Tulip Festival

With Steve being gone all last week and then again this week we decided that a family fun day was in order. So after Sunday school we headed down to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. It was a very fun day. We had a picnic lunch at one of the local farms and the boys enjoyed some ice cream. Then they had a great time playing at a small playground at the farm. Even Allison had a great time. She especially loved the slide. It was all I could do to hold on to her until Steve could get to the bottom of the slide to catch her. Then off to the tulip fields! They were gorgeous, of course. I had fun trying out a setting on my camera for flowers and I think it paid off. We got some great shots. Here are some pics highlighting out day.

AWANA Awards Ceremony

Tonight was the awards ceremony for AWANA. Both boys have worked so hard this year in order to finish their books. Brian finished his second Cubbie book and will be a big Sparky next year! Collin not only finished his 3rd and final Sparky book, but also finished his second Sparky book that he had not finished the year before. He got his second book ribbon as well as his Sparky plaque! Next year he will be in Truth & Training. I am just shocked, where did the time go? We weren't able to stay for the AWANA auction and had to scoot out of there as soon as both boys got their awards because poor Brian has croup and I was working hard to keep him away from the other kids.

Collin showing off his plaque.

Plaque and Second year ribbon.

Here is Brian and his Cubbie leader, Teacher Doralee. You can tell that he isn't feeling well.

I was having a hard time getting a picture of the elusive Brian. He wasn't on stage very much since he was sick. :(

Well, there's his back anyway.

Here are the Cubbies singing the Cubbie song. Don't look for Brian too hard. He isn't there since he couldn't be with the other kids.

Here is Brian, sad since he couldn't be with all his friends. But we went to McDonald's afterwards to make up for it.

Egyptians and Fully Clothed Bathers

Brian fell on the walk to pick up Collin from school so when we got home I put him in the bathtub to soak his owie. He got his knee pretty good, we ended up having to go home and were late getting Collin. So while I was busy cleaning his knee, Allison came in and was splashing in the water. The next thing I knew she had gone headfirst into the water! Clothes and all, but she was happy as a clam. So of course I needed to get some pics.

While all of this was going on in the bathroom, Collin was having his own fun in the backyard. We "caught" him posing Egyptian style on the playset while the sprinkler was on behind him. We couldn't pass up this photo op either.

Then we decided the photos were just not capturing the full effect, so Steve took a video. He had the camera sideways and I can't figure out how to rotate it (Denise, any way to do that?) so you'll have to watch it sideways, sorry. It's very funny though!

Catch up Monday

So rather than do housework today I thought it was time to spend some time catching up on my blogging. So I believe I posted 4 new posts. Hope you have fun catching up on what we've been up to. Hopefully in the future I will not take as long to post!

Easter pics

How many eggs can you find hidden in this picture?

Easter Sunday

We had a very nice Easter this year. On Saturday the kids dyed a few eggs. They had a great time. Allison wanted to get in on it, but I just gave her some paper to color on instead. Maybe next year!

Sunday morning we went to church and it was a really nice service. They gave everyone flowers when we came in and during the service they brought in a cross covered in chicken wire. The talked about how Christ is no longer on the cross and now it represents life. So we were going to transform it into something living. Then they had the whole congregation bring up their flowers and put them in the chicken wire. It was a beautiful representation of how the cross represents life. So cool! Then at the end of the service during the last song they had all the kids in children's church (Brian included) run up to the stage with palm leaves waving them. It was very cute.

After church we came home and had a nice afternoon. We played games with the boys, had a nice dinner and of course did the whole Easter basket and egg hunt for the kids. We talked to the boys about what Easter means. I was so proud of them because they do know what we celebrate on Easter! When we would say "He is risen" they would respond "He is risen indeed!" What a great day!