The Friday of Spring  Break—time to cram adventure and friends into our last day off!  So Piper and Kyla each asked a friend to enjoy a day at the zoo.

 

Sitting kids on the fence to watch the sloth bears is frowned upon by all those who are not managing 5 kids too short to see without being hoisted.

 

 

 

Feeding the budgies is always a highlight for the kids.

I’m about to show some really cute pictures of my progeny, so I’ll even it out by showing a few ugly ones I snapped of Wesley.  Balance, my friends, balance.

 

We were at the cabin and hit upon the weekend of the community egg hunt.  I had mixed up the time, so we had time to eat lunch and Piper taught me to make dandelion chains (which she sat down with a bunch of flowers and figured herself—typical Piper).  Wesley helped by picking her lots of flowers, and Kyla wore the jewelry and then went off exploring on her own (typical Kyla). 

[Kyla is currently our beloved toothless wonder, but when she had lost two more teeth, Piper went and pulled one of hers out.  I cannot swear it was loose to begin with.]

Before the Big Wilt, Piper was the most festive egg hunter.

 

People, shmeople.  This is what really stole the camera’s eye.  Look at the beautiful April weather!

I can’t count the number of “Oh, Wesleys!” (a phrase similar to many four-letter exclamations used by those without Wesleys) in this picture. But let’s start:

 

1-3) Total chair foul—not eating at table, chair not returned to table, and breaking a posture rule that I didn’t know I’d have to verbalize.

4) Jar of Nutella out, with Wesley’s knife.

4.5) Make that two jars of Nutella.

5) Odd colored leg—what had he been into that he had been covering up by actually wearing clothes (dead giveaway, child).

Ever since the new construction started a few years ago below our “back 40”, we haven’t seen deer come through our property.  And then, all of sudden, there were three!  And because it was too early for veggies, roses. or apples, we were all thrilled to spy on them from our upper window.

 

It does look kind of luscious, doesn’t it, Deer?

Last year, I played a few April Fool’s pranks on the kids.  They brought it up occasionally over the year and then started really setting high expectations for it as we got closer and closer to the day. By planning in advance (365 days, in fact), I had managed to set myself up for failure and the kids for disappointment. 

I won’t do anything mean or that causes me ridiculous amounts of work (putting saran wrap over the toilet loses on both counts), so I like doing silly things.  This year, I made hamburgers and french fries for breakfast with a glass of orange juice (and if that looks like a sausage patty between two pancakes and Julienne cut apples, as well as orange Jell-O, well, there’s no fooling you either!).

The kids liked it, except for the eating it part, but quickly just wanted to know what my next trick was going to be.  I’m kinda of a one-trick pony, and any residual magic had to be used to get them to school on time while retaining part of my soul and some of their hearing.  Sigh.

Typically Wesley, he is wearing his cape and stomping boots.

 

 

 

And only his cape and stomping boots.

 

(I have a series of photos that are so adorable and completely inappropriate that I will have to save for his post-pubescent self.)

Now that Kyla is older, she doesn’t run around naked any more.  At least, outside.

 

That would be two separate loaves of homemade bread. “Bread.”

Tonight at dinner, from Piper, “I was quite the handful today.”  

True?  Well, she did ask to have a packet of dinosaur egg oatmeal for a snack today, and then fixed NINE PACKETS, and threw out the last 3-4 in the sink when she was full.  She left art supplies all over the floor and set off Kyla twice. She also cleaned all of that up when she was asked to and threw in a few extra chores for free.  Kyla and Wesley ended the day with negative points, so overall, Piper was more a hugful than a handful.