fun with grandma & grandpa

because the kids were home for spring break, my mom wanted to take a day off work so that they could do something special with the kids. we decided it would be fun to take them to play miniature golf. the kids have only played putt-putt twice before and they weren't that excited about it either time, but i was determined to get them to like it since i always did as a child :)

it turns out they LOVED it! even my sometimes grumpy and moody little russell enjoyed himself. not one complaint out of him. it was great. we all had fun.

afterwards, we ate lunch at chick-fil-a and the kids even played on the playground.

thanks mom and dad for a great day together!

the *ball* goes in the hole--not the club, natalie ;)

grandpa giving russell some of his pointers

russell made TWO hole-in-ones!

this was the face he made after the first one

this is where dad's ball landed after one hit -- almost a hole-in-one!
russell had GREAT form:

celebrating easter

on good friday, we met up with a large group of friends [from church] at the park to do the stations of the cross. it was really beautiful, and all that was missing was daddy :( hopefully, he will be able to take that day off next year. here's natalie and russell playing on a really old and tall tree before we started the stations.

decorating easter eggs on saturday...

a plethora of dye...

[some of] the eggs...

easter day, on the way to mass...

at church...

at grandma & grandpa's house later that afternoon...

the easter bunny hid our eggs at their house (because he knew we would be there)!

fun in the pool...

mom and alex...

we hope you all had a blessed easter, as did we.

dylan, spring break, and the zoo!

the kids' cousin, dylan was here visiting from virginia last week for his spring break and to celebrate his 16th birthday. the kids began their spring break last thursday and since dylan was scheduled to leave on saturday, we decided to take him to the zoo that day. it had been a while since we last went to the zoo so it was a nice treat, and we had so much fun. the weather was hot at first but we stayed until closing time and it cooled down towards the end of the day. the kids got to feed the giraffe which was an awesome experience and we also enjoyed the new dinosaur exhibit they currently have set up. while we were eating lunch at the restaurant, the black jaguar came right up to our window and started pacing back and forth over and over again. he put on a nice show for us, but we were glad that there was a nice thick piece of glass separating us because he sure did look hungry!

here are some of my favorite pics from our trip to the zoo.

unfortunataely, while dylan was here all four of us were sick with a cold virus. it started with little russell who, because of his cough, had to start back on his albuterol treatments (which we ran out of on a sunday, of all days, and had to take a trip to an urgent care center for a new prescription); then I caught the bug and fought off all of the nasty cold/cough symptoms in addition to a fever; natalie has had a mild cold throughout; and lastly, russ is fighting off [hopefully] the last of his cold virus. despite all of the sickness, we somehow managed to have a great time with dylan, and did our very best to keep him entertained.

for dylan's last night, on friday we all ate at carrabbas to officially celebrate his birthday. we were all very sad to see him go but i think we'll be seeing him again for his annual summer trip to florida.

more fun at school

natalie had an easter egg hunt with her class on tuesday (russell's class had one on monday but, sadly, he stayed home sick) and the whole school had field day on wednesday, the last day before their spring break started.