Bike rides and egg dyes

On Saturday, my parents watched the kids all day so Zac and I could have a day out together without kids.

They went to the park, rode bikes, and dyed eggs.

Scenes from the stay home day with the grandparents

On Friday, Zac and I went to work but the kids' schools were closed, so they got to stay home with the grandparents.

Simon took a good long nap.

Space-outfit Alice enjoyed some TV time in the afternoon.

Simon, who developed the alter-ego "Speedy Frank" enjoyed racing (and always beating) Grandpa, aka "Slow Joe"

Alice has few teeth to brush now....

The grandparents come!

Nelson and Stana arrived Thursday night for a nice long visit.  The kid's schools were closed Friday, and the next week was spring break, which they would stay for as well. As soon as they arrived the kids went totally bonkers, but we eventually got them settled down and ready for bed.

Weirdos

Our three kids...but not for long

Just a typical evening with out three kids. We still can't believe Parker will be moving away soon.

Simon after bathtime

Every day after getting out of the shower or bath, Simon curls up in his towel on the floor.

Alice's Two Front Teeth

March 21: Alice's two front teeth are very loose!

March 22: She lost her tooth at school!

March 23:  Oops, the tooth fairy forgot to come the first night!

March 25: She was eating graham crackers and milk and bit down on her tooth and it came out and she swallowed it.  I missed the moment because I was in the other room, but heard her screaming--both from the pain and the fact that she swallowed her tooth!

Oddly, even although there was no tooth to put under the pillow, the tooth fairy remembered to come that night.

That's one way to do it...

Simon eating his afternoon apple snack.

Alice's first full ponytail

Jumping and Dining

Saturday afternoon, we had a playdate at a trampoline park with Anna, Oscar, and Lukas.  Really it's just that we mom's want to hang out, and Alice and Anna play well together and Oscar and Lukas pair up nicely.

After jumping on the trampolines for nearly and hour and half straight, Jess bought the kids $5 arcade credit.  They burned through it pretty quickly, but had fun "playing" the games that weren't actually activated.

Afterwards, we ate lunch at some gluten-free restaurant in North Raleigh that had a nice grassy area where they kids could play outside. It was supper fun, but a bit cold.

Nothing Lasts Forever

When we came back from the neighborhood Easter egg hunt, we noticed it looked like our neighbor, Chad (Parker's dad), was loading up a trailer with some furniture. I made an off-hand comment like, "It looks like Chad's moving?"

Alice piped up from back seat, "Yeah. They're moving. Parker's parents are divorcing.  The dad's gonna be five and the mom's gonna be ten."

I was completely stunned. I see the mom or grandma at the bus stop every single school day, and neither had said a word time about a divorce or move.

"Alice, are you sure?"

"Yeah, Parker told me the secret when we were playing on the mud hill in our yard. She said they were moving in two weeks. Her dad will be five and the mom will be ten. Has it been two weeks?"

"I guess so. What do you mean by five and ten?"

"That's how far away they're moving."

Zac and I were devastated. We always commented on how we couldn't believe our good luck that such an easy, nice kid lived right across the street and played so well with Alice. Parker would come over all the time in the evenings after supper and on weekend afternoons. I loved the informality of it--no arranging playdates or driving.  I also loved that Alice had someone to imagine with.  Kids play together in a way that adults just can't.

A day later, I was cleaning out piles of junk in Alice's room, and came across paper that Parker must have made for Alice a while ago:

It's written by Parker, but Alice must have added the picture labels at the top.

Wellington Park Egg Hunt

Our neighborhood had their annual egg hunt at the club house. Last year Alice cried because she went the wrong way and didn't get any eggs; Simon was too clingy and by the time he was willing to look for eggs, most were gone. This year went better.

Also, Alice met one of her friends from the school bus, Zek, there and after the hunt they ran around together.  

I love this photo with the shadows of all the parents trying to take the group picture, but the kids are not really cooperating.

Alice and Emory

Zac's work had a family party this evening. Luckily Alice's friend Emory was there and they did the activities and ran around together.

Waiting for the bus in the cold rain, but still smiling

Dissolve the Rainbow

We had a bunch of skittles packets, and I had just got a cool new science experiment book from the library that had an experiment involving skittles. I think they're supposed to be learning about dissolving, but mostly they just observed the pretty colors.

Alice the rock climber

On Sunday, Zac took the kids to Jack Smith park, where apparently Alice attempted the rock climbing.

Just give her fifteen more years of practice...

Reptile Day

I took the kids downtown for the science museum's annual reptile day.  We parked at the very top of the 9-story parking deck, just for fun.

The kids loved being able to see the whole city from up high.

Once we made it inside, they spent most of the time doing the crafts.

And a bit of time touching the animals.

But of course, they spent the most time and had the most fun just playing outside under the globe.

Hardscaping = Fun Playing

We're getting some hardscaping done in our yard, mainly to help with drainage, usability of the driveway, and increased aesthetic appeal.

The workers came on Tuesday, and our kids had fun all week.