APRIL

April started out with Seth starting to shave his beard.  He shaved down to some chops...Millie told him he looked like a leprechaun. 

 

I took the kids up to Farmington Station for the Bunny Scavenger Hunt.  They loved running around to find the bunny window clings in the shop windows.

We paused our hunt for some pretzel bites.

 

We had a Festival Pass to Cross E's Baby Animal Festival.  We went for the first time the first Friday in April.

 

The ranch had a new archery area set up and Phin loved it.

 

Phin also loved the rock climbing wall.

 

We spent a day up in Cache Valley.The kids loved spending time with their cousins.

 

Scott, Kristi, Kira and Theo surprised us with an Easter egg hunt.  They hid eggs in our yard and sent us a text message to let us know we needed to go out and hunt.  

 

Silas especially loved the little dino eggs that were filled with pretend dino skeletons.

 

Silas loves to play with play dough.  He often convinces us on Sunday afternoons to get the play dough down for him.  He is able to keep himself entertained for quite a while, quietly creating at our kitchen table.

 

 

I took the kids down to Escalante for Spring Break.  They loved being reunited with cousins Carver and Conrad.  They also loved playing at our sandy "beach."

 

One morning we drove out to play at Devil's Garden.

 

On our way back from Devil's Garden we stopped at the playground in Escalante to get our wiggles out.

 

That night Kim and Jeff threw a Taco Twosday party to celebrate Conrad's 2nd Birthday.  The pinata was a huge hit with the kids.

 

Kim also had a ton of mustaches to celebrate Conrad's birthday.  I thought Phin looked a lot like Hulk Hogan with this particular mustache.

 

Lou had a bath in the kitchen sink at the cabin.  She wasn't sure how she felt about the whole thing.

 

The next day Jeff took us across the highway to explore a couple of caves.  It was quite a scramble to get up to these treasures. 

 

Jeff captured the boogie of all boogies from Silas.  I am impressed by Silas' ability to always smile through the sticky moments of life.

 

The mustaches returned and Colonel Sanders and his sidekick joined us on the hike.

The next day we headed out to the Covered Wagon Natural Bridge.  This was our first visit to this spot.  I loved the Grotto located just beyond the bridge.

Our last night in Escalante, Jeff took us to see some cliff dwellings just outside the cabin property.  It is fascinating to think about the people that once called this area home and to see the remnants of their lives.

 

The next day we packed up and headed home.  On our way home we stopped for ice cream at the Beaver Creamery.

This picture pretty much sums up the rest of April.  I had started to feel a little congested on Wednesday night of Spring Break.  Thursday when we hiked to the cliff dwellings, I felt out of breath.  I felt progressively worse as we drove home on Friday.  When I got home I had a prompting to take a covid test and was shocked when it came back positive.  We hadn't been around Seth since Monday so I called him to break the bad news.  He spent that first night isolated from us at my parent's house.  He came home the next day and isolated away from us downstairs.  Phin and Louisa ended up testing positive in the next week.  We were all wearing masks around each other in the house and in the car.  It was incredibly hard to feel like a family when were were all sleeping in separate rooms and eating meals apart.  It made me extremely grateful to really be reunited once we recovered from covid.

 

 

We got a Chess set for Easter.

 

Phin and Millie started Track and Field in April.  

 

I was so relieved when Lou started to really feel like herself again.

 

Silas and Millie had a special tea party one day.

Silas started soccer in April. 

Our kids got pretty creative with all the time they spent inside in April.

 

Our first outing post-covid was to Lagoon.  We went on a rainy Saturday late in the afternoon.  

 

Lou had her first train ride.

Lagoon had a tulip festival in April.  The tulips in all the garden beds were gorgeous.

 

We roasted hot dogs one Saturday evening.

 

Seth got a new suit.  This is his first three piece.

 

I loved watching Phin cheer Millie on at track.  Millie's age group always runs first so Phin and Silas would usually play on the bleachers until it was Phin's turn to run.

One of my favorite photos from the month...our first and last.

 

Millie got her summer swimsuit in the mail and couldn't wait to try it on.  Silas couldn't wait to pose with his transformer.

 

Silas loves to play Millie's bells.

 

Silas' preschool class frequently visited the High School Library for story time.  This was a photo from their last visit of the school year.

 

We played at the park close to the soccer fields before a game.

 

Seth would join us after work for Silas' soccer games.  

 

Unfortunately we also caught a stomach bug in April.  April was rough.  The next photos show the various stages of the stomach bug for Silas.

 

Lou was our stomach bug patient zero.  She was up almost all night one night.  I got it from her and then it made the rounds through the rest of the family.

 

 

On our next trip to Cross E, Phin was able to feed the camel. 

 

The goats loved Lou.

 

Millie had her Let's Play Music Recital.  

Millie's teacher Miss Natalie is amazing.  She taught over twenty students.  They were all up on the stage and played their hearts out.

 

Miss Natalie's daughter Nora was Phin's Bridges teacher.  Each time Phin hit a milestone with practicing Miss Natalie would send home a picture of him with his award.   

 

Millie's class learned about force and motion.  She drew a picture of her pushing Lou Lou's stroller.