Spring Break Palooza

 Remember all that stuff we didn't do during the pandemic? Yeah - we did it ALL during spring break. 

Having friends over? Check. 

Water park? Check.

 Trampolines? Check. 

Picking up a cold....oh crap, also check. 

Yeah...so we had fun but also got to miss most of the first week back because of a lovely little snot Miss Char welcomed into our home. Still, good times all around.

Oh and one afternoon Mr. Clark was so engrossed in his Smashy Road game on the tablet that he slipped right off his bed and thwacked his head right on the edge of the desk. He came out literally gushing blood from his head and I think I deserve some award for keeping it together and not flipping out. No stitches necessary but he bedsheets looked like a murder scene. 

And the weather LOVES US! Just love all around. Beautiful. Sunny. 85 degrees last weekend. We busted out all the outdoor furniture and Charlotte busted out her...books? Seriously, what is up with my daughter loving books so much. She will read them in her chair, she will read them everywhere. She will read them in the grass, she will read them on her...butt. 

And bubbles are back which means the deck is currently covered in bubble juice. 

Want to see something super cute? Bam! I snuck a bow into her hair before school one morning and loved it. She loved it because she didn't know it was there. Ha!

Clark made indoor tracks because nap time is just getting straight up boring!

Unless you nap like this:)

And...ta da! Took the training wheels off, had one big old argument but then gave it a go and he is a pro already. 

And finally we made it back to full time church. After missing the first Sunday because of snot messiness, we dressed Charlotte up in matchy half ponytails for her first day as a Sunbeam. She loves it!

Life in a bite

 No pics with this one, just some general life happens info. We got new tires on the Sub a few months back and thanks to a run in with some screws at the park, the CRV also got some new fabulous wheels. We've been driving Sister Stephens back and forth to church each Sunday, which sometimes requires Dana to squish into the back seat with the kiddos. It's good service for a sweet lady. We will be returning to full 2 hour church April 11th which is amazing...and weird. 

Yakima keeps plugging along. Covid numbers fluctuate but we were able to move to Phase 2 after some hospital numbers were corrected which basically means all the restaurants and businesses are back open to some degree. Last week we got the GREAT news that school will resume April 26th FULL IN TIME for the the kids. Will it happen? Meh. I'm hopefully but you never know these days. What does that means for Little Miss's schedule? No clue. Maybe more Mom alone time? 

There is a group of ladies trying to hike Mt Adams and I have tentatively said I will join them. Will I? No clue. But it's motivating us to get into better shape and maybe not eat so much delicious chocolate. 

Vaccines are now pretty available and we will be eligible for ours starting April 15th so watch out line, the Gailans are in it. Mom and Dad Kitchen bought a big old RV (34 feet!) so it looks like that monstrosity will be gracing our neighborhood in some future year:) The Gailan grandparents are considering moving and actively looking for smaller digs but the market is CRAZY! Like, unprecedented California priced real estate crazy, so we don't know if it will happen this year. 

Matt got a great and well deserved promotion at Fred Myers and we went to celebrate with them last weekend. Their girls continue to just get cuter. And Kristen got to shimmy under their house into the spider filled horror show that is a sub basement to find some leaking pipes so everyone is having fun these days:) 

It's been one full year since Covid shut down. Reading through Char's baby book is hilarious and sad and eye opening. Not sure yet what lessons we have learned but at least we know time moves on and bad things pass. 

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

 Let's just be frank: our girl has awesome hair! But it's a lot. Especially when said hair dangles precariously over the toilet during potty training. So last week - we chopped it off. The results: spectacular!

BEFORE

AFTER

So so so so cute! She looks like such a little lady. I can't quite manage Gina's curly twist yet so it's mostly in a small ponytail but we are happy with the results. 

Easter/ Conference

Easter time is a fabulous time but more so when it coincides with Conference weekend. Extra bonus points when the weather is fabulous!

We dyed eggs for the first time as a family. Mad props to Mom for not freaking out over the little cups of colored, possibly forever staining water hoovering meer feet above her new flooring. (none dripped...we were all good). Char unceremoniously plopped hers into the water. Clark colored a bit and Dad tried to leave some coded Aztec message and really nailed the execution! The kids were jealous and amazed at his two toned egg...maybe next year guys. 

We did the basket thing and went simple this year with a bit of candy, memory books, bunny poppers and race cars. 

Because of the beautiful weather, we spent almost all of Saturday outside at the park or in the backyard. Charlotte spent most of it half naked in her hand me down Spiderman underwear:) And when Mom cleaned out the Halloween bucket she added a dash of cauldron and cat ears to finish the ensemble. 

Why save sledding for the snow? Get your very own "grass sled" today and enjoy the fun year round. 

We signed Clark up for soccer but now we are wondering if we should have done T-ball. This kid can hit! 

For the first time since having kids, we tried really hard this year to take the focus off the "bunny" and put it back on Christ. With a little help from my roomate, Becca, we made an Easter advent type activity with easter eggs. 

Every night we would have an "egg hunt" and inside would be some candy, scripture, songs, and a video about the last week of Jesus' life. Charlotte was pretty oblivious but we had some good conversations with Clark about the true meaning of Easter and what happened each day. General Conference was a perfect addition to the spirit of the week. 

And it helps when Dad manages to pull of a pretty sweet lego Temple. 

Happy Easter to us all!