April!

April proved to be busy as expected, but all went well and it was a great month!  We started the month out right with Easter...the bunny made an appearance at our house and left some treats for everyone.  Otherwise, we had a fairly quiet day.



Monday the 2nd was the long-awaited day of Anna's Glasses Pickup.  She was pleased with them and has been wearing them ever since!  So far, we have only managed to lose them temporarily a few times, and they have not been broken or scratched (knock on wood).  She says that she can see a lot better in them and has never had to be told to put them on.  Also that day we had a load of mulch delivered and the girls helped me spread it.



This hard work was followed by the baby pool inauguration for the season.  Anna also had tennis that day, and I went to my book club that evening.  Tuesday the 3rd, we met Olivia and Audrey's families at Duke Homestead for a little outing.  None of us (except for Olivia) had been there before, and it was pretty interesting to learn more about the history of tobacco in NC.  There was a museum, video, and guided tour.  We also had a picnic lunch, which may have been the high point for the kids!  Wednesday, we didn't do a whole lot that I can remember other than await the arrival of our new dishwasher.  Anna's friend Sarah came over to play on Thursday, and Friday we went to play at Enzo and Luke's house and then the girls and I tried a petting zoo/farm that afternoon.  I think the girls enjoyed a week at home with some fun but also some quiet time at home.



Sunday the 8th, we went to watch Olivia play soccer and ended up seeing three other families from school at the field too!  Small world.  The girls were back to school on the 9th and Sawyer was still tracked out, so I had the dream week and got a lot of things done.  I was able to do some extra volunteering at school, planted flowers, cut the grass, met Bob downtown for lunch, made dinner for a neighbor friend who had a baby, and worked on the school's spring festival advertising, plus my usual trips to the Y.  It was a great week and it was so nice to catch up on some things.



Anna and I went to her communion retreat on Saturday the 14th while Bob and Erin handled ballet class and went on a hike.  Then the girls and I went to a neighborhood egg hunt that afternoon where they stocked up on some more candy (perfectly timed since they had just finished their Easter candy).

We had neighbor dog friend Ruby come stay with us for 3 days starting on Sunday, which we enjoyed very much!  Monday the 16th, I got to accompany the third grade to the zoo for the day!  It was a perfect zoo day - cloudy and cool.  I was only responsible for Erin and Olivia, and we had the best time seeing nearly all of the animals, eating lunch, hitting the gift shop, and seeing a really awesome "birds in flight" show.  I was so tired after the trip that I don't know how our 83-year-old priest managed the day.  Yes, he went along too!



Sawyer was back on Wednesday the 18th, so we resumed our normal schedule for the last quarter-year with him!  He also started swim class on Wednesdays, so that keeps us busy on those mornings.  We had communion rehearsal on the evening of the 19th...it was nice to again have a small group at our mass.  Friday the 20th was the school spring festival which I helped promote again this year, and it was another perfect day and awesome time.  We had a crew of kids with the girls, Sawyer, and Olivia and Josie with us for a couple of hours, but everyone was good and had a great time.  Bob helped flip burgers for the delicious Kof C concessions!





Saturday the 21st, we were getting ready for the big event the next day, Anna's First Communion!  Ansley and family came up that evening for a big fun sleepover, and everyone else came the next day for the big event...including special guests of honor Grandma and Grandpa Harvey!







The First Communion went well, and we had a fun pizza lunch at our house afterward to celebrate that, along with all of the April/May birthdays.  The following week was somewhat calmer except we got to have an unprecedented mid-week sleepover with Olivia on Wednesday before her sister Josie had an early procedure the next morning.  I went to my other book club on Thursday evening after missing the past 4 months due to various reasons.  We enjoyed being a part of neighbor friend Helena's (formerly known as Laney) First Communion at the new cathedral on Saturday the 28th.



And, we rounded out the month with Bob venturing overseas to a new country, Denmark with a side trip to Sweden, on Monday for a week-long conference.  It sounds like he's had a great week and was able to do some sightseeing.

So, that was April.  It was great!  We are looking forward to some big birthdays in May, as well as Erin's ballet recital and the end of the school year.  We are all feeling the slide here in the home stretch, but we can get through these last 4 weeks before summer fun begins!