April Birthdays: Judith and Erin

We seem to have a destination birthday thing going on this year.  Ezra's was in Williamsburg at Great Wolfe Lodge and Judith's was in Panama City Beach, Florida.  We celebrated with Daddy before we had to leave him there for school.

Cici's pizza and a cookie cake with presents back in the hotel room.

 Pancakes for her 'actual' birthday breakfast.

She picked out a cake with a ladybug on it.  Judith's friends Harlee and Brooklee joined us for cake.
 

 Four candles for my birthday girl.

Showing off her gift from the Wood girls (along with a messy face).

 And these... are pictures from my birthday.  I made the cake with help from Jonas and Judith.  Jonas wrote "Happy Birthday Mommy" and Judith decorated with hearts and dots.

Easter 2014

It's always a bummer to celebrate a holiday without Mike/Daddy, but we had a good Easter morning, followed by church, and a nice lunch with the Wood family.

Judith with clip-in bunny ears (sooo much better than a headband!) from her basket.

 

 This is the first of a few attempts at a family photos.  Despite Ezra's face, he was really happy.  Sometimes his face gets confused.  I think he's trying really hard to do a great big smile, but doesn't realize his eyebrows look angry instead of happy and his mouth is more like a snarl than a smile.   

 

Jonas REALLY loves Peeps.  Can you tell?

 

I think this is a sweet one.  Except I don't like my smile...

Opening eggs after the house hunt.

Silly picture after the back yard hunt.

Ezra hunting eggs.

These pictures make one think that they really DO love each other.  ;)

Happy Easter!

He is Risen!

Spring Break in Panama City Beach, FL

Mike had to attend (yet another) class.  This time at Tyndall AFB in Florida.  Since his start date coincided with the boys' Spring Break we decided to drive down with him and enjoy some beach fun as a family before we had to say goodbye (again) for 6 weeks.

As always, we enjoyed meeting up with friends from Germany, the Alvey family.  They treated us to a wonderful seafood dinner.

The kids were fascinated by this building.  Who wouldn't be?!  We spent the morning here having some hands-on-learning fun!

Ezra on the bed of nails.  (Yes, really!)

Jonas' floating head.

On the way, we spent the night in Sumter, South Carolina where we met up with some friends from Aviano. They invited us to join them for their church's Easter festivities and egg hunt.  

 This picture is from the last time I saw Christy--when we were both pregnant for the first time and they were leaving Italy. 

 And here we are 7 1/2 years later!  Time flies!

Jonas, rock-climbing to get some eggs.

Mike and Leo catching up.

Cherry Blossom Festival in DC

It seems to me, that one of the quintessential DC outings involves cherry blossoms.  Who am I to mess with quintessence? 

 

 About a month ago, I heard on the radio that the peak of the cherry blossom bloom was going to be this week.  Mike and the boys were less excited about going, so I invited my friend Kristen and her girls to come with Judith and me. 

 Kristen and I both were expecting more pink and less white.  I'm not sure if they were more pink when they first started blooming or if the weather has an influence on their hue that varies by year?  There were a few trees here and there that were more pink, but mostly the blooms were white. 

 A peak through the blossoms at the Washington Monument.

  The Jefferson Memorial is my favorite Washington memorial/monument.  Since it is located prominently on the tidal basin and we had neglected to visit it during our month of living in DC, it was definitely on our modest itinerary. 

 A quick picture in Kristen's yard before we left.

 Despite the large crowd, we were able to find parking fairly close.  We walked just a few minutes and found a spot on the grass near the Jefferson Memorial to enjoy our picnic.  Did I mention that the weather was gorgeous?

 A Judith pose.

 Kristen, Harlee, and Brooklee.

Despite the crowd, and keeping track of 3 busy girls, we were really glad we went!  The cherry blossoms are overwhelming and so very beautiful.