Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

It's a gorgeous day here - hopefully the same can be said wherever you are.  The Easter Bunny visited our new home - the kids were mildly worried that it wouldn't find us here - and we all enjoyed a mellow day of Easter baskets and candy, Easter bunny pancakes, an Easter egg hunt in the yard, lots of playing with the kids, and good catching up with family on the phone.

Patrick and Patti take a break

Last week was the kids' spring break and our first chance to see what would happen if we would get away for a few days without the kiddos.  Bill and Bonnie very generously offered to watch the kids for a few days so we jetted off to Chicago on Monday...

to find snow.  81 degrees in Silver Spring on Sunday and 37 degrees (and falling) in Chicago the next day.  It started snowing as we taxied on the tarmac and we got over an inch when it was all said and done.  Not unexpected and we packed for it, but still a shock from the day before.

Patti had never been to Chicago before and Patrick wanted to visit some particular locations so there was lots of eating and walking to be done.  Sunday night we settled in to the hotel and then had a great German dinner at Berghoff's restaurant. Patrick's family had gone there for years so Patrick wanted to check it out and we weren't disappointed.  Patti enjoyed beer battered cod and Patrick had a medley of sausages (wild boar, venison and duck).  Plus beer.

We had a nightcap at the Palmer House - a hotel Patrick stayed in before with an incredible lobby - and then we trudged back to the hotel in the snow.

On Tuesday, we found a cafe that had once been the Old Heidelberg Inn.  Patrick has a great picture of his grandparents dining there with another couple, but only the front facade remains.

We made a point of seeing "the bean."  It is so simple and a little silly but somehow very neat.

We enjoyed every moment of the Willis Tower (previously Sears Tower).  The view was fantastic and Patti even convinced a very, very reluctant Patrick to get in the new skydeck.  Patti relished the view and Patrick feared it...greatly.

We had a great lunch of deep-dish pizza before retiring to the hotel.  We had a quick catnap (maybe our first nap in years...) and then Patrick caught a cab off to his great-grandparent's house.  He saw from Google Maps' street view that it was still there so he snapped off a few pictures and cabbed it back to the hotel.  He has a great picture of his grandfather as a young man standing on the same doorsteps and another of his father as a youngster beneath the side window.  Very neat.

We ended the day with a great Italian dinner at a restaurant Patrick had been to before and then we watched a movie at the hotel.  It all sounds simple without kids and it really was.

Wednesday morning was a rush of buying presents and getting to our flight.  It was a very restful two days, but it was nice to come home again and see our excited kids.  Bill and Bonnie are saints for watching them and we're eternally grateful.  The kids were apparently very good the entire time (Will cried a lot when we were leaving but was fine afterward) so maybe this was a good practice run for another long-weekend....

Cherry blossoms, plus Will lost his second tooth

This morning we made a surgical strike against the Tidal Basin and the cherry blossoms.  We didn't make the effort to get down to them last year because we were consumed with selling the old home, and we regretted it, so we took our only opportunity this year (this morning) and ran with it.

Will got us up extra early so we hit the road, parked where we could, and hoofed it down to the tidal basin for 10 minutes of pictures.  Then we speed-walked back to the minivan and drove straight to Will's soccer practice.  Not a minute to spare and we even managed to get a great family picture.

Between lunch and naptime Will rushed in and told Patrick that he'd lost his second tooth!  It had been loose for two weeks so it's no real surprise but it's still shocking to see our little guy missing two of his front teeth.

Maggie & Stella's first soccer practice

Maggie and Stella are always interested when Will is dribbling a soccer ball around and they've tried imitating soccer moves when watching Will's soccer practices.  Plus, many of their classmates were joining a particular team so we signed them up as well and began what will hopefully result in years of joy for Patti (Patrick has a feeling that the girls in soccer for her is what Will's interest in Star Wars is to him).  Hopefully next season practice won't be on Saturday morning so Patti can sleep before practice.

Maggie is the eager-beaver, trying hard to please or mimic so she followed every direction and was glued to the coach (as you'll see in every picture below).  Stella is her own bird and while she did more than we could have imagined, she had her moments when she just refused to comply.  Just Stella being Stella.  But it was a COLD windy day and neither complained, they loved their soccer skirts, shin-guards and team shirts.

Surprise trip to the National Aquarium

On Saturday the 22nd, Patti was able to come home early (in the middle of the night) so we surprised the kids with a rare family Saturday outing.  It had been a while so we headed up to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

The girls still love the dolphins and we had our own private window for a few minutes so Maggie and Stella were in heaven.

Will wanted to see the jellyfish again.  He still talks about the one that stung daddy last summer (and that daddy caught and buried on the beach....)

The one-finned turtle paid Patti and the kids a special visit.  They're harder to see in this video, but that's them in front.  Stella was pretty scared but Maggie and Will thought it was very special.

Afterward, we enjoyed a delicious seafood lunch on the harbor.

And the neighboring storefront had a life-size Bumblebee replica for whatever reason so Will lost his mind.

So all in all, a complete departure from the usual Dad and kids running errands on a Saturday, and the kids had a blast.

No more snow

This winter has been crazy with snow and snow days.  Like we said in earlier posts, if school is delayed our kids don't have school at all because they don't come in for an hour or less.  So the kids have had a day off of school on average every two weeks.  Very odd for Maryland.

So here is a breakdown of the March snow days:

March 3rd:  Surprise snow day plus government closure so Patrick got to spend the girls' birthday with them.

March 17th:  Happy St. Patrick's Day to us!  Another snow day plus Patrick was home because the government shut down.  He swears he didn't drink a Guinness until the afternoon...

Patrick and the kids had loads of fun in the backyard as mommy slept off her night shift.

And they discovered icicles...

March 25th:  Another dusting but enough to shut down the schools.  Patrick braved the 2 inches and somehow managed to get to work.

March 30th:  After 12 hours of hard rain, it started to snow while Will and Patrick were braving the elements.  It was nearly 60 the next day and it hasn't come close to freezing since.  Whew!