Shad, Becky, Sophie, Lillie, and Becky’s cousin, Kelly, from Texas, arrived after we had already started, but were quick to get to work.

We missed having Jason, Kristina, Noah and Julia with us on Easter day, but that didn’t stop us from having a great time. This was Lillie’s first egg hunt when she could walk and find eggs by herself. She got very excited every time she found one. Sophie was good at letting Lillie find the more obvious eggs and spending her energy looking for the hard to find ones.

After the egg hunt becky and Kelly went to church and shad took Sophie and Lille home for a rest. They came back for dinner with the girls in matching dresses.

Tee and Charlene Curry also joined us for dinner, but I didn’t take pictures.

We didn’t take any pictures in the museum. Sophie’s enjoyed discovering that the Renoir just looked like color splotches when you stood very close to it, but when you moved away you could see a bowl of roses. The special exhibit was very small, so we quickly moved back out in the sunshine.

We sat out on the student union patio for a snack.

And then went to the library to check out a stack of books.

Sophie had a tonsillectomy and her adenoids taken out on Friday. She was a little nervous but being brave as she waited to be taken off to surgery.

Lillie came home to spend the morning with me while Sophie had surgery. I think I was in the hospital for several days when I had my tonsils out, but Sophie checked in at 6:30 a.m. and was home by 10:30 a.m. I forgot to get an “after” picture when I took Lillie home at noon, but she looked about the same the next morning when I stopped by again.

I don’t think having a bed in the living room where she could be read to or watch videos and eat ice cream has quite made up for the sore throat, but Sophie can now breathe through her nose and will soon feel terrific.

The twins enjoyed the hike past all the ducks and geese to the far end of the lake where there is a play area.

They love climbing on the play structure.

We couldn’t miss the swings.

When we got home, Julia and Noah both attacked their spaghetti lunch with gusto.

Noah was the first to wake up from a nap. He was really interested in the book about planes because Jason had flown to Atlanta for a conference on Sunday, and wouldn’t be home until Wednesday.

When Julia woke up it was time for snack.

We went outside for some more time in the sunshine, then Noah and Julia did some “cooking” in their kitchen while I started on dinner.

On February 22nd, we started with a tea party with the dollies.

Then read Lillie’s favorite book from the library (this week). First with my help–

Then by herself–

There was a little sunshine, so we walked to Amazon Park.

When we got home the dolly needed a bath.

And a bottle.

We built things with duplos.

And then worked in the garden until it was time for mom and Sophie to get home.

The weather was even nicer on the 27th, so we went to the Riverfront Park.

Lillie likes the “easy chair” swings.

And she loves the “Skinner’s Butte” structure (sometimes interpreted as a castle.)

Because Jon had never been to the Children’s Museum we went there for our morning’s adventures. It was dental hygiene day, so there were dental hygienists all over the museum talking to kids about toothbrushing and not eating too much sugar. Noah and Julia each painted a large plaster tooth with a paintbrush, but they were more interested in showing Gromper their favorite parts of the museum.

Noah couldn’t wait to get to the train room, but Julia was attracted to the face paint, which isn’t out on weekdays. The “paints” were washable grease stick. I gave Julia a kitten nose and whiskers, then she added a flower to her face and then drew one on me.

Noah gets very intense studying the trains, tracks, and layout.

Gromper liked playing with the trains, too.

We stopped to play with the color shapes at the light table.

We spent the longest stretch of time in the waterworks area.

We got back to the house about the same time Jason and Kristina arrived home from their “night out.” As we were taking things out to our car after a nice lunch all together, Julia asked to try on the high heel boots Kristina had been wearing. The boots are too big for her, but very cute.

Julia took a picture of me before we left.

February 13th I brought Sophie home to make Valentine cookies (again no pictures.)

February 8th we did “Sophie’s choice” and this time I remembered to use the camera.

We started at the mall with rides.

We visited the pet store.

Then, after some window shopping, it was time for a snack.

We were both tired of the mall by then, and Sophie accepted my suggestion of going to the Science Factory, our local children’s science museum, where there is an exhibit on color. Sophie powered a “color storm.”

The shadow colors on the wall weren’t captured well by the camera, but it was fun to see.

Sophie enjoyed watching the giant lizard, who was more active than I’ve seen him before.

We ended the afternoon with a short puppet show by Sophie.