First Tea Party of Spring

 Bridget loves to do homework and usually asks for it every day.  I sat with her and read the directions each time and when she was finished I couldn't believe how much she got blue pen all over both of her hands and the counter.  Thank goodness she managed  to avoid her shirt and it was washable but it took a long time with the soap.  I still don't know how she was so messy but her paper was very neat.

It was cold outside but they still wanted to have their first tea party since I had put up the patio table.  They started with water but then Jillian wanted chocolate milk since that looked more like tea.  With mini-oreos, they had a delicious tea time.

Girls on Bikes

Here's all of the girls on their bikes at Lake Sacagawea. We got Bridget her own bike yesterday, since she had learned how to ride one with training wheels at Grannie and Papa Woodruff's house, and we wanted her to be able to ride along with Mommy and Jillian. Bridget was so excited to get her own new bike (not a hand-me-down from Jillian) though Jillian was unhappy about not getting something new, as well.

After church in the morning, the girls all got on their bikes, while Tor got into the stroller with Daddy pushing. We went to the "new park" at the lake first ... Jillian led the way - way out in front! Mommy was next to remind Jillian to stop at intersections. Next was Bridget, and her little legs were pedaling furiously trying to keep up. Daddy and Tor brought up the rear, mainly to help Bridget when she got stuck. At the park, all of the kids played for awhile, then we biked over to Cousin Adam's house to play in the bouncy house. After playing there for an hour, we biked back home. At this point, Bridget was exhausted, and we had to give her lots of pushes and encouragement to get her home.

Bike Riding, Pushing, and Shooting

 Bridget is now an official bike rider.  We tried the balance bike and she wasn't crazy about that and then suggested the bigger bike with training wheels.  That fit her fine and in no time she was zipping around the drive way, very proud of herself.  Now she can go riding with Mommy and Jillian.

 Not to be left out with all the bike riding, Tor was pushing the trike in circles for a long time.  We put the front wheel to turn and he went fast just going in circle after circle.  He should have been worn out.

Jillian wanted to show how us how Brock taught her to bank a basketball shot.  She loves to shoot baskets.

Croquet and Peek-a-boo

 The croquet set was lost last year but Jillian found it in the back of the shed and she and Bridget were excited to set it up.  The weather was beautiful for a game. 

Tor is so funny when you ask, "Where's Tor?"  He immediately slaps his hands over his eyes, sometimes missing and getting other parts of his face.  Then he thinks its hilarious. 

Up and Going

Tor's newest trick is that he can get off the floor to a standing position without having to grab hold of something, or crawling to something to climb. Now, he is definitely free to motor around on his feet wherever he wants.

His other trick has no picture, because there's never time to take one ... we're too busy rushing to rescue him! Tor has figured out how to climb on the girls' small Dora chairs, and then stand on them with no hands. The first time it happened, Jillian was yelling for Daddy, who showed up just in time to catch Tor before he splatted on the floor. Another time it happened, Tor was all smiles on the chair before Daddy took him down ... that's when Daddy put the chairs up on the table.

Spring Break Beach Trip

All of us got away to Ocean Park for a few days as soon as Spring Break rolled around. We left on Friday night when Mommy got off work, so we got there at almost midnight, but it meant we could sleep in and already be at the beach on Saturday. The kids must have been excited, though, because the latest we slept in was 7:30 am. It was a pretty wet, cold and windy four days, so we only went to the beach once, and the kids played for only 30 minutes before they got too cold. The rest of our stay revolved around hanging out in the cabin watching shows, reading, playing and just relaxing. We did make our way to the Astoria Pool twice, and the water was very warm, so we stayed for a couple hours each time. We also made a couple trips to Funland, where the girls set records for least number of tickets won.

Visitors

 When Jillian went up to Rielee's, Bridget helped me make peanut butter brownies.  She was licking the bowl and when I looked at her she had the chocolate spoon in one hand and the peanut butter spoon in the other.  Guess it's true that those flavors taste good together.

 Rielee and her friend Neddie came down to play when Jillian came home from Rielee's.  Neddie was fascinated with the zip line and they all played outside a long time.  After the tree house they headed for the jeep, trike, and scooters. 

When Bridget was napping, Jillian still wanted to play outside.  Tor joined her and ran all over outside.  Jillian volunteered to take Tor for a ride in the jeep and during the whole ride Tor was clapping and laughing.  It was so cute.  He was not a happy camper when Jillian was tired of holding him on her lap.