Earth Day

So I did post these on FB already, but I like to keep the blog up to date as much as possible.  I was sort of inspired by a new cake book my Mother In Law got for me.  I saw the Compost Cake in it and that sent my brain into motion to come up with more ideas!!  Plus, I do appreciate Earth Day and I encourage the kids to keep the Earth in mind by recycling and reducing!  Also, our local farmer's market has opened for the season, so really, all the stars were aligned for my imagination to run wild! ;) And while I was creating away in the kitchen I turned on a Captain Planet marathon for the kids, it was perfect!  This was their first exposure to it, but they loved it and even requested watching it more! 

I bought some local spinach and onions for a nice big salad for our main course!

I adapted this idea from one I saw on line because I find it adorable!  They suggested using egg salad as a filler and herbs for garnish but since my people won't eat that, I went with salami and cheese for the kids and hummus for us.  Celery also seemed more likely to get eaten than anything else.

I made some "bouquets" of out of the veggies I had lying around.  Eating things off of skewers also makes dinner more exciting!

making fruit look cute is one sure way to get the kids to eat it!
 

here is the compost cake!  Yum!  I found some gummy mushrooms to go along with the worms and they were a hit with Leo.  Of course there were Oreos for dirt and dyed coconut for grass sprigs.  And since we're still in the middle of Lent, I even managed to make it vegan so Charlie and I could enjoy it too!

Who's That Boy?!

Leo got his school picture recently and he looks so grown up lately!  I don't know why (and for the record I find it slightly annoying) but the preschool takes their pictures in the fall and the Parents Day Out takes theirs in the spring, so just a Leo picture, not a Sophia picture.

Great Wolf Lodge

I feel like I need to preface this by saying that the pictures I take there are not always the greatest because there is water spraying everywhere and the lighting (in the whole place) is not that great either. Plus, I just didn't take a ton of pictures, but these are some cute ones.

Leo hanging with his buddy, Wiley

He posed for this one and asked for me take his picture.  Ham.

Coming down the first slide is always the toughest!

Sophia on a leisurely ride down the slide

So GWL never offers day passes, it's one of their things they do to get people to stay overnight...and I get it.  It's a super cool place and my kids love going there, and even Charlie and I have a great time.  But, they just so happened to be helping Big Brothers and Big Sisters with some fundraising right now and are offering weekday passes for only $10/person. Holy Cannoli...count us IN!  Charlie even took a day off work to join us, now that is dedication.  We were allowed to swim from 10 am to 8 pm although we had to duck out around 5, and boy did we hear about it from Sophia and Leo, but quite frankly they were exhausted.  Leo must have gone down that yellow slide (and it's slightly faster twin, the red slide) at least 40 times...easily.  He was like a zombie who just kept climbing up the structure and coming down over and over again.  He was so tired looking but he just wanted to keep on going.  We all enjoyed the big tube slides and Sophia was even tall enough to finally ride the checkered one (it has big bubble things where your raft goes halfway up the sides, it's cool) and felt very proud of that!  The best part about it was that it was completely dead.  I mean it.  It was awesome.  I think we were the only ones there on day passes (the wristbands were different and I was checking everyone's out just b/c I was curious) so we took full advantage.  We must have climbed those stairs to the tube slides at least 20 times each as well.  It was well worth it and the special runs to the end of May, so who knows, me just try and do it again!

Superhero Birthday Party in the Park

I think I hear GQ calling!!

Trevor and Leo throwing rocks

Sophia's turn to throw rocks!

birthday boy and his birthday cupcake!

I'm ready to eat!

Max, the other birthday boy, finally woke up from his nap

Super Sophia!

Super Leo!

The next Wonder Twins?!

Our friends and neighbors, Trevor and Max, had their birthday party last weekend.  Trevor turned 3 and Max turned 1.  Although you wouldn't expect April to be so cool and present possible snow storms, the party in the park was still a hit! :)  It was superhero themed and that hit a home run with my two kiddos.  We had a great time!

Dance Recital

Jill with Lauren and Aubrey

Sophia's posse took up one entire row!  Thanks to everyone who showed their support! :)

post show with Sarah

with her flowers

tried to get a cute group shop but Leo insisted on being in the picture but not moving his juice.  Sigh.

with Uncle Stacy

family pic!

The Little Bear Family

with Papa Leo

Sophia had her second ever recital last weekend.  This time the theme was High School Musical.  It was pretty cute, but I personally felt the songs were not quite as upbeat as they could have/should have been, but who am I to judge, I certainly don't want to be in charge of it! :)  I think the video I took must have been too long b/c it wouldn't let me post it.  Too bad, because it was quite cute.  Sophia was lip syncing along like a pro and there was an audible giggle throughout the audience.  She was quite the performer, as some of you may expect.  She looks just so grown up in her costume and I can't believe she's starting Kindergarten soon!!

First Farm of the Season

This picture makes me giggle.  Leo was trying to hand feed the chickens and got a little freaked when it pecked him.  We had to show him how to just sprinkle it on the ground.

So cute! Cousins, Kate and Kaylee holding hands while watching the mooovie

everyone loves to pet Olive

hello, cow

Francesca on a rare occasion hanging in the stroller

Um, mom, I think staying on the other side of the fence was safer

story time

After the farm we stopped by Ben and Jerry's for free cone day!  Yay!

Kate, Ashlynn, and Sophia enjoying their cones

Luca, Leo, and Francesca dig right in too!