April Fool's Day report: the day took on new meaning this year for me! Why? Well... my kids are all getting way too suspicious and smart for my little pranks, but their friends are the perfect victims! I loved pranking all of Dane's highschool buddies when they arrived to our house after school and found that all the doors had a sign asking them to use the other door.... haha! Anna and I laughed hysterically inside at them walking from door to door- trying to find the right one to use. I took off the bottom of the Pringles can and offered chips to the group- all the chips fell out when they picked up the can. Shock pens, rubber banded phones, zip tied toilet paper, scary pictures in their bedrooms, fake bugs/snakes- were all old hat, but I'm old and running out of ideas and the kids love it though they say they don't . We had a fun day.
Other April highlights included an incredible weekend away to see SO many amazing country artists at Country Thunder in AZ with Ev and her two buddies- Emma and Amaya. I loved that Jen and Brooke came as well and enjoyed spending the weekend listening to incredible music and laying out by the pool. And of course was SO grateful to Grandma for coming out and holding down the fort while we partied! She took Anna birthday shopping and spent the weekend making sure everyone was taken care of. Always makes it so nice for me to feel I can get away.
Another amazing highlight was having my sister and Katie come for a visit! Seriously loved having them here so much. We watched conference together, Dane barbecued for us! We hiked, shopping, traveled up to Universal Studios and spent the day there! We also visited SeaWorld which was so fun since they hadn't been in forever. Loved every minute of chatting and laughing and catching up. Couldn't have asked for a better weekend and love my sis so much.
The fun times continued as we headed off to Costa Rica for Spring Break that next week!!!! This was new for Blake and I- traveling with our kids outside of the country and especially during covid times. We paid dearly for that one when we had overlooked the fact that we needed a covid test to re-enter the US though we didn't need one to visit Costa Rica! We nearly missed our flight back! But alls well that ends well and we returned safe and sound and just in time for school to start back up! That was a rough morning-- arriving back at 1:30 am and starting work/school the next day! All worth it though. We had the most incredible time in Costa Rica. It was PERFECT in every way and we loved every second of it. We crossed the alligator bridge on our way to Los Suenos and Jaco Beach. We ate an authentic Costa Rican meal for lunch and bought alligator tooth necklaces. Then we relaxed at the pool and beach and unpacked, napped for a minute after our long red eye and ate a delicious fish/crab dinner on the beach. The next day we had the best day ever on a jungle cruise to see the monkeys! It was the best best best time for the kids. Then we visited Manual Antonio and loved seeing sloths and bats and monkeys and other wild life before heading to the beautiful white sands beach inside the national park. It was a perfect day and we loved every minute. The next day we hopped aboard a catamaran boat and traveled to Tortuga Island where we snorkeled and rode a banana boat while sipping drinks at a beautiful beach. Loved the yummy cuisine and the beautiful scenery- it was a highlight for sure. We enjoyed the next day relaxing at Jaco Beach- boogie boarding and body surfing and then shopping along the boardwalk. Later in the day we visited the Beach Club at the Marriott and loved the pools and beach over on that side of the city. It was so fun to just relax poolside and walk along the beach- it felt like paradise. On our last day we rode ATV's up Jaco Mountain and that was a really fun experience.... a little scary for Evelyn to drive, but she did amazingly. We loved the tour because we had the chance to cliff jumps and visit waterfalls all along the way. Overall the adventure was such an incredible experience and we were all so happy to travel to such a fun location together!
Upon returning from Costa Rica, we very much enjoyed celebrating our little girl's 10th birthday! And celebrate we did!!!!! Oh man....we really really really lived it up! Ha! On Anna's actual birthday, we skipped school and met Grandma at Disneyland. SO fun. Then the next day, Anna got her nails done by bestie Kate and also went out to eat at the Old Spaghetti Factory with the Judd family because that's Anna's favorite restaurant. Not done.... The next day Anna invited 5 of her best little 4th grade friends over for a slumber party! They went to see "the bad guys" and then screamed at the top of their lungs all the Taylor Swift songs they could through the Chick Fil A drive through and then played "spin the bottle" with nail polish (Anna's obsession) to pick all sorts of fun colors for their nails and learned a tik Tok dance from Evelyn. They ran around all night laughing and playing and having the very best time on earth. THEN..... the next night round #2 of slumber party city with besties Kate, Nora and Millie over! The girls played at the park, watched girls just wanna have fun, danced, sang, painted nails AGAIN, and laughed all night. Anna really enjoyed her birthday.
So.... quite a few big celebrations and fun events this month. Of course we also enjoyed the every day stuff too. Anna and Kate helped me to stuff 10 religious symbols inside of 65 eggs for singing time as we were learning "Did Jesus Really Live again?" Then we went on to un-stuff all 65 as Blake thought it inappropriate to give children a nail. Oops.... had to think of a different symbol. We celebrated Easter pretty quickly with baskets and not a whole lot else since we were traveling on the actual day! Next year we'll do better, I vow.
We loved celebrating Zara and Cyrus's birthdays at Kidchella 2022! I worked a lot with 3 new clients- my youngest created a gratitude jar as part of our mindfulness training. Anna performed in her school choir and I played the piano for the event..... soooooo fun. Evelyn tried out for a play: Freaky Friday- but didn't get the part and that was pretty devastating for her AND ME. I was so bummed but such is life. Ev enjoyed church dances with her buddies and taking pictures for photography class with Eli. Grant played in a LOT of soccer games and tournaments this month along with his flag football on Friday nights. He traveled to AZ and LA and is about to head off to Las Vegas this upcoming weekend. He's made a new friend on the team- Andre- and he really enjoys his company.
Anna loved Girl Scouts this month- discussing facial cleansing and sunscreen care! She picked up her dance recital costumes and they are DARLING... can't wait for the upcoming big show. We learned that Anna's nickname at school is Lil' A and it's seriously so cute. HA! Dane has been cooking up a storm as usual: gourmet hamburgers, and Mac n cheese! He's been preparing for his upcoming High Adventure where they are road biking 200 miles down the coast of California. Dane had fun going out with friends to the movies for Jarron's birthday. He still hangs with buddies after school each day and is practicing with TWO different soccer teams because he wants to be on the top team, but also wants to spend time with his buddies. He is a busy guy. He recently told me to stop checking his grades because he wanted to be in control of that area of his life. That's been both a relief and an extreme challenge for me. These kids are getting so old and so mature!
Last but not least, we were so grateful to be able to drive up to LA last weekend for the funeral of our beloved Great Uncle Dick Brombach. He was an incredible man in every way and such an example of a hard worker, kind heart, giving soul. He made a big impression on our lives and he will be dearly missed, though we are grateful he is now reunited with Betty Jean. It was a beautiful day to be with family and celebrate the life of such an amazing man.
And that about wraps it up for the month. It was a good one and it's hard to believe that it's all coming to a close here as the school year winds down and summer approaches. Lots to look forward to and be grateful for.
