Roses

We have this giant bush in our front yard that only blooms once a year for about two weeks (and that's it!) with these beautiful tiny pink roses. Every year I want to do pictures with the kids and I always forget, but this year it was so beautiful I managed to get a few good ones of the kids today before church.

I'm just going to say it. Nora is a doll.

To me, Peter always looks like a little European retired man when he wears this suit. He's a goof.

My Benji.

Trying to get all three in one shot was a bit...trying...really. But I'm happy with the few we managed.

I had them standing next to each other and Nora kept yelling 'Hands! Hands!' until the boys held hands with her. She loves them so much.

They crack me up.

Each with their own little personality.

Pinewood Derby

According to Peter, the best part about being in cub scouts is getting to participate in the Pinewood Derby. He designed his 'Shark Attack' car and with a little help cutting it out, he really did most of the work. And boy, was he ever excited for the actual race.

Our pack's set up was pretty sweet with this track that has infra-red sensors to determine what place each car comes in. There's Peter waiting for his heat to start. 

And while he did pretty good in his races, Peter was SUPER excited to win the 'Most Creative' car award. His leaders gave him this cool little plaque and he was beyond thrilled.

 I love his enthusiasm.

This kid is so grown up, love him.

Easter

Easter this year was a bit anti-climatic. After spending a great afternoon whale watching the day before, all of our kids ending up getting sick for the rest of Spring Break. Blegh.

Before it all hit however, Travis took the boys to our church's Easter egg hunt.

Benji rounding a tight corner in a tough game of duck-duck-goose.

Since Nora missed out, the Easter Bunny came to visit us Sunday morning and the kids got really excited about going on an egg hunt (bedhead and pjs included). Nora ran around the yard yelling "Eggies! Eggies!" over and over. She is darling.

Apparently tumbleweeds are appropriate accessories for girls in princess dresses and tennies.

Excited about their loot! To be honest however, after this they were all so tired out we went inside and watched a movie and they didn't even ask to eat any of their candy! That was when I knew they were really sick.

Happy Easter!

We enjoyed a nice dinner that night, even though I don't think some people had ever even gotten out of their pjs. Oh well, that's a successful holiday in my book.

Whale Watching

Ever since we moved to CA, I've wanted to go on a whale watching tour and we finally made it happen a few weeks ago over spring break. Luckily, no one got sea sick and we had the best time together.

Since we had to be at the boat fairly early, we figured what better way to start our morning than with donuts! Nora likes the chocolate best apparently.

It was a perfectly clear day and the water could not have been more beautiful. We did see a few grey whales but they were shy and never really came out of the water beyond making a few ripples here and there. 

 But! We did pass through a HUGE school of dolphins - probably around 50-100 - just swimming and jumping around our boat. The water was so clear you could see them swimming right next to us, it was incredible! 

Sadly, my phone died at the end of our boat trip so I wasn't able to get any pictures from the rest of our fun day at Balboa Beach - we went and hung on in the water for a bit and then rented a four person bike/buggy contraption too. The kids had a blast! It couldn't have been a more beautiful day which made up for the next week of spring break where all three of my kids came down with hand foot and mouth disease and we couldn't leave the house for over a week. Fun times.