Other Little Gems

Sophia's preschool picture was too adorable not to share!! ;)

Sophia's good friends are Abby, on the end in the back left and Ashlynn in the front row, second from left.

we went to Jumpin' Jax with Lisa, Isaac and Baby Jonah (otherwise known as Baby Donut by Leo). It was a great place to have fun but a terrible place to take pictures! They always turn out fuzzy from all the movement of the bodies and the inflatables so I gave up after this one, but I wish I had a picture of that cute baby!

Daddy made Leo a smoothie that he didn't care for, so he fed it to Spike.

Sophia reading to baby bro

this is Leo's new "funny face"

the kids were part of the Icon parade at church a few weeks back, this is them with their Icons...Sophia's is Saint Sophia and Leo's was St. Nicholas, which used to belong to my grandfather.

Here are just some random moments from the last few weeks that didn't get a post of their own.

Egg Dying Round 1

Leo and Eli were very dedicated to getting just the right color

Leo used the excavator to eat his snack

no surprise that he went for the unorthodox method

all the kids getting ready for the hunt, notice Leo got started early

and GO!

Sophia with her full basket!

Alex looking in the grass!

loot!

Sophia and Alex make silly faces

Our friends Eli and Alex from church invited us over for an Easter party last weekend. It was a fun party, but it's also nice to be friends with people who have and understand crazy Lenten/Easter traditions like us! Jane was kind of ingenious when she hid all the eggs and left them empty and then sent each kid home with a goody bag. It was less work for her and less crying and stress for the kiddos. Plus, we got to hide the eggs a second time too! Sophia and Leo polished off all of their dyed eggs that evening for dinner!

Hanging with our Hommies

Leo and Luca shoot some hoops on their new b-ball goal!

Baby Adeline already 7 months old!

this picture really is worth a thousand words! ;) Poor Isabelle!

Francesca was just dying to get in that car and be a big kid!

It's been quite a while since Julie, Jodie and I have actually been able to hang out and let the kids play (read: have grown up time for the 3 of us! ;) Luckily it worked out this week and the kids had a blast testing out Luca and Massimo's new basketball goal and Power Wheels Dune Buggy. It was a good time and they got plenty of exercise!

More Zoo Time

this just plain adorable

this orangutan came right up to the window and interacted with us, it was super cute. Both the kids thought it was super cool and Leo kept yelling "hi Tang-e-tang!!!"

while waiting for the train we entertained ourselves with snapshots and sunglasses and Sophia tried out some modeling poses

we finally boarded the train after waiting over 30 minutes! One of the other trains broke down and it took a while to get it up and running, but Leo was not planning on missing out on this activity!

Sophia enjoyed seeing a real live warthog after the Lion King segment in Disney on Ice

Gazing at these big cats, Leo exclaimed...Look, Cheetos! Close enough, but alarming nonetheless, I swear we don't eat them that often! ;)

We really plan on taking advantage of our zoo membership this year. So far the kids are very eager to go and since it hasn't been too, too hot we're on it! The zoo is pretty spread out so it takes multiple visits to take it all in and in all honesty, a lot of our time is spent riding the train and carousel too, but why not, it's all included!

Disney On Ice

so intrigued!

Alice in Wonderland

Captain Hook getting eaten by the crocodile

Sophia in her butterfly dress with her butterfly wand

intermission snuggles!

The Lion King

Aladdin

We took the kids to Disney on Ice last week and had a great time. I appreciate that pretty much every seat you get is a good one, even the $12 cheap seats! ;) I think Leo enjoyed it more than Sophia, although Sophia did enjoy herself quite a bit! He was just so amazed by everything that was happening and couldn't take his eyes off the stage, er ice as it was. He did get a bit tired towards the end however and was happy to be leaving so he could go to bed, where on the other hand, Sophia cried! We just can't win!! This year's show was a conglomeration of other Ice shows and it showcased most of the major movies and characters. At the end was a Princess Extravaganza that featured each princess and her prince, Sophia loved that! Leo liked the crocodile part and the Lion King a lot. I would really like to show them the movie Peter Pan, one we don't own, but I think Sophia is ready for it. She doesn't enjoy the full length movies as much as just watching shorter shows, but this one seems like something right up her alley. This was one of the skits they both really enjoyed.