Catching Up

Derek and I were invited to an awesome housewarming party complete with bartenders, poker tables, a photo booth and so much food! It's always nice to get dressed up once in a while!

One of the last soccer games quickly turned FREEZING and we weren't prepared! Will at least was warm on Gramma's lap. 

She's mostly a pain in the rear but she's a good dog and loves her kids. 

And a freezing golf tournament too...

DREW GOT SECOND!

Kinder roundup for my smallest! Can't believe he'll be in kinder next year!

My girl became the first kiddo in our family to earn Top Dog! The kiddos have to show 10 characteristics and she did it! We are SO SO proud of our girl! 

Will and one of his favorite little buddies, Caden.

Dance conventions are loooooooong, often having the girls dance for 8 hours but man do they love them and learn so much!

He's just cute...

6th grade award ceremony and Drew got the A Honor Roll again! But also I just love his smile and how handsome he is...

Releasing the butterflies...

Muffins with Mom Part 1...

'Have Lunch With Your Middle Schooler' day...

Muffins with Mom part 2

Mother's Day dinner...

This keeper got to play the field at an indoor game and got his first Hat Trick! (3 goals)

Ady advanced to the final stage of the 'Amazing Shake'. It's a manners type event where they have to build each other up, use manners, not interrupt, be a team player, etc. So proud of her!

Her little biking buddy...

Final choir concert for these studs...

Poppa doing his thing...

Love my little creature lover. We had this huge toad in the backyard and he loved carrying him around!

 

Texas Discovery Gardens & Butterfly House

This past week we had an empty Saturday and decided to do something fun as a family. It was chilly so we head to a butterfly house and gardens to just walk around and look! While the butterflies weren't high in numbers, the quails in the exhibit were a HUGE hit for Will and they all, of course, loved running amuck in the gardens. :)

 

Butterfly Exhibit

Last weekend we decided it would be fun to stop and see the Butterfly Exhibit before church. Little did we know how it would turn out!

We walk in and the kids love it. They take their sticks and they start looking at the butterflies.

Something, however, about 15 minutes in happened with Ady and she completely switched! She was suddenly terrified of the things and wanted nothing to do with them. I'm wondering if because there were SO many flying around her head that it was just too much for her. Either way, it was kinda cute.

Drew loved catching them and getting them on his finger though! And we might or might not have put a couple close to Ady just for a reaction. #parentsoftheyear :)

Butterflies

Last year my parents bought Drew a butterfly habitat so we decided to get more caterpillars this year to enjoy watching them grow again! We lost 2 but had 3 survivors that we let go. As opposed to last year, they all flew away super fast and I barely got any pictures!

Family Island Day

With our big move to DC coming up we've been packing in as much Cleveland family fun as we can. Derek and I love the island Put-in-Bay so we decided to take the kiddos over on Saturday for a fun adventure!

The fun started right away as we drove our car onto the ferry. Drew thought this was the coolest thing in the world. After the 20 minute ferry ride to the island, our first stop was lunch including our favorite lobster sandwich and lobster bisque. We ate waterside and watched some boats roll in and out. Then first up on our adventure was the Butterfly House. There are over 700 butterflies in this huge room and they are beautiful. The colors and sizes are so amazing and the kiddos loved watching them fly around.

Right when we walked in a gynormous one with blue wings landed on Drew!

Next up was Perry's cave which was essentially this underground area with some rock formations. It was nice and chilly down there and the tour guide had some interesting stories, but I was itching to play some mini golf! Drew did awesome and although we skipped a few holes (if you've ever played with a 4.5 year old, you know how long it takes), it was a fun time!

We originally had thought of putting Ady on my back, but we decided to just let her roam instead. The stinker kept trying to pick up the balls, though, so we had to get an extra one for her to carry around. 

Last up around that area was the kids maze. Drew had a BLAST as I followed him around (dad and Ady stayed in the observation deck) but I mostly just tried to avoid the huge spiderwebs hanging everywhere. 

After all that energy exerted, it was time for some sweets. And our sweets of choice is always ice cream!

Across the street from ice cream was an awesome park that Drew had a blast at.

Timeline of a 4.5 year old walking and losing balance on a balance beam!

 After that we made a last stop at a tall monument. The line was long to get to the top so instead we just explored the grounds and Drew told Ady all about pine cones.

We caught the 5pm ferry and head home with 2 sleeping babes in the car.
I'd say that means they had fun.