2800 miles of love

7 days in a car = 2800 miles = 5 casino/hotel stops = my parents + grandma drove to OH to visit! And they stayed with us for 7 days!

Many, many hours of Uno and concentration/memory were logged.  Many times, Justin & hi-bachan were on the same team. Loved it.

 Oh my, 2 iPads in the house = twice the fun!

 Trip to the zoo to see the dinosaurs!

Justin's, "oh my" face when he saw how big the dinosaurs were!

Lots of backyard/garden time! Me & my grandma

My dad cleaning up the yard and putting the kids to work. Kids are great workers when you show them $5 and tell them to earn it.

Dinners with family and friends. Mmmm, desserts.

Campfire time!

Happy Retirement & Happy Birthday celebrations! Picture is a bit smoky - just from the candles. =)

 Shabu-shabu dinner! 1st time using our burner. Let the dinner parties begin!

Me & my momma.

Like I said, lots of hours of Uno were played.

Justin.

Funny, and only, picture of Jack & me. We're laughing because my mom had the camera about 5 inches from our faces. I swear.

What a fabulous trip! Dad and Jack escaped most of the picture taking. =)

Thank you for a wonderful 7 days! We were spoiled silly and we will miss you dearly. 

Moonshine: Life at 5 & 3

Just from tonight...

Colin (5): We made a zoo. Do you want to come see?
Me: Yes! ... Oh, there are tigers.
Colin: I trained them. So you can pet them and they won't bite.
Justin (with binoculars around his neck): I'm in charge of finding birds that will come down and will try to eat our animals. (we're in the peregrine falcon phase and constantly talk about how they hunt for food.)

Me: Oh, a baby monkey is in your zoo.
Justin (3): Where is his mommy?
Me: I don't know.
Justin: I can be his daddy because I'm so handsome.

At bedtime, sometimes Colin sings me "you are my sunshine," but tonight he sang:
"You are my moonshine, my only moonshine....so please don't take my moonshine away."

Weekend. A few pics.

Didn't take many pictures this weekend...

Jack ran the Cleveland half marathon today. No pics to report, but he did amazingly well for very little training! You make us proud, honey!


Other weekend activities:
 Boys loving backyard time...

 Jack's friends host great spring/summer cabin parties. No real pictures, but they had boats. Elwell boys + boats = happiness.

 This cat caught and ate a chipmunk right in front of us. Mean ol' thing.

 Geese and their goslings at the park. Family cuteness.

 We haven't been out to breakfast in a very long time...but we ventured out to visit with my dear friend from my Portland, OR days! Chocolate chip pancakes for the kids. =)

 And lastly, we had a good-bye dinner with Sarah + the boys. When we met them, Justin was a just a couple months old. Look at them all now!

 Sarah is going back to her hometown, so I'm beyond excited for her to be back with family!! You will be missed!

In other news:

1. It's shorts weather. Loving this spring - summer transition. (minus the extreme pollen! ack!)
2. This week, Justin reminded me how awful the 3 year old stage is. Let's just say that he threw his plate off the dinner table one night and almost fell into the toilet (arm was soaked) another night. Exhausting! Can we just jump to 4 now?
3. A teacher at the kids' school lost her 6 month old baby to SIDS. My heart is so heavy with this news and I send her all of the love possible to help her family get through this time.
4. Jack is an amazing dad. enough said.
5. My parents and grandma are headed into town on Wednesday! It's been 5 months since I last saw my parents and 7 months since I last saw my grandma! It's been a long stretch and I'm so excited for them to get here.

Mother's Day 2013

I had the best Mother's Day. Jack gave me a weekend where I could have all of the joys of motherhood without any work. He did the grocery shopping, car washing, cooking, cleaning, planning and organizing. I relaxed and enjoyed the ride. The best! Thank you, hon!

Natalie came into town. Quality time = play time, game time, cuddling, movie, popcorn, ice cream and a bookstore trip.

 Then we were off to Nick & Tami's for Mother's Day dinner on Saturday. Baby Danny made it back into town and stole the show. The sweetest little boy!

 Somehow Justin and Ana were left at the ice cream table with full reign of the sprinkles. Love them.

 This is what 1 grandma + lots o' grandkids looks like. She's somewhere in that pile.

 Elwell kids. Love Reagan & Brooke's new hairdo - they are ready for summer!

 Me + my boys!

 On Sunday, we went to the nature center and ventured into the frigid spring air for a hike/walk. Best way to spend mother's day and I asked for it to be a tradition. Loved it!

 Beautiful day, right?

 The geese were barking at us, and Jack thought it would be a good idea to befriend them.

 Grandma + Colin

 Justin getting a ride down the stairs. Otherwise, he held his own hiking for the majority of the trip.

 It's goose nest/egg season. And we got to see 3 eggs hanging out in the middle of the river.

 Justin pretending to use binoculars. Show me a 3 year old who can figure out binoculars on their own.

 Natalie put the kids to bed and 20 minutes later, she found Colin passed out and Justin squirming in his bed.

Today at dinner -
Me: What was your favorite part of mother's day weekend?
Colin: Aunt Natalie.
Justin: Grandma and the goose eggs.
haha. =)

Cinco de Mayo

1. Spring has officially sprung. Week-long weather in the 60s and 70s!
2. Not too many pics this week. Spent the time outside. Playgrounds, rocks, water table, gardening, running. Eating, juicing, shopping.
3. On the radio, the host asked what "cinco de mayo" meant and I'm flabbergasted at the number of people who had no idea what it meant. 
4.  Spring pictures arrived from the kids' school. If you pay attention to our blog, you know that getting them into "collar shirts" is a big deal. Next time, I just have to remember to cut their hair! I think I'm going to save this picture and give it to them when they turn 18. =)

5. Colin had his first "drop-off" birthday party. Dropped him off, 1.5 hours later, picked him up. Nice! The mom was a pinterest queen and sent the kids home with kits to make their own race car. Check out what Colin made once we got home!

 6. We went out for Mexican food and this is how Justin insisted on eating his chips. Just like his Jichan. Kids choose to imitate the strangest things.

 Happy Cinco de Mayo from the Elwells...