May 2018

Here's what we've been up to during the month of May...5th grade girl slime parties, playtime at the park, visits with extended family, spring baseball, Irish dance, beach days, and a lovely piano recital from Cassie and Gavin, with accompaniment from Erik!

Cassie's latest hobby is making slime with friends (Mom's not a huge fan - so messy - but I'm trying to roll with it!)

A fun visit with Grammy, Grandpa, Jack and Charlie!

Cousins!

Lots of spring baseball...

Our first beach day of the season

Cassie completed another fun session of Irish dance

Gavin played the Star Wars theme by John Williams as well as "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."  

Cassidy played Wohlfahrt's "Waltz for Four Hands" as well as Mozart's "Theme from Don Giovanni"

A fun volleyball night at Gillson Beach with friends

Dusk at the lakefront - beautiful colors

Celebrating Friends - Scottsdale for our 40ths

Back in 2000, as our college years wrapped up, my 3 best college friends/roommates/sorority sisters and I all promised to get back together as often as we could.  Of course we all went separate ways - took jobs after college, moved to different states, got married, started families.  Over the years we have gotten together more than a few times - sometimes just 2 or 3 of us, sometimes all!  With husbands and kids, we are now a group of 20!  But we have always maintained that when we all turn 40, we were determined to get just the 4 of us back together, just like the old times.  This past weekend, we did just that.  We all headed down to Scottsdale for a weekend of catching up!  It was amazing.  Of course the scenery was beautiful - warm sunshine in the scenic desert - but most of all I just cherished the time to catch up with each of my dear friends, without the interruption of sweet little ones that need naps, meals, bedtimes, etc.  We caught up over coffee, explored Old Town Scottsdale, did some fun shopping, had some amazing dinners, hiked up Camelback Mountain, walked through the cactus gardens, enjoyed a little spa time, and raised a glass or two to our wonderful friendship.  So grateful for these 3 lifelong friends.

Meeting up at O'Hare - Meg and I took the same flight down to Scottsdale.  Cheers!

So happy to see my crew!

Hiking Camelback Mountain

Gorgeous views!

Delicious dinner at El Chorro Lodge - loved the outdoor fireplace!

Shopping day!

We hitched a ride on this guy's mobile cart!

One of the many times we cracked ourselves up

Dinner at Elements Restaurant with a gorgeous view of the sunset.  And a hilarious Mario Lopez sighting!

The cactus garden onsite at our hotel, The Phoenician.  So pretty!

Time to say goodbye!

Starting off spring!

Now that it's the end of April, we are happy to see some signs of spring weather!  Both boys have started spring baseball and Tyler and I celebrated the first day of warm sunshine (meaning - no coats!) by getting a giant box of new chalk and chalking the front steps.  What a fun afternoon with my littlest one.  Welcome, spring!

Gavin on the mound for his house league, Team Stringer

Tyler having some baseball fun

Lost another tooth!

Tyler LOVES penguins and requested that I please draw one named Tyler.

Easter 2018

We had a lovely Easter celebration while we were down in Florida for spring break.  But before we left, we had some Easter fun at home too.  We dyed Easter eggs, and we attended our street's annual Easter egg hunt that's put on by some fun neighbors.  One of the dads always dresses up like the Easter bunny so kids can take pictures...Tyler still isn't so sure about that bunny.
In Florida, we had a few more egg hunts...Grammy Brown sent me with some Easter goodies for the kids, so we had fun hiding those and watching the kids scramble around to find them!  Thanks Grammy!  Grandma and Grandpa Reder also did an egg hunt in their yard once the Burkholders arrived, so all the cousins went out for their hunt together.  It's all great fun.  Of course the Easter bunny came on Easter morning for all the kiddos, and we had a lovely morning at church with a delicious brunch to follow.  Happy Easter!

Our great Lawndale neighbor, keeping it festive!

Tyler and his buddy James found a bundle of eggs

Neighbors!

Tyler found the special egg that rewarded him with this big stuffed bunny!  He joined us on the plane ride down to Florida later that afternoon!

Easter egg hunt put on by The Villages

Dyeing eggs with cousins

Egg hunt in the yard!

Family photo, Easter morning 2018

Grandma and Grandpa Reder with 6 of their 8 grandkids - miss you, Hardings!