Last Day of Spring Break!

I was so pleased that the last day of Jackson's Spring Break yielded such beautiful weather!!!  Josh left SUPER early in the morning for Augusta to attend Tuesday's practice round at the Masters.  The boys and I set off for the playground, where we ran into one of Jackson's friends from school.  It was adorable to see how excited they were to see each other out of school and run around playing!

 I had brought the stroller and Jackson's scooter along, so we left the car parked and scooted/strolled to Dairy Queen, which is just under a mile away.  This was supposed to be a late morning treat before lunch, but we got a later start, and it ended up being lunch!  What an end to Spring Break :)

 The boys shared a Blizzard with M&Ms, and I finally got to try the Salted Caramel one I'd been seeing delicious looking commercials for :)

 Oh, this boy...

After a quick selfie, we made our way back to the car and headed home for a nap for Graham, a playdate with Izzy for Jackson, and glorious time on the porch for me!  The big kids kept playing all afternoon, and Graham joined them after he woke up.  Showers and an early bedtime finished off the day!

The Best Easter Ever!

Jackson was counting down to Easter for all of Spring Break!  For some reason, he was looking forward to it extra this year!  He was hoping it was going to be the best Easter ever, and I was a little nervous going in...

 The boys woke up to baskets first thing in the morning as well as a few eggs hidden inside the house.  The Easter Bunny left a note promising more eggs to hunt later!  Jackson was ecstatic, but he was also adamant about waiting until Daddy was awake to find the eggs or look in the baskets!  E.B. hid those preliminary eggs to be found first thing since Daddy was sleeping off the stressful drive of the entire day before!  But, wait we did!  

 Chocolate bunnies, new beach towels, bubble guns and adorable light up bunnies!

 Post-nap/quiet time egg hunt outside!!!

 NO surprise that this guy took a break to see what treats were in the eggs!

 All of the found eggs!

 Happy Easter!

 These bubble guns are such fun!

 Put your hands up!

While we enjoyed the beautiful weather, I got a yummy dinner in the oven of Parmesan pork chops, rosemary potatoes and honey garlic carrots.  We took a walk after dinner, and then had a nice, early bedtime!  Jackson declared it really was the best Easter ever!  Success!

Playground Fun and Catching up with the Bouys!

 Thursday was a quieter day, and the weather was still beautiful, so we all walked down to Central Park, the playground about four blocks from Mimi and Bampa's house.

 I love that you can see Jackson sliding across in the background!  I'm so artsy!  ;)

 He almost blends in!

 Father-Son Seesawing

 Bampa showing Graham how it's done 

 A lovely Spring picture!

 :)

 It's been about a year since Cassie and I saw each other, and even longer since the kids hung out!  Baby Brody is brand-new, and we were so happy to work out a time to "run" up to WI to see them!

 Graham could not get enough of Brody, and he just wanted more and more turns holding him!  Zoey and Graham were so cute loving on Brody :)

 The littlest Smith and the littlest Bouy

 These two had an EXCELLENT time!

 Cassie helped all of the kids make delicious pizzas while I was on baby duty.  It was hard work ;)

 Rolling out the dough

 Spreading out the sauce

 Adding cheese and pepperoni

 Graham's turn!

 Silly boys!

These four lined themselves up in birth order!  Jonah is almost exactly one month younger than Jackson, and Zoey is about three months younger than Graham.  It's a cute bunch :)

I LOVED having a personal tour of Cassie's beautiful new home, and of course, we all loved meeting Baby Brody!  The kids played so nicely together, and Cass and I actually got to finish several conversations!  

Spring Break in Evanston!

Funny bunnies!!!

Well, we kicked the trip off with a bang with Mimi's surprise party, so we were ready to relax!  We spent Monday hanging out with Uncle Larry and Aunt Michelle before they flew back to Minneapolis.  Then we visited Nan and had dinner out at Hackneys.

On Tuesday, the boys and I headed to hang out with Kaitlyn and Liam (and Ellie and Auntie Brandi)!  It was BEAUTIFUL out, so we enjoyed trying out the toys in the garage, climbing trees, and catching up.  These four were so cute huddled together putting together a new baseball-pitching toy!

Graham sweet-talked everyone into reading this rescue truck book at every chance!

Mimi's turn!

A little bowling on the NOOK :)  We went to one of our old favorite restaurants, Firehouse, near our first apartment for dinner followed by a little evening caching for Jackson, Josh and me.

Yesterday was our favorite day, all around!  We headed out the door bright and early to spend a little time hanging out with Beth before meeting Brandi and the crew at Chicago Botanic Garden.  We had a great time playing trains, doing the marble run and just catching up for a little bit. 

A really nice lady offered to take our picture!

 These four...I just love their friendship to each other!

What is Graham doing???

Jackson wanted a selfie with KK!  Awww...

It was a GORGEOUS day!  We had such a good time at the gardens walking around, and then we met Brandi's mother-in-law, Jackie, for lunch at Walker Brothers.  I'm sad I didn't get a picture with her--we love seeing her when we are in town!  Chocolate chip pancakes were the hit of lunch :)  We headed home for a nap for Graham, Jackson, Mimi and I played Ticket to Ride, and then we headed over to Old Orchard to one of our favorite outdoor play areas.  After THAT, we met Daddy and Bampa at a different Hackneys location to eat outside and play on the playhouse on the patio.  The big guys had played golf and enjoyed the day too.  I can't believe I didn't get more pictures of this super fun day!

Seriously reading some Geronimo Stilton with Mimi!