31 March 2013

Happy Easter!

Our kids were home for Spring Break this week.  We planned a fun activity for each day.  Monday we went swimming.  Tuesday we toured Harry and David's kitchens and processing plant.  Wednesday we went to a wildlife refuge in the morning and to the family fun center in the evening.  Thursday we made Easter candy and Friday we went to the movies.  The photo shows Helen making Easter candy.  The kids liked the white chocolate the best because they could dye the chocolate different colors.

It wasn't fun and games all week, though.  Brandan picked up two pick-up loads of compost which we used to refill our raised beds and to enrich the soil in the rest of our yard.

Sofi was pretty busy with her own activities.  She spent some time at play practice and two days shadowing physical therapists at Brandan's clinic.  Sofi has expressed interest in physical therapy and the time she spent in the clinic reinforced her interest.  She liked the positive, collegial atmosphere at the clinic and the interaction with patients.  Here's a photo of Sofi on her second day.

Abe made his own gourmet lunches while he was home from school like this delicious sandwich.

We also celebrated Gibson's 6th birthday.  Every family needs a Gibson.  He's friendly, full of fun, has the greatest belly laughs, likes to work and likes to play.  He wanted all the candles on his cake close together so they made a mini torch when lit.

We woke the kids up on Saturday for an early morning egg hunt.

  

Gibson was disgusted by the slug that crawled onto one egg.

 He found plenty of slug-less eggs, though.

After our egg hunt we drove out to the coast.  All of our kids wanted to return to Secret Beach.

This huge slug made the earlier slug in our garden seem puny.

 Abe enjoyed jumping on the edge of the sand to make it crumble into the ocean.  Later, we watched the ocean erase this same drop off as the tide came in.  The ocean's power is relentless. 

 This is a photo of Helen keeping an eye on the waves as she collects shells.

 Running in and out of waves is a favorite activity.  We moved to the Northwest when Sofi was 3 years old and she still stays in the water until she is soaking wet and turning blue.  Sofi's friend, Joey, came with us.  It was a lovely beach day-- not too windy and the sun peeking out between the clouds.