Chocolate Festival

Hayden was being a stinker, as you can tell by her stinker face.

We had nothing planned on Saturday, so we checked online to find something fun to do. We went to a Chocolate Festival in a historic town nearby. Our friends wanted to come with us. Their baby ended up getting sick on the way, so we took their daughters with us. We didn't have much chocolate. We tried a sample at one of the shops, but the kids picked candy sticks at the candy store. All of the actual booths were way to expensive to actually buy anything. Which the kids weren't too happy about. The kids did get to go down the big blow up slide, but the hit of the day were the animal puppets the kids got to make dance. It's always fun to get out, and we enjoyed the time together!

Easter Weekend

We went to Indiana for Easter this year. Sunday was Easter, Camille's birthday, and Quinn's blessing. Grandma and Grandpa Woodland were also there, so lots of fun visiting took place.

 Saturday was filled with Easter fun. We started off with an egg hunt in the yard. We were lucky to have beautiful weather! Hayden was peeking while Ryan hid the eggs, so she was extra ready to get started.

 They both got lots of eggs and lots of candy.

 Next we dyed eggs. The kids had dyed eggs at their friend's birthday party that week, but we were lame and didn't do it at our house, so they were excited to have another chance.

 Then Hayden and Cole each got a special present from Grandma and Grandpa Woodland. A fishing pole!! Cole go a special green pole, of course, because he LOVES green!

 They were so excited and ready to head out to the pond behind Eric and Camille's house. There were tons of fish looking for food. We were just using bobbers, so no fish were caught, but the kids loved it!

 Sunday morning the kids followed the clues left by the Easter Bunny and found their baskets. Candy was skimped on this year. The kids got cups, watercolors, pencils, and stickers.

Saturday night I started feeling really gross. By the time we left for church on Sunday morning, I was pretty miserable. We went to Sacrament meeting, where Ryan got to help bless Quinn. Then right after the Sacrament we left for home. Unfortunately, we missed all of the birthday and Easter fun that was planned for after church! We drove the almost 5 hours home and I spent the next 2 days in bed.

Despite the bummer ending, we had a great weekend, especially since we got to get some cuddle time in with Quinn!

We talked a lot with the kids this year about the true meaning of Easter. We taught them about Jesus Christ and his resurrection. It always warms my heart when they can answer questions about Jesus. I'm very grateful for the Easter season and for my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Random

 Life has been crazy around here, but we've taken some time to have fun!

 There is a forest preserve near us called Independence Grove. We love it there. It is so beautiful, there are fish to feed, and a great playground. The kids are always excited to go there.

 Hayden got to bring home Ellie the Elephant from preschool. We took her around and then Hayden took pictures back to her class to show what we did. Hayden was so excited, and took Ellie with us everywhere we went.

 We took Ellie for a walk around our neighborhood, and down to the pond by us to see the big frogs.

 Another day we took Ellie to the Volo Bog. The kids were excited, because we saw worms, birds, spiderwebs, and a slug. All kinds of exotic wildlife to be thrilled about ;)

General Conference weekend was wonderful! We got to actually sit and watch all sessions this year. The kids were so good. We had yummy food and some fun projects. One of our projects was dying rice. The kids thought it was cool to color the rice and kept going back to play with their rice throughout the day.

Here is a pregnant belly picture from March 22. I was about 27 weeks. Now that I'm almost 34 weeks, I'm much bigger. I had 3 different people tell me how big I am yesterday. One was Cole. He was sitting on the couch and I bent over to pick something up. He said "Momma, your bum is big. REALLY big!" Then at church 2 women told me they couldn't believe how big I was, because I'm SO BIG! Luckily, I don't get offended by these comments, and I actually think they're funny.

I'll post pictures of my huge self soon ;)