First Sleepover

Trip to Curious Kids Museum

A few weeks ago I took the kids to a museum about an hour away in Michigan. The older two had been a couple of times before with their old school, but the younger two had never been.

We went on a Thursday and I expected the crowd to be low. Mostly, I was hoping there wouldn't be a school field trip going on!

We had the whole place to ourselves! Not another kid anywhere. =) It made it super easy to watch all four monkeys.

The museum sits right by the beach. There are actually two buildings so we played on the beach after visiting the first one.

Aulora learned how to make a simple cartoon drawing.

Julia and Joshua practiced being news anchors.

Aulora could have played right here all day.

All of these pieces were magnetic.

John David was hiding from Julia.

This was a miniature grocery store. There were also "apple trees" you could pick apples from in this room. After they were picked you could wheel the apples over to a chute, turn a wheel, and crank them back to the trees.

Boo picks an apple.

Awww....this is what Mommy wanted to do!

John David was lifting a bubble up and around himself!

Joshua the astronaut.

Pretending to be veterinarians.

Face painting.

Julia first did a turtle I think. She changed her mind though and started over, making him a puppy instead. (As you can see in other pictures.)

That will be $32 please!

Running the store and the apple orchard was fun for everyone. I was secretly wondering how much longer this statement will be true as I looked at how big John David is getting.

This was a wonderful day! The sweetness, the bonds that were strengthened, the unity. I loved it.

The 2012 Pinewood Derby

This was our second year to do the pinewood derby and Julia wanted to join the fun this time around. Both of the kids' cars did great!

They owed their success to Daddy, who spent quite a while embedding the weights in their cars so they would be as aerodynamic as possible.

Grandmamma and Dodie came over to watch the races even though they were in the middle of moving!

I was happy to pose with my winners!

I think that's John David's car on the left. Isn't the paint car neat?

Daddy had been in Washington D.C. and wasn't supposed to get home until later that day. When we walked into the gym after church there he was! He stayed up all night and caught an early, early morning flight home. Yea Daddy!

John David's best friend who lives on our street came with us to help cheer him on.

Aulora and Joshua entertained themselves by riding around on a big tricycle. The big kids may or may not have ridden around also.

It was a fun day! I hope that there will be pinewood derby races where we live next year!

Happy Easter!

Today we were joined at church by my mom and dad and my grandma, Meema. Afterwards, we came home and ate a traditional Easter meal - traditional for us anyway - complete with coconut pie and chocolate truffle cheesecake. We took pictures right before our egg hunt. There were over 700 eggs! Thank you, Grandmamma! It was a wonderful day....

Dancing with Friends

These are two friends who live across the street from us. The older one is John David's best friend! It's going to be a sad day when we pull out. John David had his very first sleep over ever a couple of nights ago. We love these guys!