Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was a blast!  We dressed up, hunted for candy-filled eggs, dyed some eggs, rejoiced when the Easter Bunny left goodies at our house, attended Church (and even sang in front of the congregation), and had a wonderful family meal at the Eskelsens.  The kids played their first game of Monopoly with Tommy and Ilse teaching them the ropes.  Tommy diligently hid a ton of eggs around the front of their house since it was rainy outside, and the kids had a blast hunting with Ilse.

This was Beck's first time singing in church.  He and Ramsey ran up there, and when a few kids got between them, I thought we were in trouble, but they made sure they reunited and all was well again.  Beck really belted out the song--it was kind of incredible.  He knew most of the words and sang very loudly! Ramsey sang very reverently and initially wanted to stand toward the back of the crowd, but they ended up in the front.  She was pretty tough considering.

Beck enjoying Primary.

March was COLD continued

Okay, so there were a few decent days.  Like when we visited Lake Fairfax.  

And fed the ducks/geese.  Only a little.

Around 34 weeks along here.  

She really needs a bath more often.  But what a great dog.  

2 days later we awoke to this scene.  Welcome to Spring Break 2013!

And got started on our shrinky-dinks immediately.  

The kids' morning snack.  Beck likes the regular Cheerios, Ramsey prefers the Strawberry Yogurt O's.  I prefer the fruit.

We visit the pet store from time to time to get Bella's food, and these kids act like they own the place.  They were giving this very patient lady NO SPACE while she was cleaning the reptiles cages.

Change of scenery--playing in a friend's basement.

Beck loved being a pirate.  He asked to see these pictures on my phone several times after they were taken.

Yes, I ventured to the zoo on a chilly day during Spring Break.  This was no small feat.  I parked in the lot at the end of the zoo, and pushed BOTH kids in the stroller, on a pretty steep incline.  They never want to ride in the stroller, but it was pretty chilly, so maybe that's why?  They got over the stroller once it warmed up and ran around a lot the second half of the visit (also when it was downhill, interestingly).

It was a great day at the zoo, totally worth it.  A lot of the animals were out--several lionesses pictured here.  One started to roar, and it was incredible.

Beautiful mane on this lion.

The panda came out for a feeding.  We had front row seats. 

It was incredible how strong the panda's teeth are.  She just went to town on that bamboo.

We got there in the morning and stayed almost 4 hours!  A personal best.  And I didn't die.  I actually had a great time, and aside from how insanely physically grueling it was, I am really glad we went.  The kids were really glad too.  They had a treat at the end--warm, fresh doughnuts.  YUM.

Baby Panda insisted on having her photo taken too.

Then Blue Doggie had to get some camera time.  When the kids weren't in the stroller, I had to push these two around :)  With Beck weighing in at 33 pounds, and Ramsey at 39 pounds, I was relieved.