Spring Break

Wow, there is a huge gap in my blogging.  It goes without saying that life has been BUSY! I've also been putting off blogging until I can get the holidays done but I'm accepting the fact that that may not happen and maybe I should just start back with right now before I forget everything.

For Spring break, Micah's brother and his family decided to come visit us in our new home. We were so excited to have visitors.

The first day Micah was still working so Jackie and I left the boys at home with Andy while the girls went on a mommy daughter date to the American Girl store.  We spent some time shopping which for Hailey meant playing with the baby strollers. We then had lunch at the AG cafe. Hailey was so cute pretending to give her doll a sip of tea and Kate even was able to decorate her own cupcakes. Kate was so happy to get to shop, eat with her doll, and even get her dolls hair done and ears pierced!  Thanks to cousin Bailey for letting Hailey borrow one of her American Girl dolls.

The next day Micah took a day off work and we all headed to the Houston Rodeo & Livestock show.  We decided not to buy tickets to the actual rodeo but to just walk around the livestock show.  The kids had fun looking at the animals and feeding them at the petting zoo.  Jacob had fun feeding and petting the animals and kept giving the deer a hug.   Hailey wasn’t so sure about touching the animals.  She would only touch them if they were laying down.  We also decided to let the kids ride some rides….this ended up being kinda a bust sine the rides were SO expensive.  They each were only able to ride 2 rides and since they were so pathetic and expensive we decided to call it a day. 

 We decided it was time to spend a day at home just relaxing and letting the kids play.  Jacob and Evan had a blast running around being boys and Kate had a blast bossing them around!  Kate also loved playing with Hailey and pretending Hailey was her very own baby doll. The kids spent lots of time outside in the garage riding bikes, playing basketball (sorta), playing with bubbles and sidewalk chalk and jumping in the jump house.  It was even warm enough to take them down to the splash pad.   We finished the day off with some excellent pulled pork Micah smoked for us.  The big boys also spent lots of hours in the garage playing some intense games of ping-pong. 

For their final full day visiting we decided to head to the Houston aquarium.   We started off in the stingray area and fed some stingrays.  Jacob loved feeding the fish and still talks about them.  Once again, Hailey wasn’t so sure.  The actual aquarium was pretty good and it was fun to watch the kids go through it together.  My only complaint was that it didn’t seem that big, of course I feel that way every time I leave an aquarium.   The Houston aquarium does something interesting where to see the sharks you have to ride the shark train.  At one point there is a fake great white that jumps out of the bayou and sprays.  Jacob jumped really high and was a little scared.  I still can’t convince him it was fake!  

This time we bought the all access pass for the aquarium so the kids were able to ride every ride as many times as they wanted.   We rode every ride they were able and then they rode the frog jumper over and over.  It was so fun to hear their squeals and giggles of excitement.  Much better ride experience than the rodeo!

We had such a fun time having visitors and loved getting to watch the cousins play together!  Their visit gave Micah and I a chance to stop thinking about house stuff and "real-life" and felt like a mini-vacation.  We are so happy they came to visit!

Easter

This is our first Easter to spend in the USA in 6 years and our first USA Easter with kids.  We didn't have any big plans except for church and cute clothes.  I worked on teaching Jacob to appropriately respond to "He is Risen" which was super cute.  We went to our churches Easter service on Saturday night to make room for more people Sunday morning.  Before we left I took the kids outside to snap a few pictures.  Jacob has gotten to where he thinks the camera is meant for him to make as many faces as possible. Hailey doesn't like to look at the camera but I still caught a few of that cutie. These two are just so cute.  And believe it or not I did not tell Jacob to kiss Hailey. 

 Saturday night we spent the night at my parents house, Nana and Papa's, so that we could be around family Sunday morning and to use their yard for the egg hunt (our yard is still under construction). We woke up Sunday morning, ate some breakfast and then took the kids out to hunt eggs.  Jacob didn't really understand at first but he caught on.  Hailey never really got the concept but she loved shaking the eggs.

Mom also insisted that I let my kids attempt to dye at least a couple eggs.  So I prepared a few eggs and let them color a couple. I think Jacob will be more into next year.  After egg dying we had a yummy ham lunch and enjoyed each others company.  It was a great Easter.

He is Risen!