More Spring Break

The weather got warmer towards the end of the week, so on Thursday we took the kids out to Young's Dairy for lunch and ice cream. They enjoyed visiting the farm animals and playing outside. When we got back to the house, Dad took the kids for tractor rides. Nate and Sarah both qualified to drive by themselves. Dad says Nate's a good driver, but needs to learn that fast isn't always better! Sarah had a few mishaps on the tractor. She got a little too close to a tree and bent the wheel well, then she ran right into the brush as she was coming into the clearing. Papa says she's a good driver, but gets a little distracted - a few more times around the loop and he won't have to trim the brush this spring! Luckily, Papa is a patient teacher and believes in learning from experience. He made her get right back on and drive some more.

Spring Break in Ohio

For Spring Break this year, I took the kids down to visit my parent's in Ohio. It's about a 12 hour drive so we don't get down there as much as we would like. We had a great time hanging out at their house and exploring the Dayton area. The girls and I went to the Boonshaft Discovery Center one day and Papa took Nate out to Wright Patterson AFB to the museum.





The next day we all went out to Carillon Park which is a historical park on the Miami River. It tells the history of the Miami Valley from its founding in 1796 by a group of early settlers. There were many old buildings including a school house, tavern, gas station and some old train cars and engines.

Girl Scout Cookie Time

Sarah's girl scout troop sold cookies today outside the local Super WalMart. Despite the cold weather it was quite a success! Here she is with her best friends Abby and Alyssa. Renee and I helped out by staying out of the girls' way and letting them do their thing. We enjoyed a Vanilla Chai Tea Latte from the local Caribou to help make the cold weather bearable. We were very glad that we had signed up for the first shift and the sun was shining!

Natalie's 1st pigtales

There's a first time for everything and we can now cross off pigtales! Natalie's hair is long enough and she sat still for me to put her hair up this morning. It helps to have an older sister that you like to imitate....

Girl Scouts International Night

Sarah's Girl Scout troop participated in International Night again this year. They represented the country of Vietnam and performed a traditional fan dance. One of Sarah's troop leaders made all the girls a dress and we even put chopsticks in their hair. Each of the girls had to research a topic to put on a display board and the troop served egg rolls and fortune cookies after the performances. Sarah's troop was chosen to lead the flag ceremony and Sarah was asked to be the person to give directions. She was very confident in front of the crowd of people and I think she looked beautiful in her costume!

Backyard Visitor

Nate was on his way home from school yesterday when he noticed something walking in our backyard behind the tennis courts. When he went to investigate he discovered an oppossum in the tree. He came in, grabbed the camera, and took some fantastic close-ups!

Steve and Natalie build a Snowman