Hooray, April!

Sometimes, we just can't do mornings.

And then yoga makes it all better.

And then you spend the afternoon trying to trap Carmen Sandiego on the Mississippi River before she ruins it.

And then your older sister washes the mud out of your hair with style.

Sometimes your orange bat toy is the coolest thing ever..."Because I'm Batman!"

And then you're Ant-man and Wasp and you attack/interrogate your mom.

And then you forget all about your differences and play with colors in ABC Mouse.

Sometimes your mom teaches you what April Fool's Day is by having a water fight. In the house. And she wins.

And then you enjoy a clean rec room the one time it's clean.

And your Dad can be suckered into reading a second bedtime story.

Sometimes a mother wakes up and the seven-year-old is cooking breakfast for everyone.

She made egg sandwiches.

And sometimes the five-year-old is sick and while you're busy stripping sheets and doing laundry and scrubbing carpet, etc, she falls asleep playing Minecraft.

But then you finish all your work and spend the rest of the day cuddling.

Sometimes.

Outside All the Time!

Now that warm weather is here to stay, it seems I'm busier than ever because we are constantly outside on adventures! I almost wish for cold, rainy days just so I can have a break! But it's good. I love the warm weather and all the outdoor frolicking and sunsoaking we do.

End of March, Tommy was at a sleepover at his friend Tucker's house, so he wasn't with us when we went to hike in Palmer Park and ended up doing a little over 3 miles. The kids were troopers, but they were definitely done at the end. Future note: slightly shorter hikes so we're all still in happy moods to leave with.

{Samson, Dancy, Thora}

Painted rock :)

Thora. She'll be fine and happy one minute, pouting the next. Kinda like Colorado weather!

{Dancy, Thora, Shad, Samson, Katie}

I've decided that I can break down and be one of those people with a selfie stick because it's really hard to get 6 and 7 people all in a shot.

{Me, Dancy, Thora, Shad, Samson, Katie}

* * *

Fast forward 2 days to a blissful afternoon in our forest! One of the girls in our group keeps a nature journal and she was on a mission to find snails. Tommy found them for her to sketch!

Fishing poles

{Dancy, boy I don't know, Noah, Tommy}

It's been so great to be back in the forest! I stay home in the cold weather because it's just not worth it to me to spend an hour getting kids ready, drive 20 minutes, walk 10 minutes in, and then kids are clinging to me and whining after 5 minutes. No, that's just what a backyard is for. But we do really miss our forest during those times. I'm ready for it to green up a bit now so I can breathe all that wonderful air in.

Mallards came to visit! All the kids got super excited. The mallards did not.

Thora has really grown in her comfort in the forest. She's really embracing life as a forest fairy/elf!

Last year there was no way she'd go up this hill without holding my hand and needing me to push and pull her. At her demand.

And then we finished with cuddles. happy cuddles that don't interfere with Mom chat time are way different than whiny clinging that does.