Sleepover With Max

We had Max over for his second sleepover last weekend.  Our first one was a bit crazy, understandably so.  We were dealing with four very excited children.  This time around though was as close to perfect as it gets.  

Anna dropped Max off at 6:00.  Marshall was at a birthday party so it was just the three kids and Richard and I.  We had pancakes for dinner and Max impressed us all with his appetite.

After dinner we did popcorn and a movie and then they all got a little play time in while I picked Marshall up from his party.  After everyone was ready for bed Max introduced us to "Light Saber Boy" on YouTube.  The kids all got some good laughs out of that.  

After a story and prayers everyone was in bed at 9:20.  At 9:30 Marshall, Bridget, and Max were still very quiet so I peaked my head in and found them all on Bridget's bed and Marshall was reading to them.  :)  Things got a little louder, but by 10:00 I could hear them start to peter out and they were all asleep shortly after.  

The morning brought us Krispy Kreme donuts and scrambled eggs.  Again, I was impressed at Max's appetite and wished that my own children would eat the foods he does!

Another great sleepover adventure.  We love Max!

Discovery World

Our last outing for Spring Break was a day at Discovery World.  We had taken Max to Discovery World before, but Anna and Fitz had never been.  It was a pretty crowded day, but we still had a great time and I declared it a success.

High school kids from Oconomowoc were there with robots that they had built!  I was pretty darn impressed.  All the kids thought they were pretty cool, except Rachel, who was terrified.  

Rachel loved the little clown fish.  

Bless Anna's heart.  She is the best.  I am too chicken and too disgusted to touch pretty much any animal.  Years ago, my parents came to Discovery World with us and my dad had to hold my arm in this pool so I would touch a shark.  I about died.  I haven't attempted since.  Well, Anna is way more brave than I am and helped Marshall overcome some fear and touch the shark.  These pictures are great, on so many accounts.  

I held Rachel over the water, but her little arms were not long enough.  That's all I could bring myself to do!  

Both Marshall and Bridget tried the bed of nails!  Marshall's report was it hurt his back.  Bridget claimed that it just tickled.  So proud of these two.  

Another successful outing with the Hassells!

March Wrap Up

Random March moments in pictures...

Anna and I took our kids to the Big Backyard one Thursday afternoon/evening.  We practically had the place to ourselves and the kids had a blast!

Rachel had a rough transition to no naps.  Obviously her idea, not mine.  

Our first walk of the year.  We were all so happy!

We took a zoo trip one morning and enjoyed some amazing weather.  Both my girls adore sweet Abigail!

This girl.  Love her.

Best night we've had in a long time!  Our wonderful friends, the Fritzes, who are in their 70s, treated us and the Hassells to dinner at Lake Park Bistro.  The food was beyond incredible, but sitting with those friends around the table was the best part of the evening.  Dale was the branch president in the branch for its last six years in existence.  Tim and Richard were his counselors for the last couple of years.  When I was the Relief Society president, Jan was one of my counselors.  The Fritzes are such fun and wonderful people.  After dinner, I told Richard about ten times that we have to be like them when we are in our 70s!

The new little five year old.  :)

Rachel got to come with me to Marshall's class two times in March.  She loved it and so did all the kids.  Marshall showed such brotherly love.  

A random placement of objects I discovered one morning.  Made me chuckle.  :)

Dr. Esser!  The best pediatrician ever!!!  I packed up all the kids for Bridget's five year check up so we could give Dr. Esser a card to thank him for 7 1/2 excellent years as our pediatrician.  I seriously had to hold back the tears saying goodbye to him!  He has been nothing short of exceptional and I am really going to miss him!  One interesting thing to note is that he works just three days a week and his wife works the other two days and he is a stay at home dad those days!  He has three kids, all just about one year older than each of our kids.  I honestly think this made a difference in his approach, because he is a pro at the medical side, but is also well aware of life with three crazy kids.  Man, we will miss him!

An afternoon croquet game with Marshall Man.  

Poor Bridget had a terrible stomach flu during Spring Break.  It really put a damper on a couple days of plans, but thankfully no one else got sick.  It was so sad to see her so miserable.

Thankfully, Bridget recovered and was able to make it to Abigail's birthday party.  She was told to wear her favorite costume and this is what she came up with!  

A Day In Madison

We kicked off Spring Break by spending a day in Madison with Anna and her boys.  It was the BEST day.  The museum was not that crowded, the kids were SO well behaved, and the weather was gorgeous.  A wonderful, wonderful day!  Hence many, many pictures!

There were only two rough parts to the day.  The first came when Max and Rachel refused to get their hands stamped to get into the museum.  Lots and lots of tears from those two...it was quite the scene!  But, they both recovered and the museum fun began.

This was the second rough part of the day.  :)  Rachel was too scared to go down this little slide, but also wasn't letting anyone else down the slide.  Here she is pouting, what a gal.  :)

Two very similar pictures, but I just love Max's expressions.  

The museum had an entire art area for the kids.  We spent a good hour in that room doing all sorts of things.  

They had quite an advanced playground.  Max and Fitz had been to the museum before, so there was not much hesitation on their part.  It took quite a bit of coaxing and bribing to get Marshall and Bridget up there though.  Max and Fitz were so sweet with them and gave them lots and lots of encouragement.  It really was very sweet to watch it all play out.  Bridget never made it to the top of that metal net to go down the slide, but she at least sat in the net and climbed to some other higher parts of the playground.  Marshall though, once he got over his fears, loved that thing and just had the best time.  

 I would say the highlight of our museum trip was going to their rooftop garden.  The garden is on the 4th floor, and nothing was growing yet, but it was still delightful.  The weather was perfect, the kids loved playing in the stream, and just running around on the path.  We soaked up the afternoon sun up there and had to drag ourselves away at 4:00.  

There was a little observation tower the kids could climb.  It gave a great view of this lake.  

On the other side of the roof there was a great view of the capitol building.  

I must note that I was so proud of Marshall this day.  He had to overcome a lot of fears, mostly pertaining to heights, but he conquered those fears and had the best time.  While we were there he told me he wants to live at that museum.  :)

After the museum, we walked across the street to the capitol.  The kids kept up their stellar behavior; Anna and I were so impressed!

The doors at the top of the stairs lead to the offices for the Supreme Court of Wisconsin.  That is where Tim was sworn in as an attorney.

A kind security guard told us to find the governor's office on the second floor so we could see the badger and rub his nose for good luck.  Mission accomplished.  

This was as perfect a day as you can get with five kids ages 2 to 7!  So grateful we have the Hassells who are always up for an adventure!