Spring piano recital

It is so fun to watch the kids play at their piano recitals in the spring and to see their hard work pay off. Luke got invited to a Twins game the night of the recital and since he hasn't gotten to go to the new stadium yet, we let him skip the recital for the game. He was sick last year and missed the recital as well. Maybe next year!!

Lizzy ready to play her pieces. Taylor and her good friend Markayla.
Taylor, Ruth, their piano teacher, and Lizzy

Lisbon, Portugal

In May, I was able to go to Lisbon to help with a meeting for work with my manager, Julie. We had a wonderful time exploring the city and the meeting went great.

I loved all of the narrow cobblestone "roads."
Julie's mother-in-law and her sister and our co-worker Steve joined us on the trip. We had dinner in the hotel restuarant one night. It was super fancy and expensive but a fun experience.

The kitchen sent this "appetizer" out compliments of the chef. It is strawberry jello, duck and mint foam. Very interesting.

A castle in Caiscais.

One of the tour guides from the company we worked with gave us a private tour one day and we took a drive to Sintra and Caiscais and along the coast. It was nice to get out of the city and see a smaller village and the coast.

Mmmm...pastries!! A ruin of a Moorish castle up on the hill. We had the faculty dinner at an old palace that has been renevated into a restaurant and hotel. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was great.

Julie and I outside a monestary in Lisbon.Another picture of the monestary.

This is a monument down by the water in Lisbon. I believe it is Christopher Columbus out front. Apparently he set sail from Lisbon? I wish I would have done a little reading about Lisbon before going.

There were lots of interesting different "street" people doing odd things for money.

Julie and I with some monuments in the background. There were lots of monuments throughout the city that honored someone or something.

The view of Lisbon from my hotel room. Most of the mornings were really nice and sunny, but it would cloud up a lot of the afternoons.

The inside of my hotel room. Notice the glass bathroom wall. Could have had a nice veiw of the city while I showered, but I kept the blinds down!!

It was a great trip and experience, but at the end of the week, I was ready to get home to my family!!

Easter

After church on Easter Sunday, we went to my mom and dad's for Easter dinner. Mom had Christopher hide eggs in the yard and the kids had a blast hunting for them-especially since this year there was money in the eggs! Lizzy hunting for eggs!Love this kids grin!Taking a little rest with grandpa and Jack the cat after hunting for eggs.

Love these girls!!

We had Jenna, Jessica, Christopher and Tyler over for dinner before Jessica moved to Jackson. It was great to spend some time with them.

The kids taught Christopher and Tyler how to make Duct tape roses. They had a team effort going to construct their own. It was pretty funny to watch!!

Wilderness in Wisconsin Dells!

We took the kids to the Wilderness in Wisconsin Dells for a long weekend over Easter break. They had a blast swimming at the different waterparks at the resort and doing all the fun activities.

Playing laser tag.

We had dinner at Moose Jaw pizza.

My 3 little mooses!
We even got our own antlers to wear.

Playing at the arcade

Playing 3-D pirate mini golf

Luke and Liz seem to have their priate scowls on in this picture.

Lizzy's 7th B-day Party!

For Lizzy's 7th B-day party, we went to Chuck-e-Cheese's to celebrate. She had 10 girlfriends come and they had a great time. It was a lot of fun, but by the end of the party, there were a lot of people in there and when parents came to pick up, I was having a hard time finding their kids!

Concentrating hard on her game!
I wouldn't say Lizzy was thrilled to stand up and sing with Chuckee, but she was a good sport!

Waiting to play a game with some of her party guests.

Chuckee with all of Lizzy's friends.

As the birthday girl, Lizzy got to get in the ticket blaster where tickets blow all around you and you try to catch them. Thankfully a bunch landed on her head and got caught in the crown because they were hard to catch!

Mmm....cake!! Happy 7th B-day Lizzy!!!

Children's Museum

One day over Christmas break, I just wanted to get the kids out of the house for awhile, so we went up to the St. Paul Children's Museum. It was sad to realize that they are getting a little too old for this, but they were good sports and still had fun playing at the museum!

Taylor hiding in a tree trunk with some kind of animal.
Luke scaling a rock wall.

Lizzy the turtle!

There was a specail exhibit on Japan.

Taylor and Luke making bubbles.