Spring

 We have had a beautiful spring here. With lots of sunny days, some cool, some quite warm. It keeps us guessing from a what to wear stand point. But has been nice and the flowers and trees have been amazing. Last week the kids all matched for church. So after I took some photos. I like this one, Esmé was pretty tired- but Zav and Nell still look so happy.

 Esmé is showing how she reigns over her big brother and sister.

And the best of the bunch.

 Zaven is in the middle of his lacrosse season. He is playing in the U9 Williamsburg Warriors. He practices twice a week for an hour an forty five minutes, with games on Saturdays. So far they have played well and get better every week. Zaven is playing as a mid fielder and has scored several times. He had a great goal today.

 One morning Nell had school and Zaven did not so as a special treat for Zaven I took him to the Blue Talon. A local French bistro that has a great breakfast. They make an amazing granola and serve it with yogurt. Zaven also had "Parisian" Hot Chocolate - yum! Anyway, it was a fun morning and Zaven really enjoyed it.

 We found a new playground that is close to the house, here Nell and Esmé go down the slide, Esmé's first! Nell is a very sweet big sister and a lot of help with Esmé, sometimes she will watch her while I shower or do laundry. They seem to really enjoy each other.

On one of the warmer days Nell, Esmé and I went to the Cheese Shop for lunch before going in Nell always likes to "talk" to Thomas Jefferson. She said "he's not responding!" She is so silly.

 I love this picture of Nell, she is wearing a dress that was mine and looks particularly angelic, i think.

 We celebrated Chris' birthday with a cake a few days late on account of my being sick on the actual day.

For Spring Break which sadly coincided with Holy Week, the kids and I went to Charleston to see the Webbs. We had a great time! Lexie and Todd are excellent hosts and Quinn is so cute and sweet. We went to a great playground and all the kids had a great time. At one point, Zaven was trying to jump for the monkey bars and went too far and landed on his back and knocked his breath out of him. It was scary for him and brought back those child hood memories of having the breath knocked out of me. He was okay, but it did upset him

 The next day we went to the beach, out at Folly Beach. The kids loved it. They playing in the sand and surf.

 Zaven wrote Quinn in the sand, so we took a pic. Quinn is walking now and talking. She loves to say "baby' it is so cute.

 Lexie and Todd have a neighbor with chickens and in addition to enjoying their fresh eggs we went for a visit. Zaven is now quite interested in having some chickens of our own. I love this pic, check out Todd in the background. Speaking of Todd, he and Zaven had a great time playing Madden football, building sand castles, and tossing pizzas. Zaven loved going to Woody's and "working".

We got home on Thursday. Friday I went to church and then later the kids and I colored eggs. 

Saturday I made the kids lunch and cut it into small pieces and put them in plastic eggs and hid them in the garden, then the kids hunted for their lunch and then we picnic-ed in the yard. The kids loved the whole thing and Zaven thought maybe every meal should be done that way.

 Easter was a beautiful day. We went to the 10 o'clock service. We took flower for the cross, we took lilac and pink dogwood. We sat in the back balcony and all went well. Nell wore her new Liberty print dress that Milla bought her and a bow that the Easter bunny put in her basket. Esmé wore the dress that a parishioner made her all hand smocked. The lady, Frances Hodges, called later in the day and said that Esmé was such a beautiful baby that the dress did not shine. And that the next dress she makes her will have to have more smocking to stand out. I thought that was sweet. Zaven looked so handsome in his new tie from Milla and Poppy. There was an egg hunt at the church. Then the kids and I went home . Chris was not back for a while and we had a flop of an Easter lunch. Then, so Chris could rest the kids and I played in the front yard. It was fun. Chris had to go back for the 5:30 service.

Nell on her bike. Boy can she ride it! She has even learned to start herself. She pedals full speed each time. It is terrifying to watch. But so far so good. Esmé is pulling up on everything. She crawls like the wind. She is eating a lot of foods. She loves pinto beans, tortellini, melon, cottage cheese, cheese.