surprise, they LOVED them.

These two.

Silliness.

Over the weekend, and headed out to Rocklands Farm to pick up our Easter chicks.

We picked two, and got to take care of them for the week.  One of ours wasn't doing too well by the time we got home.  Thankfully there was a replacement the next morning ;).

Farmer Greg gave great instructions on how to care for them.

Janis gave us the behind the scenes tour of all the new updates they've been making.  The boys were thrilled to be served cokes from the bar - I THINK maybe their first cokes??  Dick and Jeanie were in town from AZ, so we had fun showing them around!

Janis and I had the realization that I'm almost the age she was the Summer I lived with their family (and met Dave...the Summer of love, as they call it).

Playing with our chicks!!!

Tia and Martin joined the fun too - such a fun day.

I love this as much as the kids.

We love this place!

That night we met up with some family for pizza to celebrate my birthday.  

OC cousins at a nearby artists house.

Proof that we decorate eggs.

Easter morning.

Lunch at the Choi's - we love this tradition.

Cuteness.

The littles lined up and ready to hunt.

Helping each other out, I think.

Big guys, ready to go.

Easter family pic 1.

This is more like it.

That face.

Easter dinner - downtime with cousins.

Will loves his K-bear.

The chicks came too :).

Kids table.

I always forget to take pictures of the crew!  Table 1...

And table 2.  

Another egg hunt.

Happy cousins.

And then back to school - but continuing to soak up Spring, and these sweet little chicks!

Kenwood in Bloom

70 degree days with Kenwood in full bloom - it doesn't get much better.  Especially after a long cold Winter.  Not a moment is taken for granted.

Such a treat to share it with Grandpa Jack and Grandma Kathy this year.

Excited boys.

One quick pic before they were off to explore.

Somehow this creek bed feels more magical.

They become brave climbers ;) on major expeditions.

Grandpa and Will taking it in.

Happy.

Spring is here!

Tired mama's?

Somehow we always run into the Chois - super fun.

This boys seems to be wearing Redskins gear whenever possible these days.

Grandpa walking under the canopy.  So glad his visit was timed so perfectly this year!

Raining blossoms.  

 We soak it up every year.

 Love this.

And just a bit more fun with Grandpa.  Andrew taught him how to play Mario cart!

Playing softball out front.  It was such a gift to have him join Grandma for the end of her visit.  So many moments and memories made that we will always treasure.

Spring arrives, Grandma and Grandpa come with it!

The arrival of Spring has been a wonderful, wild ride.  Thankfully, Grandma Kathy got here just in time to love on all of us!

I ran my first half marathon the morning after Dave flew to Romania for a 9 day missions trip (that's a post all in itself).  Christie was the BEST running partner, and I was incredibly thankful to finish with a recently developed tendinitis in my knee (due to a fall on ice), and accidentally eating non gluten-free cookies the days leading up.  A big ooops.  Apparently not all Tate's cookies are gluten free.  I will never make that mistake again. ;)

At mile 10 - amidst everything, it was truly a lot of fun!  We ran slow, it didn't feel hard, and the weather was PERFECT!  60 degrees, a little cloud cover.  Good times.

2 days later - MORE snow!  At this point, we'd honestly lost count of snow days.

Caden preparing a snow snack.

Having Grandma here made it even better.

A snow plow!

They got front row seats.

Andrew was my super scraper.

So tough.

Tackling daddy's car - nice to have a helper with Dave gone.

Games by the fire.  Typically a daddy job, I was thankful we got one going!

Exploring a new toy from Christmas.

Andrew and Grandma doing Bible verse look ups.

Caden curled up with his own books.

Sunday night - so glad to have Daddy home!!!

Later that week, Uncle Chris came through town for work.  How fun that we got to steal him for lunch!

Will loved him - told Grandma he was a nice man.  Not a mean man.

2nd Grade Greek Day!

Complete with their own Olympics.  Above were the chariot races.  Apparently before the next race, Andrew looked back at the girl he was pulling and said "don't worry, we'll take good care of you".  Love it - keep that up, bud.

The following weekend, the much anticipated and planned for women's retreat had arrived!!  We headed over the bay bridge to the Hyatt in Cambridge.

As the retreat chair, I had been working closely with this amazing team since last Summer.  Here we are (minus dear Leesa) with our speaker Nancy Guthrie (center).  So thankful for these ladies!

Enjoying St. Michael's with some of our precious ycf ladies.

With Grandma Dee Dee and Grandma Kathy.  

This was such an incredible weekend!

A few days later, we were ecstatic to have Grandpa Jack arrive!!

We hopped on bikes his first morning here, and headed down to the tidal basin.

This was a favorite day.  The cherry blossoms were perfectly peaked, buttercups blanketed the forest surrounding the bike path, the breeze was warm, and we enjoyed sweet, precious time and conversation.

So thankful for my daddy, and the amazing man God has made him to be.

The next day we enjoyed a tour of the capital, so kindly arranged by dear Courtney.

Renovations had already begun in the Rotunda - we were glad to get in before they close it off in a few weeks.

Proof that I was there too.

In Statuary Hall.

Saturday morning was all about soccer, and these boys scored a lot of goals!  Hat tricks (plus some) for all three boys - middle is one of Caden's best buds, Douglas.

Aside from the stops in Kenwood to soak up blossoms (which I'm saving for a separate post), there are so many things not pictured here - the countless loads of laundry and dishes Grandma Kathy did, the Spring yard clean up, and planting of dahlias, the helping with piano and homework, and delicious batches of zucchini bread.  Grandma, we couldn't have done this past month without you.  Thank you for all the ways you loved and served us!  We are so incredibly thankful for you!