Spring Break, and Happy Birthday to Rachel!

When I was "planning" the second half of our school year, I figured that our cruise in January would count as a sort of spring break, and we would be okay pushing on through May after that.  Well, I figured wrong - it was spring break for everyone else around here last week, Kip had to leave town for work, so the kids and I decided to brave the long drive to OK to visit grandma and grandpa M for spring break #2.  It was much needed!  Now I think we really are ready to make the final push to the end of the year.

We were able to watch grandpa play bagpipes for St. Patrick's Day, see real dead bodies preserved and on display in Tulsa, visit the zoo, play, play, play, visit gr-grandma and papa Mann, Uncle John, and Uncle Brian, watch a parade, and celebrate two birthdays.  Happy Birthday to Mom M - I hope you get your sparkly bathroom soon! - and to sweet Rachel, who turned 2 on St. Patrick's Day.  Grandma set up a little party for her at McDonald's and she had a blast, getting so excited about her cake and her presents, even though Caleb opened them for her.  :)  She still oooohhhed and aaahhhed and hollered and had a great time.  Caleb declared the Owasso McDonald's the coolest one EVER because it had video games in the playland. 

Special thanks to grandma who found her cute headband - everyone loved it!

Here, Ella is painting Rachel's toenails with her new nail polish - thanks Richard and Debbie. :)

Celebrating her birthday with the Tulsa Pipes and Drums!

We had a great time and the kids are such good little travelers - trips like this would be impossible otherwise.  We had fun checking in with the Jensens on our way there and back; thanks for taking care of us, guys. 

We've gotten right back into the thick of things this week with doctor's appointments - Rachel is great, baby is great-, dentist appointments - my teeth are great-, starting soccer, meeting, appointments, laundry, work, school, and trying to remember how to cook dinner. :)

The kids and I were talking about all the signs of springtime as we drove home earlier this week.  Our conversation, in part...

Me: See, the grass is turning green, the flowers are coming up, the trees are getting new leaves...!
Ella:...the animals are getting unfrozen...

And the people are getting unfrozen, too I guess.  We've enjoyed the warm days that have come and we've broken out the shorts and flip flops, but it seems like winter is not quite ready to give up all the way, so we'll keep our jackets handy.