Double Play Time

Jac’s school play was this morning and she nailed it.

She was one of the giant’s servants in “Jack and the Beanstalk” and we’ve been practice singing her part for a couple of weeks. 

 Cutest servant ever

I’m gonna miss that little ear worm (and her favorite part) … “I work for a giant, who eats up kids like you.” 😂

Also, who knew Riverdance would still be around after 25 years?

Pop took Marie and Leo to see it at the Dolby

while Jac and I had a pizza, grapes and bubble bath extravaganza. Party on!

Medals

Want to see some HAPPY kids?

Jac took first place,

and Donovan third,

for best reflexes and paying attention in class today. 

Look at those smiles! 

(The medals were left over from a 2022 competition. Clearing them out made everybody happy. 😍)

String Art

(note: Blogger ate these photos too, so replacing them with 4-packs and hoping they stay put. ☹️☹️)  

I thought this string art project would be a big hitbut once again, I underestimated Jac’s aversion to having her hands dirty. 

She spent more time trying to wipe the paint off than she did making pictures. And they were such cool pics!

Oh well. At least she enjoyed playing in the sink with bubbles while the paint soaked off her hands. 

Leo wasn’t impressed either… Next time I’ll just skip straight to the bubbles and save myself the clean up.…

Then There Were 3

Getting there …

Still a ways to go before it’s finished. #hippos

Big 5

Look who’s 5! (Blogger deleted my photos so I’m putting them back in 4-packs and hoping they stay this time. ☹️)

He’s not actual 5 until tomorrow - as he told me when I congratulated him at todays party - but he was ok with celebrating - and getting presents - a day early.

The kids had tons of fun with a bounce house, balloon swords, super hero costumes and a piñata.

Perfect day to celebrate a super cool kid.

Happy almost birthday, Donovan!

Organizing

Still working away on hubby’s family tree, organizing all the paper - print and digital- I’ve accumulated so far.

With 120+ people in the tree - not including siblings and others listed in things like the census - there’s a lot to keep track of. Good news is, I’ve got most of the names and BMD dates (birth, marriage, death) penciled in for all 4 branches, going back 4 to 7 generations. Whoop!

Now I’m looking for confirming documents - birth registrations, obituaries, news articles, passport applications - and fun tidbits to make things more interesting. Two of this week’s favorite finds - stumbled onto a link to George Edward’s obituary … with the misspelled last name. No wonder I couldn’t find it before. Also love the physical descriptions in the passport application - the usual height, weight, eye and hair color, plus ‘Forehead: “high” and Nose: “sharp”.’ Definitely including that in the final product.

Easter

Egg hunt - the hiders:

The hunters -

Keeping well out of the way…

Babygrands -
She still fits at 14. Yay!

I seeeeeeee youuuuuu



Donovan asked for a pic with his new Spiderman 

Grumpy Jackie 

Family - 

Gary and Cheyenne

Leia, Mary, Donovan and Matt

Marie, Leo and Scott. Jackie refused to have her picture taken. 🙄

Happy Easter!

Tar Pits

We made it to La Brea!

I can’t remember how long it’s been since we’ve been here. I’m sure (I think…) we took Leia when she was little, but Leanne says she’s never been before. That’s kinda sad ‘cause it’s so

Almost everything in the main building is kid-friendly and touchable, which Jac took full advantage of (Leanne was a tiny bit more restrained.)

Outdoors in Hancock Park are the actual tar pits (asphalt pits, if we’re technically correct…) Most are fenced off but Pit 91 is still being excavated (although not while we were there.)

There were also sloths to befriend and huge trees to climb.  Such a fun day, even with Jac’s “I WANT A DIRE WOLF NOW” tantrum. Sorry, kiddo. Dire wolves don’t fit in the SUV.

 

Separate Ways

This week is spring break for the grand babies and they’ve all gone in different directions.

 Such a good patient!

After Donovan went to the dentist Monday, 

he and his mom headed to Arrowhead to play in the snow,

while his sissy, Leia, is spending 10 days touring

Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Krakow and more with a group of high school kids,

waving to King Charles (not kidding!)

and hanging out with her brother, Miles, who’s also on the trip. 

Poor Leanne and Jaclyn are stuck with me and Pop . . .

making resin jewelry, 

bathing indulging in ice cream, 

and petting sharks,

anemones 

and more 

at the Santa Barbara Sea Center,

Jac and Fang, the Shark 

which is now, apparently, a port of call for cruise ships. Who knew??

Jac’s favorite part of the Sea Center visit? Not the sharks or lobsters or microscopes … she said playing in the fancy sand pit topped everything.

Thursday - weather and traffic gods willing - we’re heading to La Brea Tar Pits. Pretty sure I’m more excited about that than the girls. Can.Not.Wait!

No Fooling

No (April fool’s) fooling - the Colorado grandchild is a crocheter!

This is 5 (6?) skeins of yarn so far and Lukas is still going strong. I’m so proud. And I love the colors too.