Myrtle Beach

For spring break again this year, all of Jen's family headed down to Myrtle Beach SC. This was our 6th year making this trip and we had a great time as always. The weather was beautiful the whole week. We had a heated pool again this year, and as you can see, we really got a lot of use out of it.



One of the nights we walked out on the Surfside beach pier at sunset.



We, of course, went miniature golfing one day. The girls are getting really good - Emily actually won a free game by getting a hole in one on 18.



And, another tradition, is flying kites on the beach. The kids love doing this.

And, we had lots of fun at the beach during the day too. These little pools would get created when the tide went out and the water would really warm up in them, so the kids loved playing in those. And all the kids had fun building forts in the sand and digging holes to China. The ocean water towards the end of the week got more bearable - I even went in with the kids to jump in the waves.

And Emily loved boogie boarding this year - she even went and got her own board.

Easter Fun

One of my favorite things about Easter is coloring eggs. On Saturday, we went over to my parents to color eggs together - it was fun for the kids to color eggs with their cousins and since we each brought a coloring kit - there were lots of different types to try. I had picked up a tie-dying kit this year and the eggs turned out really cool.

On Sunday, we got up bright and early to see what the Easter bunny had brought the kids and then we raced off to church in hopes of getting a seat - and we were successful. If we were a few minutes later, we would have been out of luck. Last year, we had to stand in the stairwell for mass. After church, we met Paul's family for brunch - it was delicious - I just love breakfast food! Then we went back to Paul's parents house so the kids could do an Easter egg hunt and get their baskets from Grandma & Grandpa.

For dinner, we went over to my parents. Uncle Brian "hid" eggs in the backyard so the kids could have an Easter egg hunt there too.

Michigan Crop

Over the past few years, I've gotten to know a group of girls online at scrapbook.com - last summer we met in Toledo for the first time. It was such a fun trip, that we decided to do another one - this time in Michigan. I was a little nervous about driving that far by myself, but I decided to just go for it, and I'm glad I did.

We had such a fun time together - they're such a great group of girls! We scrapped for hours, went out for Mexican on Friday night and to Red Lobster on Saturday and had lots of laughs. There were a few new girls that were able to come this trip. I was so excited to finally get to meet Amy (from CA) and Christine (from Jamaica). I got started on our Disney pictures and while I didn't get anything finished, I got several pages started.

Spring has Sprung!

Yay! Flowers are starting to bloom. I am so ready for winter to be over. This was such a beautiful sight to see today - these were some of the bulbs that Alli and I planted last fall. .

Our Duck Friends are Back

I guess we know spring has officially arrived when our duck friends arrive. Last year, around this time, 2 ducks (one male, one female) arrived and made our pool their home - they'd sun themselves on the concrete and take a dip in the pool every once in a while. Well, today, we noticed their back.

It's kind of sweet, how they always come together - do ducks mate for life like penguins? I'm thinking the kids and I should come up with some names for them since I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of them.