Every time I think about getting over to my blog two things stop me: knowing how much I have to catch up on and knowing that catching up will mean sifting through heaps of pictures in order to even remember what we were up to six-plus months ago. I thought I might just write a narrative to catch up on the balance of the year, and then add a picture a day for advent or something like that, but the obsessive part of me won't let myself off the hook that easily. The thing I've come to treasure about this blog over the years is not just the sharing part of it, but the fact that it is a record for myself and my own family to look back on. Have I ever mentioned that I have had each year of my blog bound into a book? So, I don't want to disappoint myself and have nothing to look back on for 2018.
Now, to time-travel back to April, which began with Easter on April 1st!
The Easter bunny brought only playdoh and garden seeds this year - win!
The weather was quite mixed, as April always is, because I seem to have this nice springy picture:
And this one, both in my April folder:
The first half of the month consisted mostly of school and silly stuff around the house. C took to wearing A's original (and VERY mild) glasses - which made her look about 13.
Quila continued in her role as class pet...
We dyed eggs and did cool science experiments like this one:
THEN the kids and I set off for my folks house, for what ended up being a 5 week stay! My mom had her second shoulder replacement surgery (the first shoulder was done last summer) and so we stuck around to help with the heavy lifting and driving her to physical therapy. She has since made a full recovery and is quite happy with her new shoulders. The kids and I had a fabulous time. Don was able to pop over most weekends so we had his intermittent company, and in between just enjoyed the company of my parents and the change of scenery. There is always lots for the kids to do at my folks' house, and as the weather got steadily warmer they spent more and more time outside.
Weaving was high on the list this time - started with the willow branches, and then with my really old basket-weaving equipment (I never get rid of anything).
Sweet Quila enjoyed traveling with us and she got continued to get along quite well with Spencer. She's also showing off my journal here - an item that has really meant a lot to me this year - probably something I could write a whole separate blog post on - traveler's notebooks, bullet journaling, art journaling. It's been a fabulous way to combine list-making and journal-keeping, two long-running passions of mine.
Judging by the outfits, looks like we got a warm day at the park:
Watercolors for all...
And we gratefully watched spring come upon the land...
The only regret of the month was missing out on the blooming of all the bulbs I had planted back home, in the new front garden I slaved over in the fall. Don took a picture for me. This spring, no matter where we may travel, I must make sure not to miss them again.
