April 22nd - happy Earth Day (fun with Dries)

We recycled broken crayons to make new Earth-like globe crayons, we used recycling to create pretty spring artwork, we climbed trees and played outside all day with Maya, Nolan and Zoey.  The kids had a blast, especially since we were able to spend so much time outside despite abysmal weather reports.  Tuck and Nolan even made a fort....by cutting down a few live and completely healthy trees...on Earth Day....so we will have a little planting party in a few weeks....but boy did they enjoy working with tools and playing in the woods!  gotta love vacation!

Mckinley has been testing for about the past 10 days and today was full of exciting moments....

"Mommy stupid.  Sorry Mommy, Mommy nice"  (that's a classic)

"I almost...almost 2"

Mckins has been counting stairs and counted to 11 today.  She also has been pointing out and naming several letters (M-my, B-Brookie, T-Tucky, D-Daddy, C-Ninny for Cindy, A-Araia and a few more)

She is absorbing absolutely everything right now and it's scary how much her language skills increase everyday!  She is also trying out a lot more right now, like hitting, saying NO and trying to get a rise out of her siblings.  They still haven't realized that she's learning from their fighting...watch out big brother and big sister!

April 21st - Boston with the Scorza's

We hit the Children's Museum first, tried to get into the Lego Discovery center but it was totally full so we drove North and went to play at Hampton Beach.  We then stopped for ice creams on the way home.  The kids had a full and super exciting day!  They decided to not go to swimming lessons because they were too tired but insisted on going to the Dries' to play with their friends and visit their new chicks for a bit instead...oh well, it is vacation!

It was so nice traveling with the Scorza's, they're up for anything and the kids match up so well.  Akaila took the four big kids so I could bring Mckinley to the <3 year old play center and she had a blast.  It was so much fun watching her interact with kids her own age for a change.  She did so well until we were approaching lunch time and she decided she didn't want to share the car structure and started yelling "no" at some innocent looking little girls, too funny!  The beach was freezing but the kids loved getting dirty and digging in the sand.  They were troopers and took the disappointment of not getting into the Lego place really well!

Mckinley was excited to see Maya's new baby chickens, only a week old.  She even got to hold and pet them, and then said she wanted them too.  The kids also found a ton of frog eggs and brought them up so Kins could touch the gooey masses, which she enjoyed as well.  Needless to say, I brought out the wet wipes before they got into the car and we drove home later!

April 18/19th - Gems/Minerals show and spring skiing at the Loaf

We walked to St. Joe's college with the Scorza's to go to the rocks/gems/minerals show.  The kids loved checking out all the different exhibits and really liked digging for treasures in the sand.  

Awesome skiing!  The Landing area wasn't open so we skied Boardwalk all morning with Kins, until she got tired and the snow was too heavy for her to push around.  Meanwhile, the big kids were skiing all over the SuperQuad terrain and loving the soft snow.  After the pass holders BBQ, Tuck and I spend the afternoon skiing with Meghan, Sage, Kim and Mike and it was sweet!  We shut the mountain down and finished off the season on a terrific day!  What a year!