April is already almost over, and as usual, it flew by! We had some pretty special birthdays this month, Easter, Opening Day and some other fun events too.
We had a lovely Easter weekend around home. The kids colored eggs, and I think it's the first year we didn't have to hover nearby (except a little bit with Ben)! On Sunday we were up early for the egg hunt and baskets, then went to church and had a delicious brunch with the Rabine side. We went to the Donoghues for dinner later on, and the kids were spoiled with another egg hunt!
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| Ben is very into the colors of the rainbow lately |
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| Let's begin |
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| Nothing better than a breakfast we didn't have to cook! |
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| All the kiddos |
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| They had an entire bowl of whipped cream at the buffet station... I think our families ate it all |
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| With Grandma and Grandpa |
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| Family! |
April in D = Opening Day! One of our favorite days of the year where we play hooky from work (actually we get permission for an approved day off), worship Mom for watching our kids, and get a little wild downtown!
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| Met up with Pat and Donna for an amazing tailgate!! |
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| Pat has the meats!! So delicious! |
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| Found our neighbors at the after-party |
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| Obligatory photo |
Next was Evie's 9th Birthday extravaganza! We opted to celebrate with the family the weekend beforehand, and I jokingly mentioned that everyone could wear black/white in honor of Evie's favorite colors... hilariously everyone followed suit (some more than others):
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| The family showed up! (no, we're not going to a funeral) |
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| Silly Uncle Bobby walked in like this - his only solid black outfit! |
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| Happy Birthday, Evie! |
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| Happy Birthday E vie (worst cake writing ever) |
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| How cute are we? |
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| Jamie caught the girls sort of hugging before the party; I'll take what I can get |
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| I had to take Evie to pick-up the balloons - classic Evie |
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| Girls night out |
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| With the best parents in the world |
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| Dinner |
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| We did a scavenger hunt to find all the ingredients to make sundaes - note to self, smaller bowls in the future... |
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| Making bracelets |
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| Evie loves this character (Moon Girl), so Jamie did a super cool custom wall panel for her room |
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| This is Evie the morning of her birthday - super early so she could listen to the new Taylor Swift album |
Two days later was Jamie's 40th Birthday! It was not a very exciting birthday, but we do have a fun trip to Denver planned later this year to truly celebrate! We find ourselves saying "this is 40" a lot, whenever we are reminded that we are no longer young, cool cats (which is often).
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| So handsome (this is at school when he throws a red-carpet party for his fashion design class) |
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| This is 40 |
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| Mom watched the kids so we could go to dinner - needed to take the edge off afterward (jk!) |
Maggie was nominated by two teachers to receive a Royal Oak Youth Assistance award for her hard work at school on the Student Senate team for two years. She's been a leader and helped organize several events and fundraisers - this kid makes us so proud. We were treated to a really nice dinner at the Farmer's Market and she received congratulations from some pretty impressive people!
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| The future is bright |
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| These are the six students from her school that were also honored |
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| Maggie's besties - she's got good taste |
Some others:
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| Evie is very into this chemistry set |
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| Maggie with her best buds |
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| Testing out her new cotton candy machine |
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| Jamie chaperoned a Tigers game field trip for Maggie! |
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| A reward outing for all the safety patrol kids |
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| Solar eclipse was pretty darn cool! |
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| Jamie took Evie out for a game so they could have some special time together too |
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| Kids got to run the bases at the end! |
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| Got a ball thrown to her between innings! |
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| Visiting Will's homestead for his 40th |
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| Just two chicks |
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| I guess I'm a dog person now... who am I? |
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| Special bowling date with Aunt Amy! |
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| We got Ben glasses (that he doesn't seem to need); he has worn them for about 60 seconds in total |
