The "Quiet" Game

Driving in the car to pick up Brent from work.

Logan: Let's play the quiet game. 1-2-3, Go!.......Time out, I mean everyone is playing. Go!......

Avery: Mom! Logan's pointing at me!

Logan: That's how I win. Okay, go!....

Avery: Mom! Logan's saying I pinched him, but I didn't. It was Ellie.

Ellie: Nah-uh.

Avery: Yah-huh. You reached over me and you pinched him.

Ellie: (Guilty as charged)Okay. And go!....

Dad enters the car.

Logan: Time out. Hi, Dad! We're playing the quiet game.

Mom snorts.

Dad: Sounds like fun.

Logan: Okay, go!

Ellie: Dad,(something about school). Okay, go!....

No one ever wins this game.

Ellie Graduates

I know I posted last year about Ellie graduating from pre-school. Actually she was just moving to a new pre-school/day care. So this time she really did graduate and she's moving on to kindergarten this fall. Here are some pics.



This was our favorite teacher, Dan.

Trip to Idaho (Warning: Long Post)

So this trip marks the first vacation we've taken in three years (thank you nursing school). The trip started off with a 24 hour drive straight through the night and next day to Idaho from Illinois. I'd worked night shift the night before, so after sleeping all day we loaded the kids in the car around 7pm and off we went. I thought for sure they would all sleep with a bed made up in the back. Oh no! Not my kids! "She's got her feet on me." "He won't share the blanket." Etc, etc. Brent, who doesn't sleep well in the car anyway, gave it up around 2am and played video games for a couple of hours. I put on my headphones and rocked out for 12 hours.

Leaving Illinois the temp was in the 90s. Arriving in Idaho we found we had packed the wrong clothes. The temp was often in the 60s and occasionally hit 70s. It rained for the first three days we were there, then we made up for lost time.

We went to the Zoo in town.






We went to a hot springs followed by a riverside picnic.


Another day we saw some waterfalls and had another picnic. Logan really liked the falls.



On our way to the first set of falls we passed a sign directing to a hidden falls. Pam and Brent said they'd never been, so we went to find them on our way home. They were far off the beaten path. We saw a bear on the road ahead of us, but by the time we caught up, the bear was nowhere to be found. The kids had a great time hiking the trail and touching the water along the raging river.



I made them pose for pictures on some rocks.





Logan found that he could milk money out of Gramma and Grampa by doing some chores. So he did the dishes and learned to mow the lawn.


Cousins came to visit and we hit some more sites. Craters of the Moon was our first stop- an expansive lava bed full of craters and caves. It was REALLY windy out there.






We hiked a butte.




Our favorite activity was going to an amusement park. Brent and Logan went on every rollercoaster they could. Avery barely made the height requirement, but she wasn't as psyched as Logan. Ellie was still too small, but she and I had some fun together. I got lots of video, which I'm not posting. Apparently I only got pics of the carousel.



And that was our vacation! Whew, I'm tired, I need a vacation at home.

Easter

Avery greeted me at the door on Easter morning as I returned home from work and fretfully informed me that the Easter Bunny had not delivered. I handed her the letter I had found taped to the door. According to the letter, rather than hiding eggs this year, E. Bunny, had hidden their baskets instead. He included their first clue, and they were off.




The kids took turns reading the clues and seeking out the next one. Eventually they found their way to the basement where the baskets had been laid out. Happy Easter!

Pinewood Derby

Please do not get me started on the inequality in our church in regards to girls and boys activities. That said, here are pictures from the Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby. This was Logan's first, he named his car "Pitch Black".



Brent and I felt that it was unfair for only the boys to do the Pinewood Derby, so our girls made a car too and they raced it against Logan's after the derby was over. Logan won.

Baby Logan turns 9

When we were shopping for his sisters' presents Logan spotted this football and Brent went back to the store for it. They've had so much fun playing catch.


Clothes, yeah he's so excited!


I asked Logan what kind of a cake he wanted for his birthday. Because we'd just had so much fun decorating pinewood derby cars he said "Flames". I did the best I could.

Avery's 7!

My Avery loves her Hello Kitty gear.


New sheets, not very fun, but her princess sheets were so faded and these look really cute on her bed.



My Ellie really knows how to dress for a party!

Ellie's 5th Birthday

We didn't do a big party for birthdays this year. Every child chose what we would have for dinner and dessert that night and we just celebrated as a family.

Opening presents.




For every grandchild's 5th birthday Grandma Hart makes a special birthday quilt. This was Ellie's.


Wearing her new clothes.

Christmas

Somehow I managed to schedule myself to work the three days leading up to Christmas. This included Christmas Eve which meant I didn't get home until 7:30 Christmas morning. We didn't get very many pictures because I was passed out through the afternoon, but we did get some.



You know there are too many presents when halfway through opening them Avery quits and goes to the table to play with what she's already got.
Ellie didn't feel the same way though. When everything was opened she looked under the tree and, finding nothing left, stomped her foot and began to pout.



Pop Pop and Logan decided to have a Nerf gun battle while the rest of us chatted and ate oh so many DELICIOUS things that my mommy made.




Santa really came through this year and the girls got plenty of makeup and nail polish. The Hart cousins gave each other silly socks and books.