March 2016 Happennings

March was a busy month around here!  For starters, Gavin turned 7 on March 12!  We had so much fun celebrating our birthday boy.  Also, we had a festive St. Patrick's Day, joining in the downtown parade with Cassidy's Irish Dance troupe.  Thereafter, Gavin wrapped up his basketball season and Cassidy was part of the school play, Seussical, which was a musical celebration of the works of Dr. Seuss.  We wrapped up the month of March with a lovely Easter spent with family.  As always we are so grateful for our blessings.  We are enjoying life with our kids who bring us so much joy.  Here are some photos of the month's events!

Birthday breakfast - Swedish pancakes, one of his favorites!

7 years old!  We had Grammy and Grandpa Brown, along with our cousin Jack, over for cake!

Gavin loved his Star Wars BB-8 robot and loved seeing Grammy and Grandpa!

Family selfie (well, an attempt!) at Chicago's St. Patrick's Day Parade

After years of being one of the younger dancers, Cassie was proud to assist and lead the newer dancers this year.

Sibling love!

On stage, moments before her performance at school

Gavin wrapped up a fun season of 1st grade basketball!

Cassidy, on stage for Suessical (she is in the dark blue shirt, second from the end on the right)

Flowers from Grammy Brown for the little actress

Gavin had a fun triple birthday party with these 2 friends who also have March birthdays.  We had all the boys in the class for a movie party at our small local theatre.  They watched Big Hero 6, always a hit!

Easter celebration!  We went to Grammy and Grandpa Brown's house for an Easter egg hunt.

It was a gorgeous early Spring day and the cousins spent hours creating fairy houses in Grammy's front yard.

Fairies welcome!

Easter morning at home - the kids are always so excited to wake up to Easter baskets!

Tyler was in awe - a full basket of candy at 7am? The best day ever to a 3 year old!

Tyler loooooves jeeps - how did the Easter Bunny know???

We had Easter Brunch at a local restaurant called Firefly.  We are ready for spring and grateful for the joy that Easter brings!

Winter Fun

We are in the thick of winter here!  But we have found many ways to enjoy these chilly months of January and February.  Below are some pictures of our days!

The holiday lights at the Botanic Garden are so pretty.

The beautiful tree at the Botanic Garden  

Gavin lost his first tooth!  Age 6 (almost 7!).

Fro-yo treats at Cocomero

Cassie's first sleepover, age 8!

Valentine's Day cupcakes from Mommy to my little loves

Cassidy spent hours making each of her classmates a custom Valentine (she insisted on this and loved every second of it).

What a lucky Mom I am!  Gavin made me this sweet picture.

Cassidy's 3rd grade Valentine's party at school

Living it up for my dear friend's 40th!  What fun we had!

Always fun to get outside and build a snowman after a good snow.

Gavin played first grade basketball

Playing against his great buddy, Henry!

We love visiting the Adler Planetarium

Chilly by the lake!

Gavin's drawing of Harry...

Cassidy's drawing of the Pokemon gang (she loves drawing Japanese anime)

Daddy/Daughter Dance, grade 3!  Such a special night!

With Cassidy's hula-hooping skills and Erik's end-of-the-evening Axl Rose impression on the microphone, these 2 characters were crowned king and queen of the dance!

Showcase 2016 - our school's annual fundraising gala - always so much fun with friends

Love these ladies!

Late night dance floor fun

Brookfield Zoo with family!

Meeting Stella Schouten - our next-door neighbor's new puppy.  She's just adorable.

The kids had a 3-day weekend for President's Day, so we headed up to Wisconsin to spend a couple days at Blue Harbor Indoor Waterpark.  It was such a huge hit; the kids have asked if it can be an annual trip. (Maybe?!)

The indoor glow-in-the-dark mini-put was a hit, too!