Malibu Dude Ranch Girl Scout Weekend

Mother's Day Weekend Kelsey and I went to a dude ranch in Pennsylvania with Kelsey's Girl Scout troop. The weather was not very cooperative..it was rainy off and on and cold most of the weekend. We even woke up on Sunday (May 9th) to snow flurries!!! We were able to go on three trail rides and the girls were able to try out archery and rowing. There was also dancing in the lodge and a hayride in the rain. We even had a rainbow make an appearance while the girls were having a horse grooming lesson. The weekend was awesome and all 16 of us really enjoyed ourselves.

Disney World April 21st - 27th, 2010

We traveled to Disney World with Rob's brother Tony, sister-in-law Tammy and their son Nathan. It was great to share Nathan's first trip to Disney World with them. We packed a ton of activities into our week in Florida. We participated in Disney's Give A Day, Get A Day volunteer program. We all made quilts for Project Linus in January. Besides the great feeling volunteering gives you, we were treated to special passes for short lines at the parks and the kids each received a collectible set of Mouse Ears. While we were at the Magic Kingdom, Kelsey lost her Philly Flyers hat on Goofy's barnstormer ride. We were told it may show up at lost and found and we should check back daily for the duration of our trip. After a few failed attempts, we found it there on the last day of our trip. It is truly amazing!! I think that was the highlight of the trip for Kelsey. Nathan and Nick were chosen to be the Big Kahuna at Typhoon Lagoon and we were treated like royalty for a day with a private Beach area and a private tour of the park before it opened for the day.

Papa Bruce and Grammy Pat's Visit

Grammy Pat and Papa Bruce arrived on April 5th for an almost two week visit. We were so busy enjoying their visit we didn't take too many pictures. Papa did manage to capture a few of Kelsey & Nick's karate moments and Nick's flag football moments with the camera. We also were able to catch a cute picture of the two dogs together. Rob had shoulder surgery on the 13th which thankfully was not as bad as we had feared. He had messed up a tendon while shoveling snow in February. Grammy & Papa stayed extra days to make sure we were ok with Rob out of commission. I am happy to report he is almost 100% now. Mom also took MacTavish to Kelsey & Nick's classes to give a therapy dog demonstration.

Annual Easter Egg Hunt

Each year our neighborhood has an Egg hunt on the day before Easter. We have been doing it for many years. We roundup all the kids (about 20 or so) in our yard within the confines of the fence. The adults work on hiding all the eggs and then the flood gates are opened and the kids spill out into the neighboring yards and have a blast. The older kids have transitioned to hiding rather than hunting. It is a little bittersweet as Kelsey is now in the older group and Nick is teetering on the edge of too big to do the hunt.

After dinner Kelsey & Nick decorated Easter Eggs. On Easter morning the kids woke up to a crazy peep hunt searching for all the marshmallow goodies the Easter Bunny has left.

Easter Weekend 2010

Here is a picture of the kids in front of my friend Carolyn's Weeping Cherry Tree. The blooms lasted only two days but it was truly a sign that spring has arrived.
I am having trouble loading some pictures so please bear with me. Now that we are back from Disney this is not the time for the pics not to work.

March 21st

It's almost 80 degrees! Bring on the spring weather. Nick opened up the sandbox for the first time this year and lots of kids came running. At one point there were 8 boys in the 3 foot by 3 foot box. Then the girls took their turn.

Smash that Record!

After all the complaining about the snowfall this winter I thought I would share an interesting bit of info. Philadelphia's previous snowfall total was 65.5 inches set in 1995/1996. So far this year we have had 4 major snowfalls for a grand total of 78.7 inches (51.5 inches in February alone).

Today was in the mid 60's and spring fever is in full bloom (as are the allergies). Hopefully we will stay with the warmer temperatures and the daffodils will continue to grow. We have several plants already 3-4 inches tall.

Happy Spring (in a few weeks officially)!