I have picture overload on my phone right now so it's time to update my blog, although I do have so many other things around my house I should be doing!
January is always a busy month for us with two birthdays in our family. Ana turned 4! She wanted the same birthday party she had last year, playing at the park with her friends. Easy peasy and so fun for her. Ana loves birthdays, anyone's birthday makes her so excited and Happy Birthday is her favorite song! She was so thrilled it was finally her turn to be celebrated.
Puppet show at the park with the Bluey cake toppers.
On her actual birthday she loved waking up to her siblings treating her as queen for the day. They are the cutest (and also the reason she is spoiled to no end haha).
Birthday crown at preschool! McDonalds at the park after school made this her best birthday ever.
Not too long afterward she fell off our newly installed hammock on the back porch and needed stitches. I was at work but Ricardo and our amazing babysitter pulled off the home repair and Ana did great for it.
Lollipop for the win.
Random photos at Publix per Caroline's request
Thomas turned 10 later in January! He's into many different dragon books so we did a dragon/medieval themed party.
One of the best gifts that day-this picture one friend drew of Thomas as a superhero!
Smore's pizza for his birthday treat.
This winter we've had several fun dinners/nights out by our fireplace roasting marshmallows! This was also our last night with Cinammon the sheep.
Visiting Ricardo's parents and returning the rogue sheep Cinammon, who of course finally started being obedient right before he left our house. He got lost SO many times before we brought him back, even make it several blocks away one night. We met a lot of new neighbors those few weeks and had a few people knocking on our door to return him when we didn't even know he had gotten out. He was the Houdini of Sheep!
100th day of school!
Field trip to the aquarium!
Harvesting some passion fruit before our big winter freeze came! Luckily most of our trees are coming back now.
In February we had a fun ski trip planned to West Virginia which unfortunately got derailed by the flu. Russell was sick leading up to the trip but we were still hopeful he would get over it in time. Unfortunately Thomas got sick the morning of the flight so I ended up staying home with him and Ana. We decided that Ricardo would still take Caroline and Russell on the trip alone. Sadly Caroline had one good day before she also got pretty sick with the flu and Russell then came down with his second round of post flu myositis on day 2 so he couldn't walk or ski. Luckily they got a few fun things in before all of those symptoms came on! Poor Ricardo had to fly home with these sick ones but luckily never got sick himself. Flu season is the worst!
First haircut ever.
Ah, sickness has arrived.
Post-Tylenol bowling at the resort.
Tommy always wants a sushi date with mom and dad for one of his bday gifts so this was the 3rd annual birthday sushi date which he cashed in after the derailed ski trip when we were all feeling better (everyone but Ricardo and Ana got sick). He's such a foodie.
The boys went camping with our church youth group one weekend so the girls and I planned some fun things while they were gone. We had sushi and watched Cinderella on Friday and then spent Saturday at the trampoline park and had frozen yogurt. All of their dreams come true!
The boys camped at a race track and got to watch some races on Saturday!
My best friend from high school/college roommate came to visit with her family in February for a week! The kids had so much fun together.
Xander turned 11 while they were here!
We all got to go kayak Weeki Wachee together on President's Day. We saw one manatee! And lots of fish.
So fun to have a little friend Ana's age staying with us. Ana asked about her for a long time after she went home.
We tried stone crabs for dinner one night to try to give them an authentic Florida experience. Turns out they are so much work! Thanks to Ricardo for shucking most of them!
The kids had to go to school while the visitors were here so it was a busy week!
They did miss one day to go to Universal Studios, where we stayed ALL DAY to get our full money's worth.
Oh so cute!!!
Mardi Gras parade! We walked away with a lot of necklaces.
The next day we went strawberry picking!
My favorite state park with these amazing old trees!
On Friday we went to a fun local aquarium which is very hands on and just a fun Florida experience. We all loved it.
Ana almost dropped the baby alligator, oops!
She loved feeding all the animals, especially the stingrays.
Russell and Ricardo had to step out that night for his science fair awards ceremony. He and his partner created a Reef Roomba that sucks up microplastics in the ocean. They're excited to present at an Inventor's Convention soon!
After Russell got home they squeezed in one last game of Risk. Until next time!
Ana got this dress from my mom, it used to be mine. It is the cutest on her.
We took the kids to the strawberry festival and Jo Dee Messina concert. We got a decent amount of rain at the show, but it was still fun. The kids love her iconic Heads Carolina Tails California song!
The ultimate strawberry shortcake.
Principal for the day!
Fire truck visit at preschool!
Odyssey of the Mind competition. Both boys competed again this year. They did great!
Our friend's baby blessing!
Thomas' new hobby is working out. He gets up early and goes to the gym with Ricardo twice a week and loves it.
Birthday hangout day with his buddy!
Russell volunteered with our church youth group at the Special Olympics. And got to hang and play soccer with friends afterward.
Taco truck with dad!
He advanced to the state history fair again so we are going to Tallahassee next month.
Ana made a book at preschool and loves "reading" it to all of us.
The kids had a Monday off school so we enjoyed some park time with friends we don't see too often!
Easter festivities! Church egg hunt. I was in charge so didn't get any good photos during the hunt but these girls loved the pre-hunt breakfast!
School Easter hunt!
The day she's been waiting for, getting the class pet. Tommy and Ana had fun doing this photo shoot.
The raccoon even got to come see me perform in Lamb of God!
We performed on Palm Sunday weekend this year. It was another great weekend of shows, I love ringing in Easter with this amazing music.
Egg dying, we made it happen this year!
Spring Break was busy but fun. We went to this amazing park with our good friends.
The boys went to a late night soccer game with Ricardo's family. They loved it!
For the rest of spring break we drove up to northern Alabama to meet my sister's family and go camping. It was beautiful and so fun. The kids got to zip line and do a ropes course when we first arrived. Ana was bummed she wasn't old enough this time!
Of course the kids (and Ricardo) went swimming in this frigid water!
Archery class at the state park, this was so fun!
Chasing waterfalls!
These steps reminded us of some similar steps in Brazil that we saw last year!
Russell's odyssey of the mind team made it to the state competition so he left camping early to fly home for the competiton. It was a complicated handoff and many people helped him get where he needed to be. So grateful to all the kind friends who pitched in!
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Back in Alabama...
We spent Easter Sunday driving home and listening to General Conference. Our kind friends who had Russell at their house all day fed us dinner when we came to pick him up, which was so nice. We are so grateful for Jesus Christ, his Resurrection and the peace we have in our lives because of Him. Happy Easter!!
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