Easter!

Easter was wonderful.  Flat out awesome.  We started our Easter activities on Saturday so we could get the eggs colored and everything.  

 We decided to make sugar cookies (a rarity for sure).  The kids were smelling the dough, it was quite animated and entertaining.

 And of course dying Easter eggs!  This was definitely more taxing than any previous year.  The dye really wasn't working so we had to stop, feed our children, and buy vinegar and new dye tablets before we could finish.

Easter Morning!  Of course the Easter bunny came for a visit.  You ask the kids what they would like the Easter bunny to bring and it's all kinds of toys.  No kids, this is not Christmas.  The Easter bunny likes to encourage spring and being outside.  So the kids ended up with bubble guns, birdhouses with paint and sunflower seeds and bug observation cases.  

 The Easter bunny was tougher with the hiding this year.  The kids had to find the eggs with THEIR first initial on them.  Combined with the fact that the hiding was just hared in general... it took 15 minutes instead of the usual five and the kids were so proud whenever they found one!  I think it's hilarious.  You can see a blue egg in the pink shoes just under the sign.  Kayda and Dillon both looked in the "trough" on top and completely missed that blue egg!  It was Carson's anyway but it was hilarious to watch.

 The Easter bunny even hid an egg for Daddy this year!  That Easter bunny must have little paws because Daddy had a tough time getting it out!

 Bubble time!  We were so lucky it ended up being a beautiful day!

 Painting their birdhouses.  All the bird houses got attached to a board and posted in the kids' gardens.

 We planted the sunflower seeds.  There were many more than expected so if they all grow we will have a HUGE number of them... All along the fence, along the side of the house and a few in other gardens as well.  Of course the kids wanted to plant ALL of them too.

 My little helper.  She loves to help peel potatoes and chop up fruit. She had a great time watching the bread dough rise also.

 We took a trip to the river and the kids got themselves soaked.  We would have stayed much longer but it started raining, big fat drops, and the sun was hidden so it got cold quick!

Black Jack the Cat

Well, we had to "rehome" another pet.  We actually found Leela a new home way back in November.  She was an awesome dog to play with but was just NOT a good dog for our family.  She jumped all over Carson no matter what form of discipline was used and was constantly in the kids' faces.  They would lock her in the house so they could play outside undisturbed.  Her enthusiasm caused Hank's arthritis in his leg to get considerably worse as well.  So she had to go.  She is happy now with a couple that has a one year old dog and regularly go to the beach to run.  

Back to Jack.  I have always loved cats.  For whatever reason I got VERY hung up on having one.  So I found one and I realized just how much I really like cats.  He was like my therapy pet.  Anytime I sat down he would wander over and snuggle up.  I very quickly became his bed.  He was wonderful with the kids too, they were constantly picking him up and carrying him around.  On one occasion Carson was making Jack "dance" for probably 5 minutes.  Jack purred the ENTIRE time.  He was AMAZING.  Unfortunately, the longer he was here the more apparent it became that Daddy just did not feel well at home anymore.  Daddy's allergies were working against us and we had to say goodbye.  We just found him a new home with a very nice semi-retired man who seemed to desparately need a companion kitty (he has no other pets).  I think that Jack will be very good for him.  When Leela left the kids were sad, especially our soft hearted Kayda.  Dillon and Carson moved on very quickly.  When Jack left there were tears all around.  He had very quickly become part of the family despite only being with us for a month.  I am writing this simply so the kids can remember him and his awesomeness.  He was truly the best cat I have ever encountered.  

Bringing Jack home

He fell asleep mid-play

A small portion of one of Carson's many "cat dances".  Jack purred the whole while.

Great Wolf Lodge

We randomly decided to go to Great Wolf Lodge.  It's only about an hour away so it wasn't too bad to get there.  We only stayed one night, all of 25 hours there but we were EXHAUSTED by 2:30 Friday and ready to head home. 

 

We played in the water park then decided to take a break for a little while.  We decided to let the kids have a go at "Magi Quest".  Kayda and Dillon LOVED it.  Carson enjoyed it most of the time but quickly got tired.  It is a fun little interactive scavenger hunt.  You have to find certain things in a certain order and it demands MANY trips up and down stairs. 

After a little while with our whole family doing the quests together Kayda and Dillon were ready to take it on alone.  Kayda would read the clues and off they would go!

This place is a money pit!!! There are FAR too many fun things to do.  Not the least of which was the arcade.  The kids had a blast!

We finally took a break to go get dinner.  The kids were very reluctant to leave the hotel.  Carson balanced himself on Daddy while we were waiting for our food.  It was too funny to resist.  Sorry for the lack of quality photos.  I wasn't about to bring the good camera for this trip!

 

After dinner we headed back to the water park.  We finished up just before it closed, headed back to the room, showered and got in pajamas.  Then Kayda and Dillon took off for more Magi Quest.  They had my phone and had fun randomly calling us to tell us things or get help when they got stuck.  Carson cracked us up.  He found the Bible.  Asked us why it was in the room, then laid down just like this on the bed as if he were ACTUALLY reading it!  We finally dragged Kayda and Dillon in at 10.  Then they were off again at 8 in the morning.  They finished the entire challenge and were SO excited!

 

We, of course, spent more time at the water park.  From about 9:30 to 2:30.  Kayda and Dillon were tall enough to ride anything on their own so they often took off on their own.  Carson loved the "little kid area" and the hot tub.  He eventually got worn out so Daddy took him to the arcade again.   Kayda and Dillon were determined to ride the "Howlin Tornado".  It is essentially a water slide that drops into a sideways funnel.  You get a good long drop, which occasional sent you into the air, then you swoop back and forth until you reach the bottom of the funnel.  Kayda and Dillon's faces were hilarious!  Their faces were frozen in what looked like terror and yet they would ride it over and over again.  They both said their favorite water slide was the "River Canyon Run"  it didn't have any crazy drops but you could still have 2-5 people on the inner tube.  Carson was able to go down the slides that didn't require an inner tube.  He only rode them a handful of times but by the last ride he would come around the last corner smiling.  The first few times he would be splayed out in what looked to be a futile attempt to slow himself down! 

 

On the way home we decided to stop by cabela's for a quick visit.  The kids have always enjoyed seeing the fish and the animals that are posed on a mountain. 

 

Carson fell asleep as we were getting to Cabela's so I don't have his picture but I caught the other two!  I guess they were more exhausted than they let on!