Holy Week

We had a wonderful Easter! This year I tried to be really intentional about celebrating Holy Week. I wanted my girls to know all about Christ's last week on Earth. We started our Holy Week with Palm Sunday. We had a special one sacrament meeting and the girls all got new Easter dresses, so of course we had to have a little photo shoot.

We did fun little things everyday of Holy Week to learn about what happened. On Palm Sunday, we made palm leaves to wave and on each leaf we wrote about what we love about Jesus. Monday we talked about Jesus cleansing the temple. I set a timer for 5 minutes to clean up as much as we could in that time, and the girls said it was a trick into getting them to clean. :) Tuesday we talked about how Jesus taught and one teaching was to love God and love people so we decorated some sugar cookies and delivered them to neighbors and ward members. Wednesday we talked about it sometimes being called Spy Wednesday since it was the night that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus. Tthen we said we could be secret spies for good and did some heart attacking to our neighbor and Nona and Pops. We didn't even get caught! Thursday we had a fun Passover dinner on the floor by candlelight and we washed each other's feet. Friday we made Calvary and cross paper plate crafts. Saturday we had our Easter egg hunt and it was busy day with conference but we did read our scripture for the day and watched a video. (This is something we did each day along with the activity). Then Sunday was Easter and we watched general conference, did traditional Easter things, and watched an Easter video. It was a really good week!

On Monday, we went with Nona down to Puyallup to a church that put on this amazing, interactive walk through for Holy Week. Each room represented different days of the week and it was a perfect way to start off our Holy Week. It was so well done, and I loved everything about it!

The Gethsemane room was so peaceful, and as soon as you walked in the Spirit was strong. Everyone got to light a candle and set it on a branch or tree while we reflected about what the Savior did for each of us in Gethsemane. 

This was also another very powerful and moving room!

He is risen!

Friday evening, we went over to Nona and Pop's house to dye eggs. We had a few different kits to try out- the traditional dye, the egg spinner with markers, and a volcano one. The girls all tried each of them out and had so much fun.

Saturday after general conference, we had an Easter egg hunt with cousins. It was a beautiful day, and the kids had lots of fun finding their hidden eggs. We enjoyed dinner together afterwards, and it was such a fun and relaxing way to end the day.

Easter morning! Baylor and McCall were very excited for the day to start and were so excited for Dad to get home (He had to do a park run for work in the morning) so they could find their baskets. Baylor was the first to find hers.

Then McCall found hers and was so excited for her Paw Patrol bath bombs.

Nate and I found ours and then Paige finally woke up to find her basket which was for sure the hardest to find. Easter morning was fun and sweet. The rest of the day was filled with watching general conference and enjoying the sunshine in between sessions.

We went on our annual trillium hunt with Nona and Pops before Easter dinner. It is a fun tradition though the gnats this year were something else. It wasn't bad until we got to where all the trilliums were and then they swarmed us. It was constant and you had to keep moving or they would go in your nose, mouth, eyes, and wherever else they could find. It was pretty entertaining with the girls swinging their arms like crazy, Baylor covering her head with her jacket and trying to stay on the trail, McCall hiding her face into my shoulder, and everyone laughing at me and joking that I was pig pen from Peanuts because I had swarm of bugs following me wherever I walked. We did find some trilliums but it wasn't our usual, relaxing walk like it has been in years past.

We did come home to a wonderful Easter dinner with Nona and Pops and it was a wonderful way to end Holy Week. Happy Easter!

Letter W

Letter W was a fun one! Monday, McCall started the preschool week with using watercolors to paint the letter W.

Then we had some fun with whipped cream. First I had her mix first the primary colors into the whipped cream so she could see the color and then she mixed the primary colors to create the secondary colors. It was fun to listen to her guesses of what she thought what each combination would create.

Then of course she got to eat a big spoonful of the delicious whipped cream!

Tuesday she started with making a watermelon out of half a paper plate. She painted all the different colors and used her finger to create the seeds.

Then she went on a "W" hunt. I printed off some things that start with W and hid them around the room for her to find. Then she would hide them for me to find and we did a few rounds of this.

Wednesday was our worm day. First we did a worm craft. She cut out the worms and drew on the cutest faces. Then she cut the grass pieces on top and glued her worms "underground".

Then lucky for us it was a rainy day so we went outside to look for some worms. McCall was great at spotting them. The first one she found was a big one and we watched it for awhile as it crossed part of the road to the grass. We watched how it wiggled and moved around to find the best path through the grass.

Then we just enjoyed walking and splashing and jumping in puddles. She sure looked cute with her rainboots and umbrella!

Thursday we started the day making some chocolate waffles and then she did a washing station and washed all her Paw Patrol characters.

Friday was our wagon day. She cut out the different pieces and then glued her wagon together. While I showered, she added the details to her picture and was so excited to show me. She drew the sky with birds and it was Dad pulling her in the wagon to the playground and there are also pretty flowers to see on her wagon ride.

Then we had a fun little walk in the wagon and got to see the water at the park.

Then of course since we were at the park, we had to play at the playground.

Spring Break #1

We enjoyed a whole week with Derek and Amy and their family here in Washington. It has become an annual thing and we love that we pretty much get two spring breaks. This year we didn't tell Baylor they were coming and when they arrived, she had the best and sweetest reaction to seeing them getting out of their car. All the cousins immediately got to playing outside in the backyard and playing games. We just enjoyed a lazy day and we walked with Derek and Amy in our neighborhood. Then to end the day we enjoyed taste testing some different kinds of jelly beans.

Sunday was Paige's birthday! It is amazing to have so much family around to celebrate with her. We finally had some sunshine, so after church we went on a walk on the Soos Creek Trail. We found some horses, a bridge to cross, some ducks, water over the roadway, some tadpole sacks, and some very sly and fast snakes.

We found one little snake and then the more we watched there were so many little snakes, but they were very quick and most of us were way to chicken to try and catch one. Derek and Nate tried for quick a while with all the girls around them pointing and squealing. It was pretty entertaining, but I kept my distance. Nate finally caught one and then tried passing it to Paige who freaked out and dropped it and everyone was scampering around trying to catch it again.

Then we got back and enjoyed some time on Nona and Poop's garage roof and playing outside. The roof was so warm to lay on.

The girls played some games while they waited for dinner.

Paige's birthday dinner request was fettucine alfredo and breadsticks. It was delicious and I had way too many leftover cooked noodles. Baylor and Emily were playing in the backyard so I gave all the noodles to Paige and Juliette and I said food fight. They were surprised but were totally game for it. Watching it all was one of my favorite parts of the whole week. Emily got drilled in the face by Juliette and then it was game on. There were so many laughs and screams.

Then while the donuts were rising we had some fun with the balloons and tried to have a balloon hit into your face while not blinking. It made for some very entertaining pictures. I guess we are easily entertained. :)

Charlotte was by far the most entertaining to watch and was trying so hard but failing at it every time. :)

Then we had a birthday celebration at Nona and Pop's house and had WAY too many donuts.

Monday, Paige and Baylor went to school and Derek had to work so I took Amy, her girls, and McCall and we went up to Seattle. One of Charlotte's favorites movies is "10 Things I Hate About You" and there are so many spots in Seattle where they filmed different scenes so we went searching for them all. We got quite the tour of Seattle. We enjoyed some views of Lake Union and the gorgeous view of the Seattle skyline and then we enjoyed some hamburgers at Dicks.

We got home in time to pick up the girls from school and then it was back to cousin time playing games and playing oner with the balloons.

Then we enjoyed a fire and smores in the evening that Nate and McCall made. 

Tuesday was a very rainy day and Paige completed a bucket list item- trash bagging. We got some trash bags and dish soap and the girls had so fun at Lake Meridian Park.

I kept dry under an umbrella and got lots of great pictures. It was super fun to watch!

They were freezing cold and soaking wet by the end and were happy to go home and have a hot shower. After lunch, we did some thrift shopping to finish out our day.

Wednesday was a chill morning and then we went to Family Fun Center. Derek and Amy and their girls plus Paige first did laser tag. They were all on a team together and went up against a group of teenage girls that were there. Derek dominated so their teams won by a landslide even though the other team had 3 or 4 more team members.

Then we enjoyed some lunch there and I stayed with McCall and Baylor and they enjoyed the play place while the older girls went bowling.

Then we made a stop at Value Village to check out their clothes before heading home to make dinner. We made a quick appearance to celebrate Nona's 75th birthday and the Peterson girls got to experience the Smith tradition of dragging candles.

Then Emily and Juliette joined Paige and I at our young women's activity. They made some super cute name pennants and decorated claw clips. They had a lot of fun and it was sweet to hear all my young women telling Juliette that they were all going to figure out a plan to get Juliette to go to girl's camp with us again. They even said they would all drive to Idaho to pick her up!

Thursday's adventures led us to the Green River Gorge. It was just the girls for this little adventure. The river was very high so we couldn't hike very far on the trail but we did get to go behind the waterfall and enjoy the beautiful views.

We made a quick stop in Black Diamond to get some donuts and other treats.

Then the girls got home and made some cute hug t-shirts. They each picked a color of paint and painted their arms and hands and gave each other hugs on their white t-shirts. It was very fun to watch and even Baylor joined in even though she hates hugs. McCall didn't want paint all over her but was fine with it being on her hands so each shirt has two cute little handprints on them.

Every evening was so nice while they were here. We just visited while the girls played outside, played games, did face masks, or whatever else they could come up with. They all do really well together and keep each other busy.

Friday was the nicest day of the whole week so we made a day of it and went out to Vashon Island. The ferry ride over is pretty quick but has the most incredible view of Mount Rainier.

Our first stop was at Point Robinson Park to see the troll, the lighthouse, and enjoy some time on the beach.

We had a picnic before going and doing a quick little stop at the fence of doors. It is an art installation put on by the city and they have artists create famous doors from movies. I knew that Derek and Amy's family would appreciate it since they are a movie family. At first we were trying to figure out which movie each door was from until Paige found the paper that gives you all the information,

Then they each picked a door to reenact or represent something from that movie.

Then I read somewhere online at the community center they had some fairy houses. We got there and there were only two so it was a little disappointing but we enjoyed soaking up the sun and walking around. There was a guy there painting some frames for a community event and he had a very friendly and calm dog that the girls loved and the dog even posed for a picture.

We wandered around some of downtown and through some shops before getting back on the ferry.

Then we had to try out the shoots and ladders that is right by the ferry terminal before heading home. It was so much fun and the girls went over and over. There was also a marina near by that had some seals soaking up some sun on the docks that we got to see.

We made one last stop to see Stadium High School in Tacoma which is also in one of the movie scenes from "10 Things I Hate About You" and is just a very impressive high school to see. We got home in time to eat some dinner and then Nate, Paige, Amy, and I all went and saw our stake's production of "Newsies" that Brett was in. They did an amazing job and the lead was incredible! Derek and I stayed up really late talking for our last night which so nice.

Saturday morning they left to go home.:( We loved every day and every moment with them and we are so grateful that they chose to make Washington their spring break destination. Saturday was another beautiful day so we spent the day cleaning and getting everything put back together after our week of fun. I got the front yard all weeded while Nate cleaned the inside and outside of the van. I was busy doing something and I went looking for Baylor and couldn't find her and I was even yelling her name. I got into her room and she was fast asleep on her bed. She never takes naps so it must have been a very fun and busy week with her cousins. We miss them already!