A Wonderful Easter Weekend

As the title of this post says, we had a wonderful Easter weekend.  Saturday morning we headed down to Crown Center to check out the Wizard of Oz exhibit.  We also visited Kaleidoscope while we were there.  The weather was beautiful so we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening outside playing with friends and riding trikes.  This morning the Easter Bunny left some eggs for the girls (filled with marshmallows and change for piggy banks) as well as new baseball gloves, a bat, and a tee.  Then we got all "dolled up" and headed to church for a great service.  Then late afternoon and evening was spent with our great friends and neighbors, the Southards, along with some other families who don't have extended families in the area.  The major highlights from the evening were the egg hunt and the real live baby chicks that were brought for the kids to see and hold!!!  We couldn't have asked for a better weekend.  Jesus is alive and we pray that others have Him in their lives too!

St. Louis Adventures

We recently did an overnight in St. Louis to do some fun things with the girls and have a little spring adventure.  We arrived in time for lunch and then met mommy's good friend Laura and her two daughters, Elise and Audrey, at the awesome Magic House Children's Museum.  We had so much fun exploring, climbing, splashing, and pretending.  Then we spent the rest of the evening at our hotel swimming and chowing down on pizza.  Reese was showing off swimming "by herself" which basically was sinking before we would lift her up.  She loved it and came out of the water with a huge smile on her face every time.  Ava was a little more reserved with putting her face in the water but mommy and daddy made sure to get her under a few times regardless of her wishes.  This was the first time the girls have been in a hotel without pack 'n plays so sleeping was interesting.  Ava and Reese started in the same bed but after Reese continued to whisper "Ava's touching me," and "Ava, stay on your side," we changed it up and Reese shared a bed with Daddy and Ava shared a bed with Mommy.  We knew it could be an interesting night and we reminded ourselves that it would only be one night!  The next day we went to the (FREE!!) St. Louis Zoo to see zebras, monkeys, and elephants before heading to the Cubs vs. Cardinals baseball game.  The game was ugly for the Cubs but definitely a fun time taking the girls to their first Cubs game.  Here are some pictures of our little trip...

Other happenings with Ava and Reese....

Reese is doing a great job of coloring inside the lines!

Lots of "check-ups" around here...

A couple weeks ago Ava and Reese, along with great friends Payton and Colton, ran in the Bitty Bug Run.  They got special super hero capes and then of course got goodies after the "long" run (probably 40 meters)!  Cotton candy, bagels, granola bars...  The race was in its 2nd year and was started by the family of a little boy named Jadon who was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and has surpassed most SMA baby's lifespan, now 4 1/2 years old.  His dad was actually the Santa Claus who came to our house when the girls were pretty much home bound during their first two years.