Full Spring Ahead! (Or Rather "Behind")

The calendar may say that spring will last for another whole month, but in this household spring is almost over and summer is right around the corner- next week in fact! And this year we went full steam- or full spring- ahead. And what a full spring it was!

This spring was full of love.

We went on dates. A few months ago we made a deal with Nichole and Connor that we would take turns watching the other's kids so that we could go on date nights- and it's been so great! Our kids get to play with some of their best friends, and mom and dad get to have some much needed grown up time. 

We loved up on our siblings. And when I say siblings, I mostly mean Allie. How can you not love up on a face like that!? The bigs are just smitten with her, and she feels the same way about them.

This spring was full of family.

We met our newest cousin. The kids are swooning over Anna, even if they don't always remember her name still. She might always be known as yay-yay's baby, but we sure love her!

We celebrated Easter. It was a beautiful weekend celebrating our risen Savior. We hunted eggs, ate all the food, and had so much fun.

We celebrated Mother's Day. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for our moms, so we enjoyed showing them a little love, myself included.

We played with cousins. With our date nights, we now also have cousin nights too! I love the bond that these guys have. 

We welcomed our niece Anna to the kingdom of God through baptism, and Eric was privileged enough to stand up by her side as her godfather.

This spring was full of fun. 

We flew kites. The twins got kites for Christmas and have begged pretty much since opening them up on Christmas morning to go outside and fly them. We finally had some warmer windy days and busted them out. They are fans!

We jumped on the trampoline. It has been a staple of our outdoor play since we got it, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

We rode the four wheeler. Looking for deer, heading to the pond to fish, just a joy ride around the block or to the woods. The kids love going for a little ride.

We played at the park. It's always fun to play on things that we don't have at home, and the kids love when we surprise them with a trip to the park to play!

We planted trees. Brayden and Ashley got trees at preschool for Arbor Day in April and Eric helped them plant them in the yard. We just saw this week that they've started putting on little pinecones, and the kids were really excited about that.

We went to a Cardinal's game. Eric and I had been talking about taking the kids to a game this year, but the summer can get so hot, and there's always so much going on. So when a free Saturday afternoon popped up this spring with a beautiful forecast, we bought some bleacher seats, loaded up the kids (sans Allison), and headed to St. Louis. We learned new vocabulary- overpass- which was often said as an "overbridge" or an "underpass", but we'll get there. Their favorite part was the train ride to the game, Katie might have yelled "Go Eagles" every chance she got, and we might have lost most interest in the game by the 3rd or 4th inning, but we managed to stay for almost all of the game and the kids walked away with smiles on their faces, so I'd call it a successful day. 

We celebrated Brayden and Ashley finishing up their preschool year. These two LOVED school. Miss Kimberly and Miss Pam were so great to them, and they already talk about how they miss seeing them every day. We were able to watch them put on the cutest little program and get their graduation certificates. And then we had to do a little celebration for their official last day of school this week- on to Kindergarten we go!

We went camping. The weather has not been on our side this spring. It cancelled one weekend of camping, and almost cancelled another one. We waited for the storms to roll through before heading to the campsite last weekend. We are huge fans of camping, so I'm so glad that we were finally able to get out there and enjoy some relaxing time. I was a little nervous about Allison and sleeping in the camper, but she was the definition of perfection and napped and slept like an absolute champ. How she manages to sleep through all the crazy of the big three is beyond me, but we are thankful for it! Nichole and Connor even brought their kids over for the afternoon that Saturday for extra fun!

Spring was so full I'm just now thinking to write it all down. But like I said, summer is just around the corner- and it's looking to be even more full than this spring. Here's to all the fun to be had!

Springtime Highlight Reel

Spring means a lot more outside playtime, and a lot less time to get any blogs written! I realized I haven't really sat down and written anything on a general family recap in quite some time.  I think I'll let pictures do most of the talking though, because more outside time means way more pictures on my camera roll than I can count. 

So here's my highlight reel for this spring and all the little moments I don't want to forget in the crazy life we are living. 

We've been basically living on the trampoline. The kids love to do tricks and crazy jumps on there and want me to film everything they do so they can look back and see their cool trick.

We've also been loving the camper. We've been twice this spring, once to Lincoln Trail State Park and once to Red Hill State Park, and the kids keep asking when we will go camping again. We have one more camping trip for sure in June when we go to Michigan, and I'm hoping that we get to go again later this fall once this baby is maybe sleeping through the night. 

Eric and I celebrated 11 years married this May. I am thankful every day for this man and the life we've built together.

And the kids have had a fun filled spring as well! We spent lots and lots of time outside together doing all the things- fishing, four wheeler riding, eating ice cream, feeding baby cows- you name it, we have probably done it.

They've gone on tractor rides with my dad. (And Katie loved it so much that when she saw another tractor in the field she asked if they could go on that one next haha.)

They've had swim lessons.

And T-ball games.

Katie turned 2! (You can check out that blog post here if you missed it).

Ashley had a performance for her dance class at the Wright Family Center. 

The twins had preschool screenings to start school in the fall. 

Ashley got her first pedicure. (And only messed up her toes about three times because she couldn't stop touching them.)

And the kids spent some time with their cousins-I love the bond that these guys all have!

It's been a fun spring, and I can't wait to see what the summer months have in store for us!