The boys had so much fun at Painted Clay Studios for a birthday party, that I thought I’d take Roman back to see what it was all about while the big boys were in school on a discounted studio fee day. Roman picked a tile that he could hang on his wall to paint. He was really good at picking out colors that go together well and enjoyed brushing and stamping on his designs. I can’t wait to see the finished project and to take all the boys back again this summer!
We drove out to Valley Home Farm in Wartrace, TN this afternoon to go strawberry picking with friends! We enjoyed picking strawberries (Xander was excited to find a strawberry with a heart shape cut out in it), hanging out, and sharing scoops of homemade strawberry ice cream.
Jonas and I went on a special trip, just the two of us, to Atlanta this week!!! We spent an afternoon at the Atlanta Zoo, a day at the Georgia Aquarium, and two nights in a comfy hotel.
At the zoo that afternoon…
Jonas had a blast climbing up and sliding down the canopy climber and checking out the komodo dragon. I enjoyed watching the panda bear chew bamboo, the baby orangutan swing, and the sun bears spar.
That night…
We explored the beautiful Centennial Olympic Park and Jonas discovered his new favorite restaurant, where we had dinner two nights in a row…The Waffle House. Ha!
At the aquarium the next day…
Our favorites were: the penguin waddle, the dolphin show, the sea lion show, the touch pools, the aquanaut adventure, and the movie screen size aquarium in the ocean voyager exhibit.
Mostly, we just enjoyed spending special time together. What a blessing!
Click on the “Atlanta Trip with Jonas 2016” page to the right for more pictures.
It was such a beautiful day today that I up and decided to take Roman to the zoo this afternoon. We got to do all of his favorite things: feed the turtles, ride the train, brush the goats, check out the meerkats, go round and round on the carousel, feed the lorikeets, and play on the playground. We’re looking forward to having a lot more zoo time this spring and summer!
We spent Easter hanging out at home, eating lunch and spending time with Pops and Maw and Uncle Kerry, doing a little egg hunt in the backyard, and going to Easter mass. Here are a few pictures from the hunt…
We took our first family camping trip this week during spring break!!! A dear friend of Tom’s from the fire department let us borrow his land for the weekend. We had so much fun exploring the woods and the creek and the field, gathering rocks and wood for a campfire, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows for s’mores, and camping out in a little tin-roof cabin.
Click on the “Family Camping Trip 2016” page to the right for more pictures…
I took Jonas to his climbing class tonight…he didn’t end up having class due to spring break (woops)…but we stayed anyway so he could do some climbing. It’s so fun to watch him…he’s a natural!!!
We had a wonderful Easter Egg Hunt at the park with our moms’ group this morning!!! Especially exciting for Xander and I were rescue animals brought out by a local farmer for the children to pet…including a calf, a pot belly pig, a pygmy goat, a hen, and a rabbit.
A fellow first grade mom tipped me off to a fun place to take the boys over spring break, so we tried it out today with some good friends and loved it. It was a zero entry indoor pool that went up to 2 feet, with a play structure set down in the middle of it…and the water was warm. Win, win win!!! Roman enjoyed going down the slide, Xander was all about diving for rings and turning flips in the water, and Jonas liked testing the limits of every single boundary he could. 🙂 All told, we had such a good time and will definitely be going back.
Jonas and Xander enjoyed their spring parties this afternoon, and I was so grateful to get to be there with them.
Jonas created a windsock, played spring bingo with jelly beans, and noshed on a chocolate sprinkle donut and fruit.
Xander suctioned skittles through a straw into a cup, stacked marshmallow cereal with clothespins, made a paper plate wreath with ovals cut out of paint chip cards, created his very own spinner, and snacked on rabbit bait (pretzels, teddy grahams, marshmallows, popcorn, and chocolate chips).
What a fun way for the kids to kick off Spring Break!!!
Xander and I sat out on the sidewalk this afternoon, soaking up the sun and drawing with chalk. Here he is with his creations…
Jonas and Xander and I had fun at Mommy/Son Game Night at school.
We took silly pictures, played relay tic tac toe (I totally busted mid-run on a Gatorade spill), had rubber band shooting and post-it note sticking races, stacked party cups into pyramids, threw footballs into the hallway (I stayed away from that one…with all of those boys throwing, it was getting crazy), played dodgeball (kindergarten + moms against 1st grade + moms), and filled up on fun snacks.
Here are a few pictures…
The boys came home from school this week with Dogwood saplings!!! Xander found a good home for his in the shady part of the garden.
Roman and I went to story time at the downtown library today, and it’s just the absolute best!!! We love Professor, Mary Mary, J.J. the Lamb, Cedric the Dragon, and the Spanish Fox. I still remember the first time I took Jonas when he was six months old. 🙂
They’ve recently renovated the children’s library…adding a climbing wall, tables with trains and tinker toys and widgets, a puppet theater that looks like the Ryman Auditorium, iPads and an iBoard, and a play structure that gives a nod to the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge. It is awesome!!!
Here’s Roman checking out the puppet theater…
We had another snow day today and were thankful to be able to make it out of the house for a trip to Goofballs. The boys enjoyed playing games, jumping on the inflatable, driving bumper cars, shooting each other with air guns/foam balls, and trading in their tickets for little treats.
It snowed last night and most of the day today. We got bundled up and hung out in it this morning and then made some snow cream…yummy!
Snow Cream Recipe:
8 cups of freshly fallen snow
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Mix and serve.
Daddy helped us build a huge snowman in our backyard, affectionately dubbed “The Beast” by Xander.
The boys and I enjoyed a showing of the Polar Express at the library this afternoon! They came dressed in their pajamas ready to cozy up with pillows, stuffed animal friends, and blankets. The librarian passed out tickets (for prize drawings at the end) and refreshments (popcorn, lollipops, and bottled water). It was the perfect way to kick off Winter Break.
Here they are checking out the giant Christmas tree in front of the library and getting ready for the show to start…
Jonas, along with all of the first graders, sang the sweetest holiday songs at school tonight. Afterwards, we stopped into the library for Storytime with Mrs. Claus.
Jonas and Xander enjoyed Family Math Night at school…trying their hands at multiplication buildings, math races, cup towers, block charts, geometric marshmallow and toothpick creations, and more.
