Girls Day Out

I surprised the girls on a little girls day out. We went to a local college that was putting on the the play Cinderella.

The girls were so excited. They were vert excited when we walked in and they saw the castle. Notice the pose that Alexa came up with as they held their skirts.

The play was so much fun. The girls loved it and were very excited to get a picture with Cinderella.

Cinderella's step sister was so funny. The girls giggled and giggle at her whenever she was on. They wanted a picture with her too.

It is always such a treat to have some time away with just the girls. They kept saying isn't it so nice and peaceful without the boys (really meaning Shane)!

We finished off the day with a stop at the ice cream shop!

A Morning At The Book Store

Shane's preschool had a special story hour at Barnes & Noble this spring.

The girls had fun tagging along and listening to stories too!

Shane and his friend hanging out looking at books.

He thought it was pretty cool that his artwork was on display in the Cafe' in the store.

The girls never have a problem finding books that they love. Emma quickly found all the books they had about Kit, her American Girl Doll.

One of Shane's favorite things at Barnes & Noble is the train.

A Night At The Circus

The Circus was in town so we decided that every child should experience the circus. Well let me take that back. Every child and adult should experience the circus. This was the both Eric and the kids first circus experience.

The kids got free tickets from their school so we met some friends there. Shane and Brietta spell one thing ... TROUBLE!!!!!!

Emma and Sidney are two peas in a pod!

A highlight was of course the cotton candy!

The kids were wide eyed as they watched each act. The kids thought the tigers were pretty neat!

I always think it is amazing they can get an animal that large to do the things they do but I guess that is why it is called the circus.

The puppies were just plain cute!

Shane loved the biker who did tricks. He watched very intently. Eric and I reminded Shane that we don't try to do those things at home .... for example we don't stand on the handle bars.

We had a fun time as a family at the circus!

The Magic Of Spring

There is something so magical about Spring! After a long winter the minute the weather turns people are in their yards, running, riding bike, sitting on their patios or just walking down the sidewalk. You get used to seeing your neighbors in their cars so pretty much just a head shot. So after a long winter there are usually new pregnancies and little ones in strollers that you didn't know about before the winter began!

Spring brings .....

new leaves ....

flowers blooming ...

play dough on the picnic table ...

bubbles ....

picnics at the park ....

cartwheels in the grass ....

playing at the park ...

new friends to be made ....

and a lot of love and life to share!

Thank you Lord for the gift of spring! This year spring is something that was such a gift or maybe something I didn't take for granted this time around.

A New Freedom

There is a new freedom at the McDonald house. Everyone is now riding a two wheel bike without training wheels. I have to tell you it does make this mom a little more nervous. They go a little faster now and feel like they have a little more freedom.

Shane was one determined little boy. He kept asking Eric to help him and in no time he mastered it.

Emma is so my daughter. She is so accident prone. She crashed into the basketball pole and the school. Luckily every time there were no injuries. There were just big smiles!

The kids are loving this new found freedom and would live on their bikes if they could.

This is Shane's classic bike riding face! His tongue is always out and he looks like he is concentrating so hard.

We have a great little route that Eric and I walk and kids ride bike. Eric sends them down different paths and then they meet up with us. We spent a lot of our evenings walking and talking while the kids circle around us. We've decided it is actually kind of like a mini date night.

Let's Go Fly A Kite

Shane got a kite at a birthday party and couldn't wait to go out with Eric and give it a try. They headed out to the park near by.

Shane was ready to take off!

There it goes!

The girls were riding bike and decided to join in on the action!

Finally after a couple tries it was up in the air. Shane was so excited.

Buzz Light Year was way up in the air.

The kids then decided to take it into their own hands. Eric and I had fun sitting in the grass and watching them work together to get the kite back in the air.

After a couple tries ....

we had 3 very proud kids!