Backtracking

Due to the death of my laptop's battery, it's been hard for me to get all my April pictures loaded onto the blog. Now that Mark has shown me a little bit of computer magic (ok, so really it's basic stuff I should know on transferring files/etc.) I will be backtracking to make sure some of the great events of those months are noted here. (Again, remember I plan to make this into a blog book to make up for my sub-par baby books.)

In April we took a trip across the pass and visited our friends in Richland, WA. Robin and Mark have been so kind to open their house to us many times in the past, and again they were wonderful hosts to us again. Their daughters, Vivian and Marjorie, are a bit older and younger than Maggie, so she was in HEAVEN with two kids to play with! We didn't take many pictures of the trip (what happens when you are busy having fun) but we did get a few shots of the girls playing hide and seek at the park and Maggie's first experience with a soft serve cone. (Actually, her first experience ever with a cone. You can tell she took to it very well.)

The trip was a lot of fun. So nice to get away, see friends, and have fun in a different city. Their community has such great family-focused events and we were able to take all the kids to the Blue Ladder performance at the local college and and the two Marks played folf (Frisbee golf). Good times.





Marjorie and Mags had a lot of fun playing "hide and seek" at the park.




















I am sucker for themed activities, so when Bellevue was offering an Easter themed activity class for toddlers, I jumped on it! We did one in the fall for Halloween with Sky, Brian and Quincy and really enjoyed it. This time Mark took Mags and was joined by Brian and Quincy, Scott and Piper, and Dave and Natalie. I love that it was a dad/daughter event and it seems the girls had a great time doing the crafts, hunting for eggs, and going to Red Robin afterwards. Mags is a skilled egg finder - and a lucky girl to have such a devoted and involved daddy!





We spend a few days a week at my parent's place so we can spend time with Great Grandma Margaret. I love the picture of Charlie because of the legs. He has the sweetest little boy legs ever! I don't know what it is about them, but they are irresistible to me!


Often when we are at Grandma's house she is off at Kelly's taking care of the twins. This means many chances to get the girls together for playdates, which they all seem to love. Who wouldn't love getting to play with your cousins?? It's been fun watching these three grow up together - their personalities changing and adapting to each other every time they play. Here are classic Kate, Julia and Mags...














This is classic Charlie. He can be crying one minute, and all you have to do is smile and talk to him and he is all smiles and clapping the next. He is such a sweetheart.


EASTER

The kids got to have two Easter celebrations on Easter Sunday. We started the day over at my parent's place with Kelly's family, my parents, and Great Grandma Margaret. The weather wasn't great, but the cousins (as usual) had a lot of fun together. The challenge was getting a good pic of them all...



This is how things are with these two lately - always laughing together and NEVER sitting still!


The rain didn't seem to bother the kids during their egg hunt (true Northwest kids!).

I can't believe this is the only picture I have of Easter at the Colthurst family!! We had a great dinner over there and I just love this one of Charlie with Uncle Tadas!

Mark's Birthday

Mark turned 35 this year! It's amazing how birthdays have changed in the last few years. I remember surprising him on his 30th with a weekend trip to Vegas. Now I surprise him with a fruit torte.

Mark opening his gift - a HUGE new tent from REI. Camping this summer just got a lot more comfortable!

Yummm....