A long time ago in a a galaxy far, far away we had some good times in the month called April in the year of our Lord, 2009.
OREGON
We went to Oregon for our freezing cold "spring" break. We had lots of rain and wind, a little bit of sun and a lot of fun.
The kids and I spent a day at the Portland Zoo in the rain while Jason worked. Despite the rain we had a great time.
They were SO tired and they all thought they would die when we left but by the time we got back to the hotel their energy mysteriously returned.After the work part of the trip was taken care of we drove another hour to the coast for some freezing cold fun on the beach and other attractions. We spent time at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, the Hatfield Marine Science Center, Tillamook Cheese Factory and various other scenic spots along the coast.
Tillamook Cheese Factory
Oswald West
Cannon Beach
Tillamook Cheese Factory
Oswald West
Cannon BeachEASTER SUNDAY
On Easter we again forced our kids to go outside and act happy as we snapped a few shots of them before church (Hurry! Stand here. Not there, HERE! Please don't bug Eli. If everyone would look at the camera and smile we can take the picture when Eli looks. Don't look at Eli! Look at the camera. Stand up straight. Please don't pick your nose! Can you scratch your face when we are done???) I really wanted to get the pictures before church because the by the time church is over everyone is tired, disheveled and Eli is less than cooperative. I know this little tradition of getting pictures when we are trying to get ready for church drives Jason nuts because I make him take all the pictures (he claims my pictures are always blurry; maybe I have a nervous twitch).
SOCCER
We spent nearly every Saturday in March and April on the soccer pitch watching Ethan, Kate and Nathanael chase a small, often multi colored ball. This picture of Kate just cracks me up. It's like she telling everyone, "Now hold on a second while I get ready to kick."
THE BAR
Kate's second grade recess obsession has been "flipping on the bar." Ethan's was wall ball. She loves to flip and she does it every chance she gets. I have to admit I was a big bar flipper back in the day. We would race out the doors to recess to secure a bar for the entire recess. In this day of fairness and political correctness the kids aren't allowed to stay on the bar for the whole recess. That would be unfair to others and we want everyone to feel happy thus more laws, I mean rules must be implemented to take care of this problem. So the duties (the authoritative adult figures who monitor the playground) decided that six flips is the limit and then you must relinquish the bar and get back in line if you want to go again. This leads to lots of controversy over who's counting and how they are counting. But that's beside the point. I am pretty sure my favorite tricks (the Cherry Drop and the Death Drop) are outlawed since someone might shoot their eye out. . . I mean break their arm. Six flips at a time must not be near enough brain spinning for Kate as her obsession has come home. When we moved in we had a trampoline- a weird trampoline. There were no springs, only elastic. The elastic was worn and old and within a few months the trampoline was beyond repair. Jason pulled the fabric off and has left the frame up until such time as he decides to take it down and haul away. Kate has made the trampoline frame her personal brain blender and she spends as much time as she can flipping outside on our bar (that isn't even round by the way- it's more rectangular with rounded corners- uncomfortable!). Here she is gleefully spinning to her heart's content on a sunny April afternoon.
4 comments:
Yeah...now how about MAY and JUNE? Just teasing! It's hard to type when your eyes want to close all the time! What is it with that dang flipping bar. Jordyn flips on it at school too and then wonders what the yucky red marks are behind her knees are. She wears her skin off. Why? Maybe I was just too tall and didn't find much fun in that. (Hitting your head on the ground every time you go around probably detracts from the fun!) Anyway, it was fun to read your post and good to talk to you yesterday.
Sorry about the typos in the previous post. Too many things going on at one time distracted me.
I was totally a bar flipper too! I would make up flip combinations and routines every recess and lucky for me there were only a couple of other kids that liked to do it too so we got the bars every recess all recess long. It was so fun until they piled a bunch of sand under it to cushion any falls, then there wasn't enough space to flip and I got taller. And in all that time I never broke a bone. Good times.
SO much icy, wet fun! I only hope there is some way to have some Hot fun with you all this summer. -Sam
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