another spring blizzard and climbing after

Noah had three of his seven track meets cancelled, including Custer's on Thursday, April 11th, due to crazy spring snow storms like this one that lasted for two or three days. Of course that wasn't the last storm we had. Just this last weekend in late May we had a storm that produced two feet of snow in the hills!

It was very heavy wet stuff. 

I made my first attempt at gluten free cinnamon rolls (King Arthur). They had to be rolled out on waxed paper so that they could be rolled up by it too. 

Like so.

They also had to be placed in muffin tins so they'd keep their round shape. Gluten free dough is just the worst (the gluten rolls to the left are clearly superior). However, the littles enjoyed the heck out of them. 

Blizzard footage including the cat and dog and rolls.

The following day the littles got much needed haircuts.

He's so cute. I just want to eat him all the time.

Samuel has the sweetest eyes.

Also crazy eyes.

Bedtime bros.

The next day Ezra got pretty sick. I was worried about flu or strep but it was neither and he was fine. 

Noah had his 8th grade standardized testing to do that weekend.

The following day, Saturday the 13th, Denise asked if I'd come along for a girls afternoon out. Um, yes. We visited the indoor rock wall for some expensive fun. Jazmin nailed this one. 

Denise did the same move but her legs are shorter, which made her look cooler actually. 

They all say I'm a natural climber but I don't know why. Clearly I can't do amazing stuff like this!

Denise, me, Jaz, and Zoe. Fun times. 

piano recital 2019

Noah and Evie began piano lessons five years ago (beginning summer 2014). Therefore, this year was their fifth spring recital (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018). They really enjoy their lessons with Mrs. Kathy R. She's an excellent teacher!

Noah played "Ballade" by Burgmuller.

It was twice as long as Evie's (still only two minutes). 

Look at the pride on his face. 😊

Good job buddy. 

I was struck with how tall he was. Look at those legs! We actually had to go out and buy those pants at Walmart because he had dressed in shorts for church before I could recognize what he'd done. He also borrowed Terry's collared shirt since his own was too small for him. I took it out of his closet after that. He looks so grown up!

Snuggling with "Monkey, monkey, MONKEY!!!" who Samuel is obsessed with. Monkey is a menace; Samuel goes nuts when playing with him. Also, he's a lemur. 😅

Evie played a Suzuki song called "Hungarian Folk Song" by Bartok.

Here is her one minute song.

No curtsies allowed; only bows. 

Noah sure has grown this year! 

They insisted on a silly picture. Great job Noah and Evie!

Rock Mazes per spring tradition

Looking back on the blog, it appears we've gone to the rock mazes every other year since 2015. This year we went on April 5th and it was about 70 degrees with snow and ice still in the crevices of the rocks (two years ago it must have been about the exact same weekend with even nicer weather). 

They climbed the very first rock they came to.

Climb rocks, pose, take picture, repeat.

We wandered around the front of the rock wall for a while. Plenty of snow in there still. 

I like exploring these little areas but the kids prefer to jump around on top, so here we made our way up.

The walls aren't that high.

Wandering. 

The kids discovered that some people must have had an epic airsoft battle up there because there were pellets everywhere. They quickly started collecting all the pellets they could find. 

They bartered for favorite colors too.  

I was planning on giving Luna a haircut soon so I made sure to get some shots of her in her fine fluffy fur. 

This time I walked around the outside of the rock walls and the kids and daddy stayed on top. 

Unfortunately there is some pretty crude graffiti up there. 

More exploring.

She likes to look down on me all arrogantly. 😜

1, 2, 3, 4.

Everyone but me.

It was more interesting below to me.

Lots of jumping.

Some log shimmying. 

I discovered some new stuff, like this fun dry cave. 

Terry is coming out of it here.

Going Atlas on that wall. 

Once we reached the end of the wall we turned back for lunch. The kids discovered some pre-made houses, this one being the least complete. 

Ezra was going to town on that stump and his face cracks me up. 

Here's another house. This one Ezra felt he needed to move that log.

Lunch on a rock.

I discovered Ezra's shoes were done and I got him some new ones like the very next day. 

Good kiddies. Begging puppy. 

Nap time for daddy.

While Evie and the littles played in the houses and collected airsoft pellets, Noah and I wandered around the crevices on the front of the rock wall. 

My cutest little Dwidge.

We discovered a bunny during lunch!

He was under this overhang.

I believe this was the largest house.

Evie welcomed us as if she owned the place.

Sitting down for a nice mud dinner.

She named all the houses and some of the rooms.

This was a side room.

A third house. 

The final house, Snow Valley.

Family picture time. 

We've taken this shot three times now. 

They insisted on a funny one. 

The cumulative videos from our day.