Jazz on the Bridge

Last week Noah had a jazz concert at the local HS to help with a fundraiser. There were quite a few groups playing Jazz and they were all so good. We heard a little bit of an older group before we headed to the cafeteria to hear Noah. I just LOVE jazz! They did such a great job!

Blue shoes and Jazz go hand in hand, right? :)

Easter Weekend

We had such a busy Easter weekend this year. It started with our late night at the drive in on Friday, yard work, playing and the park on Saturday afternoon and then glow in the dark easter egg hunting on Saturday night. Every year we ask the kids if they want to do an egg hunt and every year it is a resounding yes!! We try and do some extreme version of the game to make it a little more exciting and this year we tried glow in the dark eggs. I bought some glow in the dark paint and Lucas and I painted letters on the eggs so everyone would know which egg was there's. This took quite a bit of time and unfortunately, the glow disappeared quickly after I put them in the yard....but hey, that made it a little more extreme!

Here they are. Ready to hunt!

We have a huge yard. It took forever and was great!

Can you see the eggs in this photo?

It's hard to take good pics when it's DARK!

This one was running everywhere so it was hard to catch him...in the DARK!

Eli is GREAT at this game!

We had a relaxing Sunday too. The kids didn't even wake us up early for their baskets! They were still sitting on the table when we got up while the kids played downstairs. Don't get me wrong, they had already checked out their goodies but they had enough manners to wait till we were up to go through them. :) After a relaxing morning we headed to Lawrence to meet Grandma and Uncle Billy for Easter lunch. It was soo good to see my mom! We hadn't seen her in a few months and she looked great. She was still in pain but was as spunky as ever! After lunch we spent some time at Weston State park before we took Autumn to youth group and the kids played catch. It was such a beautiful day!

We really enjoyed our Easter lunch with Grandma and Uncle Billy. Miss her so much!

Here we are at Weston State Park.

Look at that form!

Look at that face! I am not sure what inspired that...

This kid has quite a throw. It hurts to catch!

And nice catch!

We did some artsy shots...

I think maybe Autumn is made of sunshine. :)

I had to show you this one....after Noah was done playing catch he came and squeezed in between me and Sis on our blanket. Obviously, this guy is secure in his manhood....otherwise he wouldn't be wearing sparkly sunglasses, right? :)

As you can see, we had a great Easter weekend together. Love my family! :)

We LOVE Spring!

We have been LOVING this spring weather and kicked off the season with a trip to our local drive in movie theater. They hosted a free family weekend to show off their new digital sound/screen with a double feature of Indiana Jones and Back to the Future. We packed up our tail gate goodies and headed out early to get a good seat. It was packed! We hung out, ate dinner, played cards and saw Indiana Jones AND the Delorian in person!

Pre show goodies...

The coolest VW showed up and everyone wanted to get a peek.

Lucas and Scott were in love with it....what a great way to watch a movie!

Indy looks a little different in person...

He is getting ready to crack the whip...

Lots of entertainment....

Look at that car! By the end of the night, there were TWO of them! Super cool!

This event really made us feel like summer was starting but luckily, we only have a few more weeks to wait. In the mean time, we have been walking to the park, riding long boards, skate boards and playing all sorts of catch. Lots of yard work too in our new park size yard with lots of playing! I am so thankful that we have 2 strong boys (and girl) who look forward to mowing our yard!

This would be the long board that everyone has been obsessing over...I blame it on Florida...

Everyone has tried it....even me....though thankfully there are no pics!

The kids ride up and down our street...

Sis usually sticks with her skateboard...

We found a home near one of our favorite parks...and we walk there all the time. Love that!

Isn't it beautiful?

Here she is attempting a hill....

And the joy of conquering it...

It's a good hill, can you tell?

My sweet family.... Did you know we have a monkey in our family tree? :)

Said monkey got stuck....

But I made sure to rescue him....he was too cute to leave behind!

We are loving this Spring weather and looking forward to more time outside!

Florida :: Our last day in paradise

Because we like to pack in as much fun as we possibly can in our short break together, we got up with the sun and had cousin Dominic take our yearly family photos. It was really windy and bright that morning but the photos turned out pretty good. Dominic did a great job. :) Looking back at our yearly photos I just can't believe how fast the kids are growing! I am getting shorter and shorter every week!

Isn't it gorgeous?

I think this one is really neat. Scotty seems to have a halo. :)

II love this one too. I wonder what he is contemplating?

What a beautiful Florida morning!

Ahhhh....they like each other.... :) Noah and Dominic...

After our family photos we headed to an authentic ocean side cafe and met up with Papa, Grandma, Aunt Deannie, Uncle Mike and the girls. What a delicious meal! Fresh seafood!

This cafe was right on the inner coastal so we had a fantastic view of some Floridian mansions... 

This house is just to the right of the big white house above...It's for sale if you are interested...I promise we will come visit you often! :)

Our little group at our outdoor cafe...

Look at that yacht! 

Aren't they cute?

Sweet grandma and her baby Scotty. :)

Our last group shot with Grandma...

Look what Lucas caught from the cafe pier! Woah!

After lunch we headed to Hillsboro Inlet and park. We loved this! You just don't see that around here. :) 

I'm not sure he read the sign....

Did he see Titanic?

This is some of the fresh fish we bought at the inlet. Scott cooked it for us when we got back home to KS and it was delicious!!

A mad dash for lunch!

After fish buying and soaking up a little more sun, we headed back to Aunt Kathy's to pack up the car...

Headed back home....what a fantastic florida vacation! Thank you family for  having us again. We LOVED it!

These last three shots were taken by Scott. THIS is how I remember Florida... What a perfect family vacation! I am so thankful to have family there so we can share this adventure with the kids every year.