The Perfect Storm

So they say when all of the elements combined it creates what is known as the perfect storm. Well the past few weeks we had the perfect storm at our house. The elements included:

-Mom out of town for 1 week.
-Six very active kids.
-Crazy weather (hot one day and freezing cold the next).
-The changing of seasons (winter clothes to the summer clothes).
-6 bins of summer clothes that kids went through to find clothes.
-Mom and Dad working in the basement to get it ready to paint.
-Painting the basement (:
-Two preschool scrapbooks that needed to be made.
-4 sick kids (all at different times).
-Trying to catch up on 1 1/2 months of blogging.
-1 tired, pregnant mom.

When all of these elements combined along with many more, the results were catastrophic.

No children were harmed when the avalanche occurred...


After the disater clean up all of the winter stuff is sorted, folded, and ready to be put away for the next 4-5 months (we hope).


So when all was said and done there are now 9 bins of winter clothes waiting for Cord to put away, the closets and dressers are all stocked with summer clothes, and two bags are off to Goodwill. Hopefully, the laudry is caught up. Oh wait, now it is time to wash all of the bed linens :(

Cole's way of getting around

Cole has been stubborn about walking. Finally, while on our vacation he decided to start taking some steps. He had no desire so he didn't walk for a long time. He did however learn to walk on his knees. It was his way of getting around so he could carry things. He did this for months. Here is a short video so you can see how cute he was. This video was taken right after our vacation in April. Because of course now Cole not only walks, he runs....

Kinley's haircut

April 16, 2009
A few days after we got home from vacation Kinley decided she wanted to get her hair cut.

These photos were taken by Tate.

Mt Rushmore

April 13, 2009

On the way home we were able to stop and see Mt. Rushmore. Cord was the only one of us who had been there before, so we were excited to see one of the Nation's landmarks. We got there in the early evening and it was all but deserted. The admissions gate was closed so we were able to get in for free (: On our way up to the site we passed a family that was leaving, and when we got to the site there were only two other people there. They took a picture for us and then they left. There we were,all by ourselves at one of the nations tourist attractions. It was an amazing opportunity, yet a little spooky. We kept wondering where are all of the people? The kids thought it was cool, but they were more intrigued by all of the stairs and just started to run around.

Mt. Rushmore

The kids running up to the monument



Cord and the kids

The family at the lookout point

The kids running around

Kinley

Tate

Riley

Reese

Ella

Cole and Cord

Cord and me

The trek home

April 13-14th

The ride home went very smoothly. We didn't have any barfing, no snow, and all of the kids, except Cole, were great. Car rides are just hard on little ones. He is too little to enjoy watching TV, but too old to just sleep and play with his toys the whole time.

We took a different route home so we could see some different sights. The weather was beautiful and we were able to stop and see Mt. Rushmore. Even with our sight seeing we made great time the first day and were able to make it home safely Tuesday afternoon.

There is no better feeling than pulling into your own driveway after a nearly 4,000 mile road trip with six little kids. Home sweet home...

Easter

April 12, 2009

We spent Easter at my Parents house in UT. The Easter Bunny found the kids, even though all of the local stores had been utterly depleted of Easter candy. The Easter bunny brought a few treats and other cool things for a long car ride. The kids were excited to get the baskets. Sat. night grandma got a bunch of her extra baskets out and let the kids chose which one they wanted to borrow. I think they almost had as much fun choosing a baskets as getting them full the next morning.

My sister Connie and her family came down from ID to go to church with all of us. After church we helped my parents get the finishing touches on the Easter meal. The whole family was able to come to dinner. Connie and her family (10 including the new and future sons-in-law), Debbie and her family(6), Mike and his wife (2), Wayne, my family (8), and Mom and Dad. 29 people in total, it was crazy, but very enjoyable.

It was nice to spend time with family. It had been since last summer that we were all together. It is always fun to reminisce about old times.

Reese and her Easter basket

Ella hauling around her Easter candy

Reese and her basket and breakfast

Cole enjoying the candy in his basket

Riley and her basket

Riley

Tate and her basket

Curly Kinley and her basket

Tate checking out what the Easter Bunny brought

Kinley wanted to have Curly hair so sat. night Grandma put curlers in her hair to sleep in, so she would have curly hair for Sunday.

The Easter Egg hunt

April 11, 2009

Every year Cord's dad (Papa) has a huge Easter Egg hunt in the backyard for all of the grand kids. Papa hides hundreds of eggs filled with candy and then special eggs with $1 bills inside. Each kid can pick up four special eggs and however many of the other eggs they can find. Papa sends the kids out by age group so the little ones get a little head start. The kids each found a ton of eggs. After the egg hunt we had a huge Mexican feast. It was a fun day to spend with Cord's family.

After the feast the kids all enjoyed playing with their cousins. The kids went on a special quest to find more Easter eggs, which they did. the adults just spent time talking. It was great to be with family.

Later that afternoon we loaded the kids back in the car to go back to UT and spend Easter Sunday with my family, and also to get us 300 mile closer to home for when we started back to MN on Monday. The kids thought this trip was fabulous, because I let them eat their Easter candy from the hunt.

Cole and Daddy finding eggs

Ella

Reese going for the money egg

Ella

Tate

Kinley and her cache


Reese, Kinley, and Riley

Tate posing with her basket full of eggs

Ella enjoying her candy on the ride to grandma's and grandpa's house

Ella had too much fun and way too much candy. Sleeping on the car ride.

Boise Zoo

April 9, 2009

We took the kids to the Boise Zoo. They were excited to be back. When we lived in ID we had a zoo pass and we went to the zoo all of the time. Each of the kids has a favorite animal they like to see at the zoo, but usually they have more fun playing in the play ground. The highlight of the zoo was the new giraffes. The new giraffes were purchased from the MN Como Park Zoo and the kids got to see the giraffes last year here in MN before they went to ID (of course we have no idea which giraffes were going to Id when we saw them last year). Regardless the kids thought it was really neat.

Kinley the turtle

Tate and her friend the lion

Kinley and the seal

Ella and her best friend the Elephant

On the road again

April 8, 2009
After a quick, yet very fun few days at my parents in UT it was time to load up and drive to Boise, ID(about 300 miles) to go and see the Schrader's. The kids did pretty well considering they only had a few days break between the eternal drive and the trip to Papa's.
The gang

Kinley

Tate

Cole

Riley (aka Olivia Newton-John) has found a new use for wipes

The Twin's Club

Reese and Riley have formed an exclusive club. To be a member of their club you must be a twin. Because my dad is a twin, he (grandpa) is the other member of their club. It is cute to watch the special little bond they share with grandpa because they are all twins.

On our trip, Reese and Riley were riding in my parents car on an outing to the Bird Refuge. On the drive there they decided to have a treat. Unfortunately, there were only three pieces of licorice left in the bag, but four people in the car. The girls solved the problem, it was a "Twin's Club" snack. Sorry grandma!!!

First picture of the Twin Club.

Smores

One of the nights when we were at my parents we roasted marshmallows and the kids made smores. It was a lot of fun. Reese kept cooking marshmallows and smores for members of the "Twin's Club" (see next post about the club). Poor grandpa got stuck eating some very interesting smores, I guess membership has its privileges (: The kids had a great time and of course they all got VERY sticky.

Kinley striking a pose with her smore

Ella enjoying her smores

Cole enjoying the night