bikes

This is our weekly activity--the neighborhood (or court) bike ride.  This is usually my view--in the back, making sure they don't double back on us :)

Cora had abandoned her car and doubled back on Amara--that usually results in Eric or I pushing the empty car home !

...and
here's the part where I walk the car home and Cora walks.  She loves to walk, she would walk that whole court if we'd let her!

Raspberry Farming

A friend of mine at work, Bonnie, and I have quite the affinity for fruit.  We realized last summer we were both visiting Lynd's for their fruit goodies on a regular basis and struck up regular conversations about fruit and gardening.  Even though Eric and I took on starting our own mini-orchard at mom and dads a couple years back, we know they can be fickle and slow growing, so we're always looking for new opportunities.

Bonnie popped by the other day at work and mentioned she had some volunteer raspberry plants coming up and mentioned getting rid of them--NO WAY!  "We'll take them!"

I started researching growing raspberries and dreaming of the possibilities.  Within hours I was sending Eric grower's tips (at work) and planning the perfect spot for our garden.

Within a day or two, Bonnie had brought in our lovely plant--such a bright start to my day!  She said they will bloom in May or June, then again in fall--what a treat!  I decided to get a few more plants (one of the greenhouse ladies I talked to said it was best to have a few pollinators around) so I got three and some organic, acidic fertilizer (though, we heard composting is great for raspberries, and plan to start that this summer also).

So, last night we brought our 4 new plants home--dad and Eric created the bed (Amara and Jackson supervised) and within an hour we had our new tiny bed all ready.  Eric still needs to build some supports for them, but I can't wait to see if we have some berries this year!

Goes to show, a crazy fluke conversation can start a new tradition and summer project for us!  3 Latham Raspberry plants from Lowe's to add to the one Heritage from Bonnie, fertilized with Hollysomething ....and blood meal, yum.

Jahn's Easter '12

After a busy morning at church, the girls were ready to get outside, stretch their legs and play!  We headed over to the Jahn's for the Easter egg hunt with the cousins and it was a super fun time.  The egg hunt was full of older kids helping, babies toddling, and 2 tiny babies (Kylah and Shepherd) inside.

Amara and Gideon were good egg-hunting partners--neither one were really aggressive about it and just clueless enough to really enjoy it.

Cora found some of the lower-hidden eggs :)  I'm still not sure she got the gist of it, but next year she'll be all over it!

It was funny to watch how many times the kids had to go over and over and around the same areas, to see eggs that had been there the same time :)

I think Jackson must have hid these eggs, no matter--she was off into the pine trees!

Cora was just as content in the swing--ALL babies love this swing, we can rarely get any of the kids out of it who go in!

Very well hidden eggs, Jackson!

After the egg hunt, we came back in for some creativity time.  Last year, Eric and I started the transition of doing a ceramic egg with Beanie and this year, we thought we'd share the tradition!  So all the mom's came in and did eggs for the tiny babies, and all the kids got into the painting too.  I did one for Cora and Beanie did her own, I can't wait to see them all fired.

Hayliee helped Amara switch out her paint colors and monitored the situation, while she and Hannah perfected their geometric designs.

Love this shot--these two are 3 days apart--I think Sabrina and I actually had the same due date, but Amara was induced early--they are so cute, pretty sure they are asking Grandpa to referee their find here.

We had a lot of fun but a long and exhausting day!  Can't wait for next year.

Easter '12

Easter morning was pretty low key for us--Amara still really isn't that into the Easter bunny concept, so we didn't even do baskets before church.

We all got ready in our Sunday church clothes--don't the gals look so sweet?

(Racing back to the car after church.)  We kept the girls with us during the contemporary service and they did pretty well, a little squirmy towards the end, but aren't we all?

After church we finally got to the baskets!  I snagged this photo before they tore into them :)

Aww my sweeties :)

Amara loved this jumbo pen of Tinkerbell...

...and Cora wanted to carry her basket around more than digging through it.

As soon as they found the candy and snacks, the dresses came off!~

I thought they looked so sweet in their tights--this was an attempt at a hug, Easter morning :)

We had a quick picnic lunch on the floor before heading up for naps--we had a big morning and a busy afternoon ahead, so it was a necessity!

pre-construction pics

The day the construction started, Eric snapped these cool pics--it's not every day a flat-semi and forklift show up on Copper court after all.

The girls were already off to Mrs. Sarah's house, so they missed it--and daddy grabbed the camera to catch a glimpse for them.

It's not like it's a ton of lumber, but I guess 20 ft. long boards don't exactly fit many trucks :)

He just drove it down the end of the street...

...and right up into the yard!  It was pretty funny--I guess this is how "normal" people must do it.  We're just used to always tossing things in the back of one of dad's trucks!

Swimming with the fishes

After the big rising park egg hunt, Cora's cold seemed to be worsening, so we packed her up to get her home.  Not to be penalized, we decided to see if Amara wanted to spend some time with G'ma and G'pa Young in Lancaster, and of course she did~

I think they played at the park a bit, and I know they hit McDonalds...but there was one big event I don't have any photos of...

I don't know the details of the story, but they had all headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house to play.  Amara must have been pretty close to the koi pond--she had been warned to keep her distance from it, and was too close.

The recount we got was that in a second, she fell in--she wasn't too upset about it, but she was soaked.  Grandma washed all her clothes, coat, etc. and she got cleaned up and dried off.  By the time they all got back to our house just before 5 (and we heard the story) her things were dry, and the only remnant was Amara's embarrassment of the situation.

We hope this scared her just enough to listen.  She wasn't hurt, and my only concern was whether or not anyone got any photos--but only kidding, as I'm sure everyone was a bit stunned.

Lancaster: Rising Park egg hunt

The
day before Easter, Lancaster was holding an egg hunt in Rising Park, just up the road from Grandma and Grandpa, so we decided to go.  It was a beautiful day, and we got there in time enough to play at the park a little bit.

After they started announcing the events, we all started heading towards the hunt staging area--it was really getting packed, but we took our time and Eric and Amara got to stroll along the pond.

Being early in the day, the girls were all bundled up--Cora was fighting a cold, but Grandpa got some smiles from her.

The time waiting for the "go" mark, seemed to take forever, but Amara was excited.

(not too eager)

Grandma tried her best to make Cora feel better, and she got some smiles from time to time, but you could tell she didn't feel well.

Once things got started, it was clear Cora wasn't interested, so Grandma and Amara headed off to go egg hunting.  It was SO packed, you were literally bumping into each other!  We had a great time, and it was a beautiful day!  As soon as it was over, we headed back to the playground for a bit, and Eric and I got Cora in the car to head home.

Playing

Other than the house we're in now, I would venture to say this trampoline might be our best-used splurge as a family.

Having gotten it for Beanie's bday last year, it's almost a year old and is just getting used more and more each day!  I loved this shot I caught--Cora was running at me so quickly, I didn't catch her head in the shot!

None of us are really sure why, but the trampoline gives the girls crazy static hair and I actually caught a pic of it!

We go on walks whenever time permits--at this point, Cora prefers to just follow the sidewalk at her own pace :)  Sometimes she'll ride in her yellow car, but she just likes to wander.

Cora had gotten her fill of the yellow car and we just follow along behind her.  I love watching the rhythm of her feet as she plods along :)

Last gymnastics: Bear Cubs!

We had a great run at Bear Cubs this session!  The kids really got advanced, started doing handstands into rolls and you can see how quickly they pick things up!  This last class, it was basically a free-class, for them to pick their favorites and just play--not like the more routine week-to-week activities they normally follow.

Amara had a great little form on her handstand when Miss Lisa helped her!  When she got a chance to do it on her own though, she created (I'm sure with the help of the neighbors and creativity) a kind of standing forward roll as it were, skipping the handstand part.  I know she can do it--she's been doing them against the wall for years and has no problems, but I think it's a confidence thing.

We are going to revisit her classes after T-Ball this spring--maybe just swimming in the summer, then really see what she picks this fall, I'd be surprised if gymnastics isn't in the mix.

Construction update: deck

This is starting to look like a deck!

Now onto the inside--I like their clever "low tech" way to mark the inside of the door.  Thought I was in hurricane country for a sec!

Amara inspecting the handiwork--this side faces south, where the sliding door used to be.  Nice view of the fireplace and a/c unit, right?

We have railings! (and Kevin trying to stay out of the photo)

'Jesse,' and the myriad of tools just ripe for the toying with--had to keep Amara A W A Y from all the temptations!