PASSPORT BLOOPERS

Here are some pics of some of the fun times we had over Spring Break -- we got the chance for playdates and other fun we don't normally have time for! It was really a great time, and we were thankful for the break.

My friend Jena had the great idea to open up the gym for a skate/ scooter/ bike night for those of us who were sticking around over Easter weekend. The kids had so much fun! (Frankly, so did the adults!) Matt was gone to jail ministry, but the girls really enjoyed their first physical activity following the surgeries!
The row of toilets had been a real novelty for all the students as they left for break (They were being replaced in one of the buildings, and the were all lined up on a wall of landscaping bricks in the front yard...) We had to chuckle as we drove in to find that someone had a little fun sculpting this not-so-bashful snowman.

Only in Wisconsin...

Emmy and her friend Stephanie had a fun playdate... Isn't their sign adorable?

Chloe and Abby had their own simultaneous play date... but I never heard a peep from them!
It was great for them to have the chance to giggle and craft together ;)
And Lanes? She's a bit of a free spirit... She's so funny lately with her pretend play, her songs, and her hilarious quips... She got a playdate, too, but I think I spent more time playing with her little friend than she did! She keeps asking me when it's time to go to "Uh-souri," and she is bent on going to all her friends' houses! She loves her little friends here, though... hope it's not too hard for her to understand when we leave. She recently went to her first drop-off birthday party, and one of her most frequent lines is "I big now, I can ________!"

EASTER

We had a wonderful Easter, even though it was so hard to be away from home!
The girls, as always, enjoyed decorating eggs and telling the story along with the "Resurrection Eggs" that Chloe made last year. There were some tears, however, when Laney, excited and gejust getting into the idea of egg hunts, opened Resurrection Egg #1 and promptly stuck the old chunk of cracker in her mouth! I yelled "STOP! NO!" as I saw this whole process unfolding, and I think I scarred the poor thing. You're supposed to get to eat the treats inside, right?? We remedied the situation with "Gramma Crackers" for all and went on with the story.

At church I helped with the "Juniors," which include Laney and Ems. Pretty gutsy to dye eggs in their Easter best, huh? We had a great time. Laney cozied up on her pal Elijah's chair. The two are two total partners in crime... they could amuse each other for days!

So sweet to see them love each other :)

He's got the suave wink down pretty well, huh?

We were thrilled to be invited to our pastor's home for Easter dinner. We watched what looked like a blizzard outside (luckily, it only lasted about half an hour!), had Mike's infamous ham and some traditional Chinese foods, and just had some great times with some of our dearest friends from church. We had a little worship time together and the kiddos sang a song they performed in church. (Unfortunately, our girls hadn't been up to the performance -- they weren't quite recovered -- but they love the song and it was sweet to hear them all!)

We will sure miss everyone we love in Wisconsin! We are so grateful for the friends we have met, but it is hard to always be leaving!

Spring Break

So while most of our friends headed to Florida or some other exciting WARM place for Spring Break, we didn't want to just hang out in our dank little rooms staring out at the 16 inches of Easter snow...

So we headed to the Wisconsin Dells for some off-season fun! It actually worked out great. Even though pretty much everything is closed down, we found a $49 special at a hotel with a fun pool area for the kids. We spent a full couple of days splashing around, and we had some great laughs together. The hotel was certainly no luxury getaway, but we had our own bathroom, a fridge and microwave, and a cheese store in our parking lot ;)

We were super thankful for the chance to get away and relax a little.

Laney, who really misses just having baths, had a great time just splashing in the shallow pool.

There were several times we had the pool area to ourselves, and the girls had fun with an imaginary game that it was their house ... this polar bear was their pet/ work animal ;)

Here Ems seems to be modeling the earplugs they had to wear. I was a little worried about keeping them in, but I let them pick out the color and they were so excited that I never even had to remind them to put/ keep them in!

Contrary to appearance, Laney loved the slide. She was very adamant that she needed a partner to ride with, though. She's a bit less fearless than last year!

These girls had a ball together and remembered how fun being sisters can be ;)

And we thought we were already there...

We visited "Circus World," the historical wintering grounds for the Ringling Brothers Circus.
No animals or shows in the winter anymore, but there was a fun museum with some rather interesting photos and circus garb...

Besides the museum, there are also about eight original buildings and a model circus. Our favorite parts of the whole place, though, were the museum of old restored cars and the workshop where the restorations take place. They were so amazing and intricately carved! And, perhaps the biggest perk for Chloe and me -- it smelled just like Grandpa's shop!
In the building with the mini circus were some cars the girls could actually climb on. None of them understood my cracks about getting carried away in the Paddy Wagon, though ;)

Convincing, eh?
Laney was really struggling to pose as the "Big Man"

One of Chloe's favorite cars :)