Jack lost his second front tooth and has an adorable pumpkin smile.
We stumbled by chance upon Home Depot's First Saturday craft. Each of the kids made a periscope, perfect for spying on the neighbors over the fence.
We've been using our Oakland Zoo membership and heading over about once a month. It's been so enjoyable to go and not worry about getting "our money's worth" by staying all day and making sure we see every single animal each time. It's so nice to be able to take our time where the kids have interest that day, and feel like there's no pressure to rush and do it all.
Todd's been working on a custom play set in the backyard. The kids have been helping out and offering suggestions. We'll be excited when it's finished.
All the kids are signed up for a basketball league. It's been our most successful attempt at sports yet! Everyone is enjoying it. Hazel is on a team with a couple of boys from church, and Gemma and Jack are on a team together. They have practice on Wednesdays and games on Saturdays. We've asked the kids to practice 30 minutes a day in the culdesac when they don't have practice at the gym, and everyone's getting really good, which makes it more fun as well.
All the kids made leprechaun traps for Saint Patrick's Day. We had green milk and played Celtic music and danced jigs. It's a good holiday - simple and fun. The leprechauns made a trap of their own in the night and tried to lock the kids in their bedrooms. Everyone thought that was funny.
Hazel was invited to a birthday party at a horse stable. Gemma was a little bit envious. It's Gemma's dream to have a horse ranch when she grows up.
Everything dramatic happens when Todd's away. He had his two week army training in March, and Jack got his first stitches. He slipped and hit his head on the bathroom counter and his forehead opened up into this sad, nasty gash. He stayed cool and collected - no tears! - and actually thought the trip to urgent care was quite interesting. He was asking questions about everything from the equipment to the procedure, and later said he wished he could go through it all again. Not me! I'm just relieved it all looks good weeks later and seems like it's going to heal really nicely.
We went on a two-night camping trip at the end of the month. The only picture I took was this one, after the fact, when we came back on Saturday for the kids' basketball games and these two fell asleep during Hazel's. Everyone was worn out.
The camping was lots of fun, except for the part where we slept on the hard, lumpy ground, all spooned together in a four-man tent. We brought bikes and did some hiking and exploring, played games and waded in the river, and made some delicious food. It was just crazy hard to sleep because we've been raiding the scout closet for supplies the last few years, and didn't think about it until the day we left and we realized that without that sweet hookup, we no longer had a glamorous, two-room tent, big enough for our queen-size blow-up mattress. We don't even have mats of our own. So, yeah, we were basically straight on the ground, and even the kids slept badly the second night. Lesson learned. But besides that, it was a great trip. Lots of fun memories, and I"m sad I din't take any pictures.
