Weekly Wrap-up: April 6-11

We are LOVING this spring weather, and the pace of our homeschool—well, really, our extracurricular activities—has slowed enough to make general life more enjoyable.  For instance, instead of rushing through our history readings so that we can get everything in before whatever lesson/practice we need to run to, we have time for extras, like memorizing the preamble to the Constitution:

And we’ve been continuing with our Bible reading response sheets, with Everley even participating on some days:).

Wednesdays are still our family days, and the kids were dying to cash in on Anna’s winnings from our March Madness tournament.  In a shocker, her bracket was the best.  Up until the final on Monday night, she had been waffling between Carrabba’s and O’Charley’s for her celebratory dinner—uninspired choices, but whatever.  Typical of Anna, she changed her mind on Wednesday and announced that she would choose The Pharmacy because that’s where Luke was dying to go.  We were all happy with that choice.

We love our family days:

The kids had fun being trying on my sunglasses:

And Luke loved the Pharmacy’s homemade sodas:

Even though it was bright and sunny on Wednesday, it was over 80 degrees and super muggy, and none of us was used to that weather, yet.  Also, I had been wanting to visit the Science Center to take in a planetarium show, since we had been studying space in Science. So we decided to spend the afternoon indoors at the Science Center.  I was also pumped to learn that with our renewed membership, we had free passes to the planetarium.

First, though, Greg and Luke spent some time at the Tinkering Shop, where Luke worked on a birdhouse for Anna

And Anna, of course, reveling in her new weight, decided to tackle the moon walk again:

It was a loooong line, but she was undeterred.

Afterward, while we waited on Greg and Luke to finish, she posed for this picture:

Reunited, the kids each did a short news segment:

Then, we headed up to the body section where the whole family participated in a group, arcade-style game where you try to shoot the germs:

We hung out a little more in the body section…

…before heading to the planetarium show. 

It was a really cool one called “Stars of the Pharoahs,” and it kind of even reminded me of Soarin’ (the ride at Disney World) because you felt like you were zooming along so often, this time around Ancient Egypt.

On Thursday, it was so pretty that we took school outside for a little while:

We also continued our space studies:

On Thursday evening, we also had our first soccer practice with our new coaches:

Friday after school, we spent several hours running around getting soccer supplies for the kids and their team.  That night, Anna was so excited for their first game that she slept in her jersey:

When she woke up, she immediately got fully dressed for soccer, despite the fact it was over two hours before we needed to leave!

Here we are at the fields.  I love this picture.  It’s now the wallpaper on my phone.

Our coaches were super-enthusiastic.  The boys even went out and bought shirts to match the team’s uniforms:

We got beat, but the coaches kept everyone’s spirits up, and the kids had a good time.  I think it was an adjustment for Anna to play in the older league where they take positions more seriously, but it is good for her. 

Even though it was such a big day with our first soccer games, my favorite moments of the day came at the end, where we were just being silly together as a family.  Greg was home from work, and the kids were snuggling with us after their baths when Anna asked Greg to give her an airplane ride.  He joked that he’d give her one if she gave him one.  Which led to this:

Of course, Luke also got in on that action, and then the kids wanted us all to play a “One Potato, Two Potato”-style game involving feet, which we did.

Just sitting there together on our living room floor, cozy and separated from the rest of the world, was so nice.  It really was the best ending to a week.

Easter Madness

This year’s Easter was a whirlwind of activity.  The last few Easters have been that way, actually, and while they are a lot of fun, I always end up exhausted by Easter Sunday.  It’s really making me re-think a little how we celebrate, because I don’t want to be that tired as I celebrate Christ’s resurrection.

On Thursday, we had our church Easter egg hunt, which I’ve already blogged about.  And then on Friday, we ended up having eight kids over to dye eggs and do a glow-in-the-dark egg hunt.

Of course, we would have a tornado watch mid-evening, with sirens blaring and the kids running madly into the house for cover…but thankfully, it was a fast-moving (and non-cyclonic) storm, and it passed over us quickly.

Then, it was on to the egg-dyeing:

Then we had some dress-up time while we waited for it to get dark enough to have our glow-in-the-dark egg hunt:

Once it got dark, we got started with the surprisingly difficult business of stuffing eggs with glowsticks:

The boys gave up rather quickly, but the girls stuck through to the end!

Then, it was time to hide the eggs…

…and go find them!

After round one, the kids hid the eggs for each other for awhile.  Then they came into play until Luke hit his introvert wall, and I decided it was bedtime.  They all went right to sleep—it was incredible!

The next day dawned bright and beautiful—perfect for our annual egg hunt at our friends, the Matthews’ house!

They have a beautiful, spacious backyard that works great for an egg hunt:

The kids were pumped about the eggs, and I was pumped that it’s always a brunch.  I love brunch.

The whole crew, just before they were turned loose to get their eggs:

And it begins:

Everyone racked up and was happy with their finds, although Anna was a little disappointed that she had found what she thought was the golden egg, but it didn’t have money in it.  We had to have a little talk about gratitude, and she perked back up.

When we got home from the egg hunt, the kids played for five hours outside with our neighbors.  At one point, they combined our hammocks and made a little hang-out spot, complete with snacks:

Here is where I should cut off the blog and do another on Easter Sunday, but I’m going to plow on through.

After such a busy weekend of late nights and non-stop playing, the kids were exhausted on Sunday morning.

Their response to their Easter baskets were a little…underwhelmed.  I mostly got them candy, stuff for our upcoming beach trip, and their annual devotional-related gifts…

…plus a few extra trinkets.  They liked the gifts, but Anna decided she didn’t like chocolate for some reason, which made a lot of her candy a disappointment.  Again, I think she was just tired. 

Thankfully, the kids perked up by the time we left for church:

My favorite moment of church was when Dave invited the children up to sing Blue Skies and Rainbows.  Four girls responded, and they were adorable:

After church, we went to Gramma Dottie’s house to eat Easter dinner with her, Gigi, and Papa.  Unfortunately, Gramma Dottie has recently broken her back and is in a lot of pain.  She was in pain that Sunday, so she couldn’t really participate with us. 

We had our dinner based on the menu that Luke and Gigi came up with on their recent trip to Dairy Queen:

After dinner, we were in for a little surprise.  Gigi’s cousin Jim, and his wife, Charlotte, invited us over for an egg hunt with their grandchildren.  Also a surprise:  Charlotte was in a full Easter bunny suit to hide the eggs!

Their home was beautiful, and the kids loved hunting for eggs, while I enjoyed talking homeschooling with Charlotte’s daughter-in-law.

It was so generous of the Grays to share their Easter celebration with us!  That last hunt brought our Easter egg hunt total to…four, if you count the glow-in-the-dark egg hunt, which I do.  Four hunts in four days.  That made for a crazy, fun, busy, exhausting Easter!