Beautiful Weekend Part 2

On Saturday, we had planned to have an outing to the Claude Moore Colonial Farm's Spring Market Faire.  We didn't finish the car repairs and mowing in time, so we stopped in after church to enjoy the fun.

Dane did a little blacksmithing,

 The kids tried a primitive teeter totter,

Adelaide bought herself a bow and arrow,

And the kids participated in a  sack race.  Both kids did really well, but Dane won his "size group", then went on to win second in the finals.  You ought to see that kid hop!

 After we got home, Mark and Adelaide attempted to make Adelaide's signature dish (or signature joke) of Cheese Nugget Chicken Fries.  She made up this name when she was about four, but none of us have ever figured out what they actually are.  Now we've had some!

Brandt and Julie joined us for a fun dinner in the backyard.  

A Beautiful Family Weekend

This weekend, the weather was Beautiful with a capital B.

Friday night, the storms cleared just in time for Dane to participate in his Pack's first annual Rocket Derby.  They made rockets out of 2-liter bottles and launched them with water and air pressure.

We've done this before, but just with a bicycle pump, and no aerodynamics.

 Dane drew flames and a roasting marshmallow on his nose-cone.

 When I've done this before, it was in hot weather wearing a swimsuit.  It was CHILLY that evening, and the poor leaders running the event were soaked.  The boys got a little wet too.

Dane's rocket was among the best flyers, and went up about 200 ft!

 It also did a beautiful lawn-dart into the grass both times.

Saturday started out with Drake playing his last season Lacrosse game.

That's him right in the middle.  He's number 2.  If you look closely, you can see the ball in the shadow on the ground right in front of him.

 Drake got some decent ball time this game.  That's him making a catch up above.

His team played a good game, but the other team had a last minute come-back and won.  It was hard not to be happy for them,  because the moms around me were so excited.  The opposing team hadn't won a single game the whole season, and this was their last.  They dog piled each other on the field.

Drake's team will get to play again in the playoffs in a  couple of weeks.

Some Other Springtime Fun

The new moon and venus:

Adelaide learns to ride a bike!

Mark and Drake at a court of honor (look at those uniforms!):

Drake tests different alcohol fuels in his homemade stove for his science fair project:

 Our daffodils!

 Spring time adventures!

Hikes while Ellie row:

More from our yard:

Birthdays

We had our usual three birthdays in March and April, which always keeps us busy!  The kids chose various kinds of dinners and parties.

First Adelaide had a few new friends over to play games,

have a treasure hunt made by Ellie,

And go to Sweet Frog for frozen yogurt:

On Sunday, we had a family dinner with Brandt and Julie over,

Plenty of gifts,

And banana cream pie in place of cake:

Adelaide's big gift was a new rat cage and a coupon for one rat.  She used birthday money to buy a second, and came home with two 4 month old brothers that she named Moo and Neigh.

Next up for birthday fun was Drake.  He had a bunch of scout/church friends over to play the game Pathfinder...

...and eat Mango Cream Pie (a creation of Drake's imagination that was such a hit last year he
wanted it again).

Drake had an apple pie for his party with the family,

and we were joined again by Brandt and Julie and Julie's parents.

Dane's birthday was our first beautiful warm day.  It was perfect for a treasure hunt in the park with friends:

created by Adelaide and Ellie and led by Adelaide:

They found squirt guns with the treasure, which helped cool everyone off.

Dane has the classic smile of a new 7 year old: half his teeth missing!

 The next day Grandma and Grandpa Wilkinson joined us via computer for a family party.

Dane loved his presents.