Pirate

 Love the Pirate pose.  We brought Tor this sword from our trip and he spent the morning acting like a Pirate.  When Bridget returned from Pre-school, Tor spotted the Pirate hat in her hand (coincidently, they were doing a Pirate theme at school) so he put it on and preceded to march around, now being able to fully play the Pirate.  Tierney and Brock were there so he had an audience to play for.  He cracked them up with his antics. Bridget didn't mind giving up her hat as she isn't too much into Pirates.

Rielee got to visit when Jillian came home from school.  Playing school is one of their favorite activities with Rielee being the teacher this time.  When I asked what grade she was teaching Jillian, Rielee said second.  I suggested she teach her fifth grade subjects but Jillian protested.  They also spent a lot of time riding scooters and playing at the Play Fort.

Sophie's Birthday

Jillian's Sophie turned 5 today, so as to tradition, she got to go with Jillian and Bridget to Petco to pick out treats.  They chose a really big bone for Sophie and an even bigger bone for Mocha so she wouldn't feel left out.  Next was a stop at Sweetspot for yogurt.  Sophie got a small peanut butter yogurt that she licked right up and Jillian and Bridget got a loaded one that I'm sure ruined their dinner appetite.  Bridget is now looking forward to getting a kitty this summer so she can have her own pet.  It looks like Bridget is choking Sophie in this picture but she really was quite gentle in making sure Sophie was looking at the camera.

Bridget's First Lost Tooth

Today, Bridget lost her first tooth ... literally! After eating, she noticed it was gone, and then couldn't find it. Even after looking, we still couldn't find it. So, we wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy explaining the situation, and put into the little tooth pillow. Bridget placed it under her pillow. She can't wait for morning.

Spring Swim Lessons

It's April, which means swimming lessons at Briarcliff Pool. The kids jumped right into the pool when they got there. They each had something to focus on this year: Jillian was going to do her dives in the deep end correctly, Bridget was going to swim without floaties, and Tor was going to listen to the swim teachers. Watching them, they each did pretty well in trying to meet their goals. After swimming, they put on jammies and ate snack and treat in the car.

Outside Day

 Jillian and Tor came to play while Bridget and Daddy went to a birthday party.  Jillian arrived with a book in her hands and wanted to finish the book before playing.  Yes! A chapter book.

 Tierney and Brock did bubbles with Jillian and Tor.  After awhile Jillian got bored with that so had  them blow bubbles while she shot the bubbles with a water spray bottle.  She thinks of things like that all the time.

They do this activity every year several times.  I run the hose which makes a stream across the driveway that goes into a drain that comes out down the hill.  They mix colored chalk in the water and then run down the hill to see what color comes out of the drain.  They are always trying different combinations of colors.  Pretty soon Tor got bored with that so just laid in the stream.

A Favorite Bunny

 Bridget wanted a picture of her bunny Winter.  She sat it in the little chair and posed it with pretty things and then decided to be in the picture too.  That caused all her posing to fall apart so she settled for just holding Winter.

 Jillian has a game she plays on Papa's tablet and Tor decided he wanted to play it.  Papa didn't know how to play that game so he and Tor spent a lot of time figuring it out. Could be that Tor figured it out faster.

Bridget always wants to paint rocks.  Tor got in on it and concentrated very hard on coloring the whole rock.  Bridget made her rock into a fish.

Reading Girl

For our bedtime story, Bridget chose "Go Dog Go". We were waiting for Jillian to join us, so in the meantime, Bridget started reading it out loud. She kept going and going, reading it all by herself (with only a little help with some tough words). When she finished, she was so proud of herself, saying "I'm reading like a maniac!" She couldn't wait to plan what she would read next.

Grannie's Birthday Party

We went to Grannie and Papa's house to celebrate Grannie's birthday. Papa made enchiladas, and also ordered Papa Pete's pizza. That was followed by cake, pie and ice cream. The kids helped Grannie with presents, then spent most of their time playing outside.

Builders

 The kids were up and ready to play outside right away since it was so warm.  First was the sandbox where they made homes for all the play animals.  Then it was the play fort for some climbing and zip lines.  Then they went out to the shed and found some things put away for the winter like this tunnel and tent.  They would chase each other through the tunnel.  Tor hardly came out of the tunnel.

 Next they found this building set.  With Brock's help they got to work.  Tor was determined to do his part too.  Jillian remembered a lot of the details of how to build with it.

 When Daddy arrived, him and Brock did most of the finishing and Bridget and Jillian were busy deciding what to put in their house. 

Here is the finished house with a door and a tunnel that led to a bedroom.  Bridget and Tor had to stand on chairs to see out the top for the finished picture.

Fun Times

 Tor, Bridget, and Jillian came to play after lunch.  Tor was napping and the first thing the girls wanted to do was have a tea party.  Here they are showing how to hold the tea cup with their pinkies straight.

 Brave Bridget still needs a little help to reach the zip line.  Brock stayed for awhile and he even played hide-n-seek.

 This was the bubble wars between Jillian and Bridget.  Looks like Bridget is getting the best of Jillian for a while.

After all the play we went for a delicious rib dinner at Aunt Robin and Uncle Dan's home.  They ate fast so they could spend some time downstairs with all the cool stuff.  Then they went to Grannie and Papa's for a sleepover.

Spring Break Beach Trip

We managed to squeeze in a trip to Ocean Park during a busy spring break. The weather was pretty good - mostly sunny with a chill wind. It was good enough that the kids were able to spend most of their time outside. The kids were able to do quite a bit of bike riding, and Tor was able to keep up, too.

When we rode to the playground, we found a small football, so we played a little football game on the turf. The kids had no idea how to play football. It became a game of just grab the ball and run away from everyone (although Bridget tended to chuck the ball if someone got close).


Another trip we made on the bikes was to the Timberland Library. There is a kid area with both tons of books and some toys. Jillian found a book she liked, and curled up in a window seat to read for a while.

Easter Sunday

It was another busy Easter Sunday. We met up with Papa Ken, Bev and Auntie Greta at Grace Lutheran for a big breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns and french toast. All of the kids joined the adults for the service, and Jillian worked on following along on the hymnal. We went home and rested up afterwards.

At 2:00, we headed to Castle Rock. Everyone ate the potluck lunch, then geared up for the egg hunt. The little kids all got to hunt in the entire upper yard, since they had outgrown the small lower yard. Jillian and Bridget were super speedy, trying to keep up with cousin Rielee. Tor took his time, and got some help from Mommy and Daddy. After finding all the eggs, they opened them as well as the baskets. Tor came up big with the Batman Hall of Doom. The kids then went outside and hid eggs for the adult hunt ... they did a pretty good job of it.

Next was the egg roll, and Jillian and Bridget stayed in until nearly the end (Tor was out after the first toss, but he just kept rolling it anyways just for fun). This was followed by the egg toss. Jillian and Daddy partnered up, and Bridget was with Mommy (Tor just played in the fountain and got soaked). Bridget hucked it short on the first toss and the egg broke ... she was not happy. Jillian tossed and caught the egg quite a few times before going out. She was kind of disappointed, but then felt better when she saw how long she stayed in it.

By the end of the day, we were all exhausted.