This week was spring break. We didn’t go anywhere in the stay-over-night-on-vacation sense, but we did go do a lot of things. Especially Caroline and I – we are cut from the same cloth that refuses to just sit on the couch on a sunny day. We need to go “do fun things”.

Sunday:

Can’t stop won’t stop visiting the goats (except probably now, since all the baby goats are getting big)

Treat yo’ self

Evening walk

Monday:

Not a real cow

So excited about the zoo he fell asleep

Art in motion

Tuesday:

Band-aids are really exciting

This is not a good wrap job but the wrap is so pretty I don’t care

If you give a baby a flashlight, he will think that is the best thing ever

Wednesday:

During the treasure hunt, a pirate asked them to sing a pirate song, so they both sang “Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!”

That hat though

Seriously. The hat.

Thursday:

I thought a nice long walk would be fun. They disagreed.

Caroline arranged her own storytime at the library, despite the fact that a) she can’t read and b) she doesn’t know that girl

Don’t let the cute messy face distract you from the path of destruction behind him

Friday:

Maybe I should try to teach her to read

Hide out

That’s his concentrating face

Saturday:

She is very disappointed that no REAL birds will get to enjoy the houses she decorated for them

Wearing his new hat while we enjoy dinner on a deck

These kids, you guys

I am BEAT and I feel about a million years old. I wish I could sleep for 24 hours straight. I feel like I’m right on the edge of getting sick and I do not have TIME to be sick. The kids are supposed to start soccer this week but somehow soccer (which is supposed to be Monday/Wednesday) is now on Thursday during the same time as swim. Obviously they can’t be swimming WHILE playing soccer so I’m going to have to get swim moved (there are other swim classes, there’s just one soccer team). But this swim session is really full and it’s going to be SUCH a pain to work out. I’m dreading making that phone call but both soccer and swim cost too much money to just skip. Stupid sports.

The weather is finally warm enough that I’m confident it’s time to switch out everyone’s wardrobes, but that means it’s time to sort out the donate/consign/pass on piles. Just ONE kid’s clothes could keep me busy for a week – and I have 3 kids with way too much stuff. I suspect absolutely nothing from last year will fit anyone (especially Linc, since he didn’t exist this time last year) so I will be forced to buy EVEN MORE stuff. Stupid stuff.

Thank God spring break is over. I’ve become just a whiny as my children.

This year, Evan’s birthday and Easter were the same day. We actually did his celebrating the day/night before and did Easter stuff on Easter, so these pictures are out of order but I’m hoping to put together a real birthday post with a kid interview before I finish it. So I’m starting with Easter.

The Easter Bunny was very generous this year and shockingly well-prepared considering how early the holiday fell. She was smart enough to buy several things on clearance after Easter last year AND THEN put them in a well-marked box in the basement AND THEN remembered to go down and LOOK in the box. Besides the last-year stuff and the standard candy, Easter Bunny also brought each big kid a Lego set because a) everyone loves Legos and b) spending money on Legos seemed like a wiser choice than buying $20 worth of junk they’d forget about instantly. So far it has worked out extremely well.

Even Lincoln got a basket of baby-appropriate stuff (book, ears, finger puppets, rubber ducky). I was also SUPER excited each kid finally has a permanently designated basket complete with their name and everything. They came from Personal Creations and were perfect for egg hunting at church and filling on Easter morning.

This chocolate bunny seriously blew his mind. It’s the solid kind, which means he ate approximately a whole pound of chocolate before church. #eastertraditions

Before we went to church I dragged the children outside for an Obligatory Fancy Clothes Holiday Photo. It didn’t go super well.

Don’t worry though, I/they made up for it later.

After church we went to Mystic Seaport to run out a little energy before our 2 pm brunch reservations. E insisted it is no longer “brunch” if it is served at 2 pm but I say anything with both a carving station and a custom omelet bar counts as brunch on Easter.

Lincoln was D O N E by the time we actually sat down to eat, but it still went fairly well. I wish he would have nursed and then slept on me so I could have sent my husband to fill my plate with ALL THE THINGS from the dessert table, but there was way too much going on for a distractable 8 month old to nurse. He did shove most of a dinner roll in his face. Caroline ate all the meat. Evan mostly ate crudités (if I call them crudités I feel less bad about the cost of carrot sticks). I ate more than enough stuff to make it feel worth the effort and expense. Easter brunch at a fancy place has ALWAYS been one of my favorite things and getting to do it once a year with my own family is fun. I imagine in 5 more years when everyone eats more and sits still and is as excited as I am about the crepe bar it will be an even nicer tradition.

I have both Easter pictures and Evan’s birthday post to write, but instead of eating Easter candy I stole from the kids and sitting on the couch this morning I went for a walk. I am feeling the “summer is coming” stress and really regreting bascially everything I’ve eaten for the last 9 months, so I’m making a conscious effort to increase my activity level and decrease my candy consumption. At least I will, after all these Reeses Eggs are gone.

Sunday:

When it comes to vintage spring dresses, she’s covered

HEY GUYS I FOUND THE EGGS THEY’RE OVER HERE

I sold this wrap. I’m pretty sure it was because of this picture.

Monday:

We did this a lot this week

No, that’s not disturbing

This art is delicious

Tuesday:

That’s supposed to be MY spot

Happy to be outside

WTF is this? It doesn’t look like nursies.

Wednesday:

Caroline the creeper

Every. Single. Wall.

Sad baby needs daddy cuddles

Thursday:

He loves the baby in the mirror

Porch ennui

LASHES

Friday:

The kids have asked to have this happen again EVERY DAY since

Neither of these children plays piano

Sure. Go ahead and eat that cardboard. Hashtag third child.

Saturday:

Saturday morning photo session

Why are you letting this goat eat me?

I’m going to steal this one.

I need a weekend to recover from our super busy weekend. I also need the weather to get above 70 degrees just for ONE DAY so I can open every window in the house. “Fresh linen” scented candles can only do so much when you haven’t had any fresh air inside in 6 months. Plus we all pretty much permanently smell like goats, so that’s not helping.

Even if you have a pretty good baby, they still keep your hands busy a LOT. Which makes blogging and photo editing hard. I have literally a thousand photos to share but will be lucky if I get 10% of them edited and posted in the next 6 months.

I am really, really looking forward to school starting.

Sunday:

That is Linc’s “WTF are we doing in New Jersey?” face. Just a rest stop baby, chill.

She hearts books

There was a BAT IN MY HOUSE. I WAS NOT PLEASED.

Monday:

Deep end of the big pool!

This is not an effective way to grocery shop.

More books!

Tuesday:

I bought that outfit 5 years ago, when it was already too small for Evan, thinking my next baby would wear it. I took the tags off right before I put it on Linc.

New London! Surprisingly scenic!

He’s too cool in his TooQool

Wednesday:

Aunt Carolyn brought him an elephant from Rwanda. The kids thought he needed to sleep with it NOW.

I love when baby stuff shows up in my mailbox. Especially when it’s useful baby stuff.

Up feeding the baby, all I can think is how much my closet needs to be reorganized.

Thursday:

They are singing sea shanties.

GORGEOUS day at the seaport

Aunt Carolyn read A LOT of books

Friday:

Pensive? She’s going for thoughtful.

Farmer’s market = 3 year old heaven

That was my dream car when I was a kid too.

Saturday:

He’s going through a Lego phase again

Milk drunk

I showed her Grease for the first time. It was a hit.

The weather this weekend has been GORGEOUS and I have enjoyed it…from my couch. After more than 5 weeks of house guests/traveling it is really nice to just sit down. Of course, it was really nice to have other people do all the cooking/cleaning/child minding too, but I have to get used to running the house and managing 3 kids at some point. So far they are all still alive. High fives!

This should really be another installment of Pictures I Forgot About but I have words to say about Chowder Days. I LOVE CHOWDER DAYS. It’s one of the few things we’ve actually managed to do as a family for several years in a row now, so I’m calling it an official tradition. The weather this year was amazing and Caroline magically got over her fear of boats so we got to ride the water taxi and I got to take some pictures. It was surprisingly un-crowded for an event – not at all like the one time we tried to go to the wooden boat show and couldn’t find parking within 2 miles – so the kids could run around and try the old fashioned games and play on the boats. There was a minor meltdown involving whether or not Evan was going to participate in pumpkin painting, but he got over it pretty fast and made a “sea monster” gourd. It’s still sitting on my window sill.

Apple fritters

Spicy crab and corn chowder. It was delicious. E had the lobster bisque, which is the only kind of soup he likes.

Shipyard beer at the shipyard!

These things crack me up.

I bought that dress at the consignment store in Mystic – it was $12, which was half price, which was probably 1/4 of the original price. It’s designer toddler-wear.

For a kid who is refusing to go into the building and participate in craft time he looks surprisingly cheerful.

Change of heart, he DOES like painting!

The gingers attempt croquet on the great lawn

I say old chap, nice swing!

It’s been a full month since Chowder Days and these pictures are actually bumming me out. We’re well past the go-out-on-the-water-without-coats stage of fall and into the brown-brown-and-more-brown stage. I’m cold and I don’t like it.