Come What May: Spring has Sprung

It’s been a perfectly gorgeous spring around here. Well, we’ve had our cooler days, but mostly, it’s been awesome. It really helps with one’s outlook on life, you know? Here’s some of the fun we’ve been having:

Elise planned a sleepover girls night thing at a hotel a few weeks ago. Only three of us ended up making it, but it was a blast. We started off the night well with a trip the the Amish market where we stocked up on some delicious eats, some healthy, and some not so much. We checked into our hotel, made our way to the hot tub, and within 3 minutes of sitting in that warm relaxing water, we were bombarded with a huge group of kids age 17-21. We had to yell to hear each other. But I was highly entertained/disgusted by watching them. Kids can be so ridiculous. We wanted to talk to some, and make up lives for ourselves. Like that we were from England, or that we are also on a high school senior/college freshmen trip (ha!). And then I came up with an even better story to tell them. That we are all Mormons that got married young, and I have triplets. Oh wait, that’s real! Well, I think they would’ve been more entertained by that story that anything we could make up. We stuck out like sore thumbs with our midriffs covered, and I was happy to be at my place in my life, as opposed to that awkward, self conscious, materialistic time they are in. We went back to the room (afraid of what all the kids were planning on doing in theirs), and started our night of pedicures, facials, snacks, and talking the night away. It was a blast, and we were feeling silly enough to take some pictures with out lovely masks on. There was a point in the night when for the first time in a group of friends I realized I was the oldest one. Weird. I was probably the oldest one out of the dozens at the pool too. Funny how that happens. I’ve always been the youngin’ of the group since I moved here, but being older definitely has it’s upsides. It’s was just a weird realization. Anyway, awesome girls night. I hope we have more nights like that planned for the future.

I’ve been needing a race to motivate me lately. I still love running, it’s just that it’s hard to sacrifice the time lately, for some reason. There was some sickness involved, the kids and myself, and just some other obstacles, but I knew a race would get me going again. I knew about a big one happening in DC during the Cherry Blossom Festival time, but it was closed quite a while before I knew about it. Luckily, people in the neighborhood were selling their bibs for half price. One happened to fall in my lap the night before the race! I hadn’t been running consistently for a couple weeks, but I was up for it anyway. It was a chilly morning, which was annoying, because I was going alone and only wanted to wear what I’d be running with, since there would be no one to hold my gear. So I strapped on my ipod (playing The Hunger Games to refresh my memory before I saw the movie), and tucked all my belongings here and there and I was set. It was fun to be sort of anonymous in the huge crowd. And I mean, huge. There were many thousands of people there. I think this was that 40th annual of this race, so it brought the masses. I didn’t care about setting a personal record or anything, but I just enjoyed myself. I even took some pictures on the course (thanks again, Ipod), knowing full well, my time would be worse for it. It was right in the heart of downtown DC. Such a great, beautiful run. I actually bumped into a friend afterward, which made the walk to the metro more fun. I have another race in a couple weeks. Hopefully I’ll be in a little bit better shape for that one. Spring is just a great time to enjoy running. Oh, and my name was Nancy for the day, thanks to the great girl who sold me her packet.

That was conference weekend, so afterward, I can home and we fixed up a nice conference brunch. I made this Breakfast Bake that has been on my Pinterest board forever. It is definitely a keeper, and really hit the spot after a chilly run.

And, we tried to watch what we could of conference, of course. Which wasn’t much, with all the cute/loud/crazy distractions over here.

We took all the kids to the arboretum one beautiful Sunday afternoon. They LOVED the pillars, and roaming freely in the field. luckily the reflecting pool wasn’t filled yet. We’ve been there since and weren’t so lucky.

Elise and I have been taking the kids out to eat a lot lately. A lot of times on Tuesday when kids are free at a lot of places. The kids do pretty well, although some outings work out better than others. It’s been fun to experiment, and people have been pretty impressed with their behavior. And the workers are always understanding, and great about keeping the kids happy. I always leave with sticky hands, and feeling pretty overstimulated, but it’s a time filler, and we all eat. So whatever happens, at least something got accomplished.

St. Patrick's Day was also fun. We were invited to a friends house, and the kids had a blast playing in the sand and on the tramp. When I wasn’t chasing after kids, or driving an extra hour to go get the food I forgot at home (grr), I also had a great time with my friends I love being with so much. Oh, and we did start the day off with smoothie pancakes, and kiwis, although the kids didn’t know or care about the significance of the colors, and we had to finish the weekend off with Irish Soda Bread that was made to go with a melt-in-your-mouth roast and roasted vegetable dinner. I love an excuse to make that delectable bread.

And here are just some random pictures.

B is in a shy phase, but I think it’s slowly wearing off. On this day, my visiting teachers showed up, and KC found him like this. Poor boy. He just like his alone time, I guess.

I took them on a morning walk/jog. They loved that crisp. And I enjoyed the workout, for the most part…

One night at reading time, they all insisted on wearing hats, and Ruby insisted on making this face.

I guess I wore them out that day. I love a sleeping baby.

Ruby has come to love the move Babies. I think she was jealous that the baby in the movie was naked, so she fixed that.

Cuddles

Not again!

Oh well, at least we had this to wash it off after.

Ruby is quite the daredevil at the park. Until any stranger comes along, then she clings to me like she never wants to let me go. Even babies make her panic. Not sure what brought this on, since it wasn’t like her to do this only a couple weeks ago.

Alex found Elise’s Turbie Twist she left upstairs, still twisted, slipped it on his head, donned a cape, and made a superhero costume all on his own. He loves to run around as say, “Fllllyyyyyying!

He also loves to pretend he’s potty trained like cousin Penny. In good time, when I’m ready, he’ll have his wish.

Ruby making a face with play dough. She was working so hard.

Bennett looking like a beach bum with his long locks and cool shades.

Speaking of the beach, we have a new cousin! Stella, born to Camille and Tyler all the way in Hawaii! The first cousin on the Robinson side! She is the most scrumptious little girl, with the most kissable cheeks, and Ruby can’t wait to meet her new best friend. The kids love looking at pictures of her and always want to see more “Baby Stella”! Why does Hawaii have to be so far away? We love you guys!