Easter

What a wonderful day we had celebrating Easter with our family.

The girls were so happy to be able to sit out in the grass for a picture before we went to church.

After church we headed up to Grandma & Papa's house to spend time with the whole Kobie family. We took a little more time for family pictures.
Jer's mom just got back from a trip to Peru. She brought these amazing boots back for us. We all got to be together to wear them!

After lunch, the egg hunting began. Here are Em & Al with Grandma and some found eggs.

Kim helped Molly find some in the high spots.

She found the low ones on her own.

I got a few close ups as the kids were looking through their treasures.

Ellen found some candy in her eggs.

And then someone helped her find some more. . .

Hans had some too. . .

All of the kiddos sat together for a few seconds.

What a beautiful day it was to spend with family and remember the amazing sacrifice that our Jesus made for us. He is risen!

Little Animals

The 'Kobycousins' are all in town this week. It is always so much fun to get this bunch together. Grandma, Papa & I decided to take all of the little animals to see the little animals at the zoo. It is farm baby time at the MN zoo and the kids were excited to go see the animals and to get some play time together.

Our first stop was at the outdoor play area that just opened up this week! Lucy and Emily were weaving webs.

Ellen went for a boat ride

Then, all of the cousins went for a ride on the MN state bird. The mosquito! They are all shouting "Minnesotaaaaa'.

Then we headed out to the farm. The kids loved feeding the 'kids'. Har Har Har.

Then they went to see the baby chicks.

Baaaawwkk!

What a cute little farm baby!

They had a great time together. We missed Hans & Katie today, but all of the little animals will get to be together on Sunday. Can't wait!

Adventures in Hair Cutting

'Mommy, I want short hair.'

'Well, let's talk about that a little.'

'Can I cut my own hair?'

'Absolutely not. . . Lucy, Did you already cut your own hair?'

That's how it started. Then, there was some talking, a chunk of hair found underneath the kitchen table, the dreaded consequence of no scissors for a week. But, all's well that ends well, right?

Here is her long hair, you can just barely make out a piece that she cut.

Here you can see some of it a little better (on the left side of the picture). It really could have been a lot worse. But, it is still quite a bit shorter than the rest of her hair.

I decided that I shouldn't try to fix it by myself, so I took her to my salon. Which. . . she LOVED!
Here she is at the beginning of the cut. She is smiling in the mirror.

When she was getting her hair dried, she was laughing and giggling the whole time. It tickled.

Here she is with her stylist, Amy. She loves her new shorter hair.

Today, she was bummed that she still couldn't use the scissors.

Easter Eggs

Lucy and Jer got the tablets all dissolved and the eggs supplies ready. Here they are trying to say 'Can we start yet??'.Ellen was happy to wait for Mommy! She wasted no time getting started when she could. And no time getting messy!

Lucy chose the multiple egg strategy.

She loved her new bunny ear tongs.

This is one of my new favorites. Their faces are just too much!

Ellen had just as much fun putting stickers on her as she did on the eggs.

Lucy was excited to peel one at the end.

Some of the finished masterpieces.

Is tomorrow too early to have egg salad?

A day at the park

The weather is finally wonderful again in Minnesota. Yesterday we spent the day at a local park. The girls ditched their shoes and socks the moment we got there and loved every barefoot minute!

Ellen wanted to get right into the swing.

Lucy followed and showed me that she could pump her legs and swing by herself! She had a great time playing with the big sand crane.

Ellen spent a little more time on the swing.

Then she hit the slide. I have a picture of Lucy at just about the same age on this slide. It just tugs at my heartstrings to see Ellen there now.

I brought lunch with us, so we could have a picnic. Someone else almost beat us to it!

A quick note to Annmarie - this is reason #452 why I hate squirrels!

Whenever the girls see a squirrel, they shout at it. 'Go Away, you pesky squirrel!'

We chased that squirrel away and we did get to enjoy our lunch.

Lucy wanted me to take a picture of her "Happy" face. Here it is:

Ellen too (of course):

After lunch the girls played some more.

They had to dig in the sand a little, just to get as dirty as possible! This is a favorite picture of Ellen. If her hands aren't in her pockets, they are on her hips.

It was such a great day! The fresh air and sunshine did wonders for us. When we got home the girls slept for about three hours and mommy got a wonderful break!