Spring at Grandpa's House

Last weekend we went over to Grandpa's house for the kids to finally get warm and enjoy the great outdoors. Nate cranked up the speed on the tractor that he had to keep at a low speed last year because he's finally getting old enough to handle it. Now the tractor goes so fast it's difficult to catch the kids in action:

The kids used old scraps of wood to create unique new play toys and then they painted them:

And Nate painted his bird house (he does this every year!):

Sassy took nice long walks in the orchard outside of Grandpa's house: And played on the tire swing (after Grandpa and the kids got it put up):

Nate found new ways to scare the c*** out of his mom!

And got so dirty that only a mom would love that face:

You just can't beat the joy on his face though!

And Amanda enjoyed just being in the great outdoors and NOT getting dirty:

John and Dad fixed the 1956 Chevrolet in Dad's garage, moved a lift down into the basement so that Dad could work on it, worked on the van, and got a few more things done around the house.

It was a wonderful week! Now we're back to the real world and getting the house ready for an Easter celebration with five kids!

Fun at the Park...

Yesterday, I decided to stop waiting for the weather to clear and just go have fun!!! I picked the kids up from school and took them to a brand new park that was just opened last week. They had the coolest new toys!

They had a special swing:

They had a merry go round that had a climbing structure inside of it. But don't try this:

And wasn't I just an awful mom to take the time to take a picture before I rescued him?

And they had a big huge climbing ball that looked almost like you could trap the kids inside, but not quite:

Some kids stayed at the bottom of the structures:

And some stayed at the top:

It was a very cold and windy day, but the kids had a blast!!! I just loved watching them and finally getting to take some more pictures. There hasn't been much time for that lately:(