Brooke has been a valuable Sous Chef and has graduated to a straight kitchen knife for prep (think non serrated steak knife). Alex has now advanced to Station Chef and is using a butter knife to prep instead of the kids knife. After Brooke did 1.5 bell peppers diced (I slice them into the strips to make it easier for the kids to dice), Alex was adamant about finishing the last half. We even had to stop the cooking process to allow him the time to finish, but he did a great job!
Brooke’s 5th birthday party was butterfly themed and so we decorated the house with lots of butterflies to make it a ‘butterfly oasis’. Initially, the party was planned to be outside with many butterflies flitting in the trees but several days of heavy rain moved the party inside. We got creative putting the bounce house inside, leaving the playroom and kids rooms open for play, and put our paint a pot with butterfly sponges and plant that pot with butterfly friendly flowers in the garage. It was a busy party and we were lucky to have Ammy and Papa here to help! Brooke loved her party and had a great time with her friends! The next day was her real birthday and mother’s day and she enjoyed opening even more presents after sleeping in and having waffles for breakfast. Then she got to play and relax with Ammy, Papa, Mommy, Daddy, and Alex. We all went out for ice cream and Daddy and Papa make all us girls feel special with a cook to order dinner!
We stayed in Williamsburg thanks to Ammy and Papa getting us two condos for a week! The grounds had mini golf so we started by playing a round, Alex even played along for a bit. The next day we took everyone to Busch Gardens to have fun and Alex rode on his first roller coaster! Everyone had a great time riding the rides! We walked Colonial Williamsburg and one very happy boy got to see some sheep and Brooke was excited to get ‘locked up’. Ammy and Papa watched the kiddos so we could have a date night at one of our favorite restaurants, The Fat Canary, and we walked Colonial Williamsburg at dusk with a full moon. We enjoyed some family snuggle time and the kiddos enjoyed some topless running time before spending the day in Yorktown. It was fun to be near the river and seeing the different replicas. On a rainy day the kiddos enjoying playing with one of Brooke’s birthday presents from Ammy and Papa. During a break in the storm we took them on a walk to see the turtles at the pond and ended up playing a short game of horseshoes. Everyone enjoyed playdoh after dinner that night. It was a fun week in Williamsburg!
Oma came to visit for a few days and we had a lot of fun with her. We had some nice warm spring days and we played in the yard. Oma ended up doing a lot of yard work with us while the kids were at school friday. Then we went strawberry picking since our season is early this year. It was even warm enough to go to the pool (they opened a month early!) We enjoyed the strawberries we picked the next day on waffles before planting our garden for the summer. The kids and Oma had a lot of fun in the garden and helping me plant a little ‘tester’ satellite garden by the fence. They had fun drawing with chalk out front too. Then in true Virgina fashion the weather swung and was cold and rainy for the rest of her stay. We jumped in puddles, played indoors, went to the library, used Daddy as a mode of transportation. On the last day we decided to take the kids to a trampoline park because everyone was getting cabin fever. Thanks for the good visit Oma!!
The kiddos had a fun time searching for eggs in our backyard and finding chocolate bunnies in the playhouse. They had just as much fun eating their candy too! We took a walk to check on the baby ducks the came home to a delicious easter lunch of corned beef and cabbage.
