April and May Fun

Easter Sunday there was a visit from the bunny during an egg hunt at church.  In the first picture below Phoebe is in the back row to the right.  In the second picture below Silas is wearing a blue shirt on the right side.

After church, we headed to my Aunt Jan and Uncle Dale's house for a Hastings family get-together and a potluck meal.

We bought, and Eric installed a new wood-burning stove at our new house.  We got to use it a couple times in March while it was still cold.  It worked very well.  Eric, Silas, and Phoebe even had a camp out in front of it one night with their sleeping bags and pillows.

In mid April both Silas and Phoebe wanted to sign up to make a Home Depot project with Daddy.  The project that they both got to make on a Saturday morning at Home Depot was a window hanging bird house.

They both had fun getting to build and use tools with Daddy.

My Aunt Judy came to visit for a few days in April when my Mom had surgery.  She stayed with Eric and the kids to help out, so that I could go to Kansas City for a couple days to be with my Mom and Dad while she was in the hospital.  Thanks Aunt Judy!  We all can't wait for you to come back!

We have a family pass to Tanganyika Wildlife Park this year and we are loving it!  There are lots of chances for cool animal encounters inside the park.  The kids always love petting the Kangaroos.

Feeding the birds and Giraffes at Tanganyika is always fun too.

We hosted a Machine Pitch Softball Family Party for Phoebe's team at our house before their games got started.  It was a fun time for families to get together, eat, and get to know each other better.  The weather was perfect that evening and the kids had a great time playing outside.  My friend, Jenny, made this super cool softball cake for us all to enjoy (pictured below).

Some of the Dads gathered around the grill.  Eric grilled hot dogs for everyone.

Inside we put out all the food and let the kids fill their plates first.

Below, Sarah and two of her good friends, Brooke and Hannah.

Below, Phoebe and her friend, Baylee.

Then all the little girls on the softball team made a hair tie or "flewffy" as we like to call them around our house to match their uniforms.

Eric's Uncle Jon died in May.  He and his brother Bret traveled together to Missouri for the funeral.  While they were there they got to visit and spend some time with their Grandma.  She now lives in an assisted living facility close to one of her daughters (Eric's Aunt Karen).

When Erc and Bret got back to our house from the funeral and burial, before Bret left to drive home to Texas, Silas got to inspect and learn about Uncle Bret's vehicle and his storm chasing equipment.

Our kids all had fun at a friend's "SPIRIT" themed horse birthday party.  There was lots of yummy treats, like ice cream, homemade sugar cookies, and homemade strawberry pie.  The kids all got to ride horses too!

Over Mother's Day weekend we headed to my parents to spend time with them.  We went out to our family friends farm pond one evening for some fishing.  We all caught fish.  Phoebe has especially been enjoying taking fishing excursions with Popee lately.  He helps her bait the hook and cast and they reel in the big fish together.

Eric trolled around and fished out of Mitch's little boat.

Silas caught a few big Bass.  He also liked searching for big Bull Frogs and having Popee and Daddy try to help him catch them.

I may have caught the biggest Bass of the evening!

On Mother's Day we went to church with Mom and Dad.  Then we went out to eat at the Chinese restaurant, The House Of Ma.  It was good to be there with Mom and Dad for the weekend.

On the first day of summer break my friend Jenny and I got some of the kids together.  We collected box tops from the teachers at school, played at our house and the park, and ate lunch at McDonald's.  It was a fun first day of summer break for this group of friends.

We finally got our new BIG mower that Eric ordered at the beginning of April.  Eric had been working hard to clear trees and debri from our land so that we could mow a few more acres.  There was a mess up with the delivery of the mower and we had to wait a few extra weeks to get it.

It runs great!

We also got a, new to us, trampoline.  I don't know who was more excited about this, Eric or the kids?!?!?  One of Eric's friends from work was getting rid of it to make room for a pool so it was rehomed to us.  We all spent a couple hours putting it together one Saturday afternoon.

Then Eric was the first to "try it out".

They all love it!

We did order a net for it so that, hopefully, no one will be bounced off of it.

Have fun you four!

I took Sarah and Phoebe to have pedicures as an end of the school year treat.

Phoebe was hilarious sitting in the massage chairs!  She kept making the silliest faces and laughing and wiggling all over the place!  Sarah, the nail ladies, and I laughed and laughed at her!

Our toes ended up beautiful!