much to share....

We've been busy around here. All fun stuff, well, aside from the flat tire I got the other day. But somehow, with family around, that wasn't even too bad.


I'll start off with the good news: Isaac was tested this morning for Cystic Fibrosis and he doesn't have it! Phew!


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We had a special treat for Easter this year, Walter's three sisters came to visit, which meant all five cousins were together for the first time. What happens when three toddlers and two babies get together? Laughter, meltdowns, silly faces, exasperated parents, lots of running and jumping, toy theft, smiles, and some very, very happy grandparents.


The kids actually played really well together and it was great to see everyone. We had an egg hunt in the rain, an attempt to get a picture of the kids together and happy all at the same time (didn't work), a trip to the rain forest, a flat tire, a hike, and lots of playing outside on our last day together.


Once again, I uploaded my pictures in reverse order, which probably doesn't bother you, so I won't take the time to re-do it...


Isabella was a trooper and hiked almost two miles! There aren't any pictures of Isaac because he was on my back, also being a trooper. I told my mother and father in-law that by the end of the hike I felt like my dad when we were training for a bike trip: "just around this bend and we're done....just a little bit longer!" Yeah, twenty miles later we were done.

Isabella was supposed to stand next to Max but she ran out of the frame before I took the picture.

Rosie asked Isabella to draw a picture. After she finished the princess she said, "but of course I have to draw the man!" Clearly my mantra of being an independent woman isn't working.

A group shot (too bad I'm holding Isaac's crotch...that looks a little weird)...

Our valiant attempt to get a picture of all of the cousins. This involved two falls to the forehead from Eva, one very productive threat to Max from Annemarie (we still don't know what she said to him but whatever it was, it was magical), Isaac screaming, Gabe making funny faces, and Isabella complaining....

Oh, and thankfully I don't care what Isabella wears because I'm not sure what happened here: pajama shirt, Easter dress, red snowflake tights.

 "Mommy, is there anything in these eggs?" She was very concerned that she get something in return for her hunting efforts....

"Max, I'm going to take you down...."

Poor guy, he was bossed around by Isabella from the minute they saw each other.

The many faces of Eva...

Only magical babies do this...

After church I asked Isabella what they did in Sunday school: 

"Well, they wanted me to make a place mat, but I already made a place mat with Rosie earlier today, so I said I wasn't going to do it!" 

Did I say, "preschool is going to be very interesting next year"

Ooooh look! It's a picture of me with one of my children! 

We went to the community egg hunt and Isabella had a blast. Afterward she was adamant that we stand in a very long line so that she have her picture taken with the bunny. I was quite surprised and figured this could go one of two way once we got up to the bunny. Turns out, she knew what she wanted and I'm glad we waited in the line because it showed her determination (okay, so that's not always a good thing, but you know what I mean)...

"guys, this is so boring, I don't know why you make me do stuff like this..."

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On Monday went to the West Side Market and then the Rain Forest. And that's how I ended up with a flat tire. Now Isabella likes to replay the incident as she rides around on her cars outside. I didn't have a chance to talk with Walter about the whole tire thing and as soon as he walked in the door from work: "Daddy! We were on our way to the rain forest and there was big hole and we went over a big bump and our tire was ruined! And now we need to get a new tire. But Scott fixed it and put the little tire on our car. And now we're never going to the rain forest again because we don't want our tires to break." That's pretty much how it went down. Although, I'm not sure about never going to the rain forest again. 

Happy Weekend!