Cotton Tale

After such a cold and endless winter, our family has been ready for some real spring weather and Easter sure delivered!  What a beautiful day to celebrate with family.  After finding their baskets and church in the morning we had Grandma and Jeff over for dinner and then colored easter eggs.  We then went back to their house for a big hunt and dessert.  We were so thankful to be able to be outside and see the flowers starting to bloom in every direction.  Finally, spring has sprung!

Lancaster

Jeremy and I had such a wonderful kid-free trip to Florida earlier this month so I hadn't planned on doing much for the kids Spring Break.  However, we had to put our kitty Anya to sleep and I thought it would be good to take the kids on a trip to keep their mind off of losing such a sweet friend.  Jeremy couldn't take off work, so I packed up the kids and headed up to Lancaster, PA by myself to stay a few days in my mom and Jeff's house up there.  We stopped on the way at the Herr's chip factory.  They take you on a great tour and even let you sample some hot off the belt potato chips that had been potatoes just 5 minutes earlier- yum!  We also took home some sample bags of their newest flavors- lots of spicy ones!  We didn't have any plans in Lancaster, but they do have some of the best food I've ever had, so we stopped at Good and Plenty where my boys did a number on their family style, all you can eat dining, and went to breakfast one morning at Jennie's, a truck stop diner with the biggest breakfasts you've ever seen!  We also tried out a science museum for the first time and it was incredible!  They had so many things for the kids to do like building cars from Kinex and racing them, experiments with magnets and force, a man that did science experiments for the kids to watch, and just lots and lots of hands on stuff.  They are already begging to go back there.  At least now the kids can say they did something over Spring Break!

Boca

We are really lucky that Jeremy works for such an amazing company.  Last year McLean Mortgage took us to Jamaica and we felt very fortunate to have that once in a lifetime kind of vacation.  We were shocked when we were again invited to go on the yearly President's trip, this time to Boca Raton, Florida.  We stayed at the most beautiful Waldorf-Astoria resort with a suite that overlooked the ocean.  The 3rd story room had an enormous sliding glass door that you could open and hear the ocean and feel the sea breeze, it was heavenly!  I think Jeremy wanted to be a valet as we watched people drive up in their Bentley's, Porche's and even a Lamborghini!  One thing that we remembered from last year was the abundance of food, and this year was just the same, some of the best things I've ever tasted!  We took a ride on a sail boat one day and saw so many beautiful mansions and yachts from millionaires all over the world.  I had no idea Boca was an "it" place.  The resort offered many restaurants for us to choose from and we ate at Serendipity, known for it's frozen hot chocolates!  We both ordered one and had no clue they each would come with two straws and were meant to share!  One of the definite highlights was going to dinner one night and meeting Adam Sandler!  Apparently his parents are members at the resort and he was there with his kids and his wife.  I couldn't believe he let us take a picture with him and he was so nice!  The only thing I could think to tell him was that we watched Water Boy on our honeymoon!  We also got together with Jeremy's brother Cary and his family that drove up to see us from Miami.  That was one of my favorite parts of the trip!  What a slice of paradise!  It was so nice to just relax for a few days and be pampered.  We're so thankful to mom and Jeff that took the kids yet again so that we could enjoy such a wonderful vacation.  So many memories made.

Mason is SIX!

I have a kindergartener that has been begging for a birthday party for more than a year.  Sad, I know!  This poor kid has gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to having parties, somehow we always have so much going on around his birthday that it gets lost in the shuffle.  Not this year!  We celebrated Mason's big day in a BIG way!  On his birthday he chose to go to one of our favorite pizza places and wanted a Captain America cake- check!  We also brought in cake pops to school.  Since the week after his birthday was Spring Break, we opted to have his party that Friday.  I still remember my 6th birthday party.  It was held in our back yard and we played pin the tail on the donkey, and I'm sure some other games too.  I remember the kids that were there and getting my ears pierced.  I'm hoping Mason remembers some of this day we had for him.  He invited six little friends for a Super-hero party at home and we even played pin the Batman symbol on Batman, along with a bunch of other games the older boys helped to plan and they and grandma all helped orchestrate.  Cameron gave all the kids super-hero tattoos and operated our musical chairs game.  Gavin helped them design their own super heros and had a sack race.  Grandma helped with a bean bag toss and a BINGO game.  And we had a Johnson family first- a pinata!  It was a whirlwind of a party, but I think mission accomplished- Mason sure felt SUPER!  And he is a hero to all of us.