The Ice Cream Truck

We live in a cul-de-sac loop thing and the ice cream truck visits us almost every day.  Unfortunately, he usually comes around 7:30pm when our kids are already in bed.  Several times, Rooke will hear the music, get out of his bed, raise the blinds, and watch the ice cream dream come to life for other kids.  He's never whined about not getting any or complained that he's already in bed, but politely asked one day when it would be his turn to have some ice cream.  Ryan said the next time we were outside and the ice cream truck came, he could have a cone.  It happened this Saturday while my parents were visiting!  He chose the 1 pound plan vanilla cone without any sprinkles or chocolate flakes.

Without being prompted to do so, he decided to share the cone with his sister

She missed the bite and fell into the ice cream!

Sunny Days

I am so grateful for the sunny weather we've been having.  Playing outside, although a bit forced sometimes, is a great alternative to sitting in the house without our stuff (ie, toys).  Today we took a walk to the corner store to buy a snack and then enjoyed the grapes on our front walk.

Then we watered our loan flower to make it happy.  I've never had a garden.  Or a yard, for that matter.  I have no idea what I'm doing!  But this single yellow rose is my motivation that I should work to figure it out and forget that I have managed to kill all living plants that I've ever owned (much to my mother's chagrin).

Saturday

Saturday was spent together.  The four of us.  All day.  Exploring, eating, playing, walking, sleeping, smiling together.  It was perfect.

We started our day at a local farm, where we enjoyed checking out lots of different animals, treating ourselves to a second breakfast of cake, and buying some fresh sausages that were delicious for dinner.  The farm had a great play space for kids and since we were one of the first families to arrive, Rooke and Gretchen had their pick of tractors!  

On your mark, get set, go . . .

After naps, we headed out for a walk through the public footpaths behind our neighborhood.

The trail led us through a field of rapeseed plants

Rooke came up to me and said, "Mommy, you take a picture and I'll be the guy who jumps up and down behind you!".  Ryan and I were cracking up as I squatted to take the picture, realizing that Rooke was referring to the people who always have to help us get a good family shot by jumping up and down to get the kids' attention.  And he did, indeed, jump and down to get Ryan to smile!

Public footpaths often cross through private property.  The cows and this horse didn't seem to mind us trekking through their field.

Rooke asked for a closer view of the machinery.

They're Hitched

I promised tasty snacks if the kids would sit (on our temporary furniture) and watch THE wedding with me.  I would have loved to be part of the crowd, but knowing the events were going on just one hour away was exciting in itself.  Rooke liked the cars.  Gretchen liked the horses.  I liked it all.

Puppy and Bunny

Puppy Dog and Bunny Rabbit (super creative names, right?!) are usually restricted to inside the house and only travel with us on overnight trips.  But with all the transitions the kids have gone through over the past 6 weeks, Bunny and Puppy have been included more.  Gretchen especially doesn't want to go anywhere without "buh buh".  One day they'll be too embarrassed to love on a stuffed animal, so I like watching the affection now.

The Hunt

And we're back online!  I'll catch up on email eventually, but first I wanted to share some pictures from our fantastic Easter weekend with my parents.  We spent Saturday and Sunday at their house, enjoying walks in summer-like weather, a lively Sunday morning celebration that Christ is ALIVE! and an afternoon of dying, hiding, and hunting for eggs.

She just had to know what was inside.  I finally gave in and let her go for it.

Rooke hung in there for a while, but eventually it was just my mom and I left to the decorating.

Meanwhile, Gretchen was practicing for her senior pictures . . .

The hunt was on . . .

Luke 24.1-12:


But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.  And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.  And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead  He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”  And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.  But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

He has Risen!  Happy Easter!

On Base

Next on our list of transitions and adjustments was to move out of my parents' place and go to temporary housing (read: hotel suite) on the base where Ryan is stationed.  One step closer to being settled.  It was a short stay as we are already in a permanent home (without internet yet, so my posts will be limited for a while), but we can get to that later.  Here are some pics of our days getting a feel for the base where Ryan goes to work every day.  He has a job!  We're so grateful.

The weather has been absolutely perfect.  We'll try to send some your way, Seattle.

This playground was right outside the hotel door.  

We love getting mail!