Spring

We spent the past several months doing this....

and this ....(don't even ask about the driveway)

Needless to say it was a  LONG winter, but we made the best of  it.  The kids used a sled as a mode of transportation to the bus stop a the end of the street.   They would ride down in the morning and tie their sled to a tree and I would pick it up in the afternoon.

We took a short weekend vacation to Dubuque to the indoor water park. And had to make a stop at the new Grant Wood larger-than-life statue.  While Dubuque is a beautiful city to visit during the summer, there isn't much to do with snow on the ground but it was a welcomed weekend away.

Per tradition Jared took the girls out to buy new Easter dresses, they decided on matching this year and Ike picked out a new flashy suit....attempting to get a decent family photo :)

   

 One of the highlights of the Spring was the Mother's Day weekend Laces for Learning 5K. I signed up with a couple of sisters from church and all of the kids did the one mile.   Its was cold, incredibly windy and hilly.  Eliza was sobbing the last quarter mile, it was a track finish at the stadium and I thought i was going to have to carry her.  She said never again, until they called her name for 3rd in her age division, I think she wore her medal all week (and taunted her sister that she didn't place).  Erin missed placing by one second but ran an 8:12 mile (almost two minutes faster than Eliza but we didn't want to spoil to fun).

I love this age, its so fun to watch them grow and enjoy life!