Easter and that Bunny!

While in Cincinnati we got to celebrate Easter! Our festivities began with a Passover meal which included a discussion of the Last Supper.

On Friday night the kids got busy dyeing Easter eggs.

Wow! That's a lot of eggs! Good thing we all like to eat them.

You can't dye Easter eggs without making a dragon egg!

Saturday morning the kids hurried into the family room to see what the Easter Bunny left them.

Legos,

Les Miserables,

and some more Legos!

The best way to get Easter Bunny Day started is with a little chocolate for breakfast.

Ciarra was all ready to start the Easter egg hunt, finding the first egg.

And the rest of the kids were ready to go as well!

Beautiful Easter morning. A special day to reflect on all our Savior has done for us. We started the day by watching some wonderful videos of the Resurrection.  We also enjoyed the uplifting messages of the Atonement and the Resurrection taught at church. A delicious meal was a fitting end to our special Easter celebration.

Three beautiful girls in their Easter dresses.

Spring Break Fun!

I took the kids out of school two days before Spring Break officially started and we headed off to Cincinnati to see Grandpa, cousins, aunt and uncle. We had so much fun though it didn't start off too well. One of the reasons we don't go to Cincinnati for Christmas anymore is because I HATE driving in the snow. We have been caught in several snowstorms as well as an ice storm on our travels to Cinci for the holidays but I thought by the end of March we wouldn't have to face any of that scary wintry weather. I was mistaken! Just before we hit Cumberland, Maryland we started getting snow flurries and for the next 3 hours we were driving through snow.

Thankfully we made it to Cinci safe and sound and were able to enjoy our week there.
We always do so many fun things, like Chuck E. Cheese, my absolutely favorite place on the whole entire earth.

We followed up our morning at the children's casino with lunch at Chick Fil A.

The two Indiana Jones.

There are always plenty of adventures to be had in the woods.

One crowded table! Mealtimes were always filled with funny conversations.

A visit to the zoo is always on our schedule. Unfortunately I didn't make it this time due to a severe cold and cough but the rest of the gang had a great time, checking out all the animals, riding the carousel, taking a ride on the train, and, of course, thanks to Grandpa, indulging in a nice big ice cream cone.

Savannah made sure to take lots of pictures of the gorillas for me since she knows how much I love them.

The most recent addition to the Cincinnati zoo...oh, wait, that's just my brother-in-law. He took this lovely picture of himself and put it on my phone's wallpaper. The first time I went to answer my ringing phone I got quite the shock though now I can share it with everyone on my blog. Thanks, Ryan, for all the entertainment!

The other fun things the kids did included water fights (even though it was freezing outside!), chasing the cat Jackson all over the house, playing Capture the Flag, dress up, games, the Wii, reading books, and hanging out with Grandpa. The girls did manicures and pedicures;

and the boys spend quality "boy" time together.

Grandpa took us to see The Croods

and we also went to a book signing by Brandon Mull. I think McKenna was the most excited of the kids to meet this famous author but Heidi and I were definitely the most interested in hearing him talk about his life as a writer.

Savannah and Xander with Brandon Mull...he was very funny and nice.

Snow Day!

Well, it took until the end of March but we finally got a decent snowstorm, enough snow for the kids to have a snow day! Instead of learning about fractions and pronouns, they were outside making snowmen, sledding, and having snowball fights with the neighborhood kids.

The boys' snowman versus

the girls' snowman.

In all fairness I did take the picture of the girls' snowman before they were done but I'm not a real snow person so I only made a few trips outside. After playing in the snow all morning the kids enjoyed some hot soup and cocoa for lunch. By the next day the snow was mostly gone but the kids were definitely happy for one day of playing in the snow.