Washington D.C. Trip

What a great Spring Break we had in D.C.! A last minute decision to take a quick trip during our week off from school proved to be very successful. We went down on Tuesday and toured the mall. The monuments were very impressive and all the kids really enjoyed the Lincoln Memorial the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument. We saw the FDR memorial and the WWII memorial as well as the Korean War memorial. I think we hit them all. Each one is unique and powerfully moving. We got to go into the Air and Space museum and even the Holocaust museum to see the Daniel's Story exhibit which was very good for the kids.

We spent a day at the National Zoo and got to see the Pandas as well as some other impressive animals.

The kids liked the train and the taxi's too. We even got to see the President when he went over us in his helicopter and waved to us as we walked over the bridge. We really wanted to see the new dog Bo but he wasn't going potty on the lawn when we stopped by the White House. Maybe next time!

Crazy Hair/Crazy Mom

Guess what today is at School? Yes, that's right... It's crazy hair day! One of my favorite days of the year since my kids are so cool and hip they are willing to do just about anything. In fact this year Mom planned ahead and got some really great colors to spray on. Makes getting ready a little easier in the morning.

Timothy is sporting school colors - green and gold.

Jack has a rainbow of colors in his hair (for those of you that follow the blog and know Jack - yes he had rainbow eggs at easter and yes he would really like long hair like Molly's)

Molly has palm trees with a monkey hanging between them and another monkey climbing on a tree.

And yes that's my bathroom sink after a morning of making crazy hair!

Family Easter Egg Hunt

For many years we have had a family Easter Egg Hunt. I remember when I was a kid going to my sister Kathy's house to find plastic eggs hidden around her yard. Since there are so many sisters we rotate from year to year who gets to host this BIG event. This year it was our turn. By BIG, I mean, Chris and I filled 240 eggs plus 12 Golden eggs. Fortunately for us the weather wasn't too bad on Saturday. It was cold but sunny. Rob and the boys helped us hide all the eggs. I'm not sure who's idea it was to put a golden egg on the feeder but let me assure you it didn't deter the birds from feeding there all morning. Each child is give a specific colored egg to look for. They each had 20 hidden of "their" color. The rainbow colored eggs belonged to Jack this year (by his request).

There is always a poster which cleary depicts who has what eggs. We've had to get pretty creative with making different eggs so each child has their own color or color combination.

Betsy made a bunny costume years ago which is brought out every year and someone always volunteers to be the bunny. Can you guess who the bunny was this year? Can you believe Hannah and Robert are taller than the bunny? Yikes?

And it wouldn't be the Easter Egg hunt if we didn't force a young child to hug, kiss or in this case give the Easter Bunny "five". You can see Ally is reluctant to get near that fluffy thing!

Rob's first real haircut!!!

Robbie got his haircut for the first time ever. Well, let me explain. His whole life he has only had a scissor cut. For the past 4 or 5 years he has worn his hair on the long side. On Sunday he told me he wanted to get his hair cut short. Well I stopped everything I was doing and ran him over to the hair salon. I said use the clippers! A number 4 on the back and sides and a fade to scissors on top. So great. Of course, the poor kid was all hives on his neck... the razor? sensitive skin? Fortunately he carries benedryl cream. What a great cut. We think he looks older and taller (and a lot like his Dad). You can see from the picture with Hannah what he used to look like.

Girl Scout Sock Hop

Molly started going to the Girl Scout sock hop when she was about 6 or 7 years old. She started in a pink traditional 5o's skirt. Then her troop graduated to purple skirts that they each decorated. A couple of years ago the idea of a skirt was totally shot down by my girl as well as many of the other girls in her troop. This year Molly is 10 years old and sporting a "pink ladies" shirt passed on down to her and white capri's. The cool glasses we had laying around the house. You can see that I can no longer pick her up as she is over 100 pounds and almost as tall as me!!! Unfortunately, Molly was not feeling so hot on Saturday and we only stayed for about a half an hour at the dance. Poor Molly can't shake this flu bug. But man, she sure did look cute as ever.

EIGHT AGAIN!

April 1st (Yes, April Fool's Day) and we finally celebrate Jack and Tim's birthday. They were born on Christmas day and the idea of throwing a twins birthday into the mix of Christmas was just unappealing. Seven years ago Chris and I decided to celebrate the twins birthday on April 1st. They weren't due until March anyway. The halfway mark was too close to Molly's birthday and April Fool's day seemed like a decent time of year for gifts of outdoor toys. When the boys were little they always thought they were a year older on this date. We would wish them a happy birthday on Christmas...but no birthday presents. So it was confusing when they were 2 and 3 years old. BUT now they know this is the day they celebrate their birth. At school, many teachers have bulletin boards that have little cake cutouts with all the students birthdays. For Jack and Tim this is sometimes reflected in April as "observed". It feels very Federal Holiday to me :) . Anyway it was a terrific day of a family party at Chuck-E-Cheese and then cake and presents back at the house. Aunt Peggy made them each a cake, at their request. Timothy got his own catchers equipment and Jack got an Eagles jersey along with other Eagles stuff. Eight is Great - Again!

IT'S OFFICIAL...

Well, it's official...Robert is finally taller than his mother. For his entire life he was the smallest student in every class. The poor boy didn't grow at all some years. Now he is making up for all that in a very timely fashion. Every November we measure everyone in the family on the laundry room closet door. A few months ago he was about an inch shorter than me...NOW he's about a half an inch taller and I'm a not so shabby 5'5" tall! In the photo we are hiking up our pants so you can see the flat feet. NO CHEATERS. In the close up you can see Robert is indeed taller than his mother.