Family, Friends and SO Much Fun!

This week has been vacation week for all of us but Evan. His school is on a different schedule so he isn't off, but he did take a self declared vacation day yesterday. We have had a jam packed schedule, but all of the running around and exhaustion has been very worth it. I wish I had had someone to video all of the new experiences that the kids had because I want to remember the joy, excitement, fun and love that I have seen on their faces as we share in all of the wonderful activities of the week with our family and friends. Almost all of my pictures are from my phone because I didn't want to take time out of the fun to get my camera out.

We started off with a Valentine's Day "tea" party with some of our favorite people. Abbie was kind enough to host this fantastic dinner that was filled with great food, fun projects and baby bunnies! The kids were so excited.

 Who needs a sippy cup?

This was way cool. It's candy corn dough that they could play with and shape into anything they wanted. We had hats and animals and Evan put a cookie inside of his and then made a ball. 

On Sunday, the boys had their first ski lesson. Evan was nervous and didn't want to do it, but in the end, he did get out there and declared at the end that "he didn't like it only a little bit". Braeden however, loved it! They start a three week session tomorrow and Roman can't wait until he can actually do some skiing with them. 

Evan decided he was done for the day!

The biggest highlight of Evan's week was attending his first high school basketball game. We can't usually go because they don't start until 7:30, but since it was vacation week, we took all three kids and they had a blast. Evan sat mesmerized and cheered as loud as he could. He also groaned loudly when things weren't going our team's way (which unfortunately was the majority of the time). But I could have watched him all night as he soaked it all in. His friend Brayden explained the game as it was happening and watching the two of them was priceless. Braeden was less excited about the game because he just wanted to go out and play on the court when it was all over. I thought Maggie was going to fall asleep because she was snuggled so far into my neck in the first half. But the second half she came alive and mimicked everything the cheerleaders did. It was very funny to watch. 

After the game is the real fun for the kids. 

We also got to celebrate Ethan's birthday twice. I am a firm believer of making the absolute most out of a birthday, so two parties when you're a kid is the best! His family party was over the weekend and then he took a few friends to lunch and a movie on Wednesday. The kids were hilarious making faces and enjoying being at the mall without their parents.Well all of the kids except for Ethan and Braeden.. It was a great time and the kids were all really well behaved so Stacy and I had a great time too!

We have had such a fabulous week and it's not even over. We've got more ski lessons and another birthday party still to go. I think we'll all be glad when Monday comes and we can go back to our regular routines and rest a little bit. I wouldn't trade this week for anything though. I have learned new things about my children, watched them marvel at new experiences and had more fun than I can remember in a while. It's been wonderful.