Easter 2018

We had a wonderful Easter weekend.

The girls came home with John on Thursday.

We had to do our grocery shopping so they came with us to Aldi and Walmart.  They were good little shoppers and we had dinner at Culver's.

On Friday we did so many fun things.

We started by making dough for sugar cookies, then we dyed our eggs, frosted our cookies, picked up pine cones for grandpa, and went out to dinner after Courtney, Paul. Lissa, and Nathan arrived later on Friday.

Grandpa paid 25 cents per pine cone so they both made quite a bit of money!

I almost forgot, the girls also took their first spin of the spring in the Escalade.

I hope they never get too big for riding together in the Escalade!

We had planned to go to Elias on Friday for fish, but there were so many people there that we couldn't even get a place to sit in the bar area so we all decided to go to Bismark's instead.  Perfect choice.  We enjoyed great bar food and cheap pitchers.  John and I took the girls home while the other kids went out for a few beers.

It was a good night all around.

On Saturday, the girls went on their first Easter hunt to find their baskets.

The wigs were a big hit!

We all (except for marge) went to an Admirals game that night.  We ate at Rock Bottom before the game.

It was a fun night.  The girls loved their first hockey game especially the fights!

we had great second row seats.  John had his own seat away from the rest of us!

We also visited the Bronze Fonz on our way to the hockey game.

As you can tell by our outerware, it was unseasonably cold this whole weekend!

On Sunday, we all went to church, my kids sang with the rest of the school, it was wonderful.

After church it was more wigs, ham dinner, and then Alissa and Nathan left followed by Courtney and Paul.

The girls did another egg hunt and made a fair amount of money.  they stayed overnight with us and we did the zoo the next day.

It was a chilly dat at the zoo but that kept the crowds away so we enjoyed an almost empty zoo!

We had a great day.

we got to see our red panda that we sponsor.  he was sleeping but we saw him!

The girls had a great time on the playground's merry go round.

we took them back home after pizza at Pizza Ranch.

It was a great Easter!

Playing Catch up yet again!

Time just flies by lately.

Time to play some catch up here.

Last Friday John and I met The Aleshires and the Scherers for fish at Ron's Cozy Corner.

It was a great fun night.

I actually didn't want to go and would have talked myself right out of it if I could have but once we got there it was a great time.

On Saturday we walked around Carroll and then went to see Red Sparrow in Delafield.  It is a movie about Russian spies.  It was graphic but good.

We found ourselves at the Delafield Brewery for pizza and green beer.  We had seen a singer/comedian names Sigmund Snowpec back in 1984 at Summerfest and he was performing at The Brewhaus.

John requested, "Thank God this isn't Cleveland" a song we had enjoyed way back then and he played it for us.

It was a fun day and evening.

Sunday was a work outside kind of day.  spring is not here yet, but Sunday felt a bit like it might be around the corner.

I was on spring break this past week.  It was a wonderful break from my kids.  I love them, but I need a break every once in awhile.

I spent my spring break up in Oshkosh.

John and I headed up there on Sunday evening ready for  the next four days with the girls while Courtney and Paul spent a few day up in Door County.

The girls did not have spring break so we had to get them up and ready for school.  John dropped them off at 7:30.

We settled into a fun morning routine which involved watching Leave it to Beaver each morning before school.

I walked to pick the girls up each day.

We had to get Tiz to cheer for three hours on Tuesday night.

There was dinner and homework and bedtime.

Fifth grade math is tricky!

On Wed, we celebrated and remembered sweet Natnael's 8th birthday.

While the girls were in school, I cleaned and organized the Van Auken house getting it ready for rental when they move to Milwaukee for the year.

I love doing that for other people but not so much for myself

On Thursday Courtney and Paul returned and we came home that evening.

Tired, but full of happy memories.

On friday I cleaned my closet which led to other projects.

Today, Saturday more organizing and tomorrow my kids sing for Palm Sunday., then just resting up for school again!

Happy Spring everyone, bring it on.

Soli , Legos and another great weekend

We had Soliana this past weekend while her dad was at a gig and her mom and Tiz were winning another cheer competition in Illinois.

It was a fantastic weekend.

She arrived on Friday with John.

I had my variety fair at school all about Pete the Cat which, by the way, was a huge success.

John and Soli came and toured all the projects at school.

After the fair, I needed a beer, so John and I went to Sprecher and had a beer or ten.  Gigi and Soli stayed home and took care of each other.

On Saturday, Soli chose a quiet, laid back, stay at home day.

We build with legos, watched TV, and just had a relaxed wonderful day.

On Sunday Paul joined us for church and then everyone returned to their home.

We made lots of happy memories again this weekend.

May all your days be circus days

For at least the sixth year in a row, John and I took Soli and Tiz to the circus in Green Bay.

We always have such a great time at the circus and this year was no different.

The girls opted out of any animal rides this year, thank the Lord, because that saves us a lot of money.

There were lots of new acts and some of our favorite stand bys like the human cannonball.

After the circus, we ate an early dinner at The Golden Corral.  It was actually so tasty, not what I expected at all.  We sat there quite awhile just visiting and enjoying all the different food.

Of course, the girls enjoy the chocolate fountain!

We took them home and then we headed home for a quiet evening.

After church we enjoyed a much needed quiet, down Sunday.

Here are some photos;