Spring break fun

As part of our Minnesota spring break, we went with grandpa and grandma to a waterpark near the Mall of America. We let Grandpa and grandma tell the kids - they were so excited!

Of course, the kids were so excited about the hotel room. It had 2! Sets! Of! Bunk beds! Each kid got to sleep on a top bunk- even Amelia was allowed to sleep on the top bunk. Our family rule is that there is no sleeping on the top bunk until 5 years old. Seeing as her birthday is in another 2 weeks, she was allowed. She was BEAMING and handled it wonderfully. As an added bonus, the bunk beds were in a separate room with a TV, so the kids could wake up early without waking the baby. Or mom and dad.

The waterpark was so much fun. There was a lot of attractions that William and Amelia enjoyed and there was a few things for Gemma too. There were several things for bigger kids as well- a surfing section and some bigger waterslides we avoided.

The hardest part was having 2 parents and 3 non swimmers. Keeping track of everyone and having everyone happy was a little challenging.

Interestingly, Gemma wanted NOTHING to do with any of the water fun for the first hour. She did not want to be out down and wanted to be as far away from the water as possible. She hated the lazy river and moved to a deck chair when I tried to sit with her at the edge of the pool. However, after about an hour, she was ready and back to her old self. She wanted to do everything. She wanted to slide, splash and climb. We went down the same slides over and over and over again. I don't have a video, but I know grandpa does have adorable video of her sliding. We will have to work on getting that put up here.

So behind

I have some things on my mind that I would love to get down here.

I haven't worked out in a month and it is time to get back to keeping healthy.

The kids started soccer. We had to buy soccer supplies while in Minnesota last week. The guy at the store thought I was a little crazy when I said our soccer outdoor program starts this week. The soccer field in Minnesota was still covered by 2 feet of snow.

We made a whirlwind trip to Minnesota. We found out we could make it work on Tuesday afternoon and left town Wednesday morning. We were home again Sunday at dinner time in order to jump feet first into this new week.

The summer calendar is calling. I have plans. Big plans. I need an hour to sit down with a giant calendar and all my plans to see if I can jigsaw them all into our shorter summer (snow days=more school into our summer).

Gemma is frustrating and adorable. All at once. I want to tell you about it.

Amelia is almost 5 and is just beside herself with happiness and all the new things she will get to do when she turns 5. Soon. I'll get to it soon.

William is growing like crazy. He suddenly announced that he "isn't really into dinosaurs anymore, I like Legos now." Immediately after he made this epic announcement, he sat down and read a dinosaur encyclopedia for almost an hour. I had to peel him away from it and put it away on the shelf in order to have him eat dinner. He has also recently made a request for his own room. We're working on it.

It was St Patricks day. We are green stuff. The kids think John and I are...crazy. We might be.

Finally, the picture is documenting the largest amount of legroom I have had on a car trip in many years. The black bag is pressed up against the back of the seat in front of it as is the canvas tote bag.

How to write a work email

The new math

William's school has introduced a new math curriculum. This has been met with much parental angst because although it teaches the same concepts, the methods are completely different from how most people were taught*.
Take this math work, for example. William sat down and worked out these two math problems without any help. He was totally confident and proud. I totally do not recognize or understand his work here though.....

*I've done some research and I actually think many of the components of this curriculum are amazing, especially if they work as they are supposed to. So, I am currently undecided about my opinion.

Amelia's artwork

Amelia created this wonderful work of art on her magnadoodle last week. It is, of course, Mommy and me. We are clearly dancing (her words). Amelia is twirling (hence the tel next to her picture) and I am spinning (she sounded out the sn part).

I love her creativity, the precious drawings and the beginnings of her being able to sound out/ spell words!

If oranges are funny....

The night before, Gemma used her orange to have the whole family rolling on the floor with tears of laughter. (See previous entry) Gemma, of course, did it over and over. Why wouldn't you with such a great reaction?

The next day, I turned around to find her waiting expectantly with her strawberry in her mouth. The look on her face says it all. She is hilarious and she knows it. She is just waiting for the inevitable shrieks of laughter.

Amelia didn't want to be left out of the fun....

Guess what?

Guess who is now registered for kindergarten?

She is totally ready. Mama might not be...