This past weekend was a whirlwind! George drove up to Northern Virginia Saturday morning so he could practice for a gig he was playing that night with the band "Northern Lights" while the boys and I packed, cleaned, and got things ready not only for spending the weekend up north, but for the Family Housing Easter party that was happening at noon.
Jude wanted to "help" hide the eggs for the hunt, but every other egg he had to explore. After I caught him eating candy a couple times my neighbor offered to let him play at her house until the hunt started for real.
Lance had a great time hiding the eggs in sneaky places.
Trying to be a helpful boy. :) That candy is hard to resist!
The waiting is hard, too.
We had to leave right after the first hunt so Lance could make his soccer game. Since this hunt was for the little kids and Lance was going to miss the hunt for the kids his age, he got to help Jude and they just split their spoils.
Waiting for the whistle.
Jude found some eggs!
I'm betting that's one that Lance hid. Sneaky boy!
They even had a station for face painting and in the two minutes we had after the hunt, Lance picked out a butterfly to be painted on his face.
I didn't think much of it until we got to soccer practice and remembered it was team picture day. I offered to clean off the butterfly, but Lance, aghast that I would even mention something like that, was fit and determined to keep it on his face. So he will be sporting a yellow and purple butterfly in his team picture this season. :)
After the game and a quick stop back home to pick up George's tux for the gig, we drove up to Northern Virginia. I spent the evening with my family while George performed.
Sunday we drove to Aunt Linda's house to watch the last half of General Conference with the Simmons. As always, there was an amazing spread of food!
Lance spent most of his time outside enjoying the dogs and the hammock.
George cooked this amazing macaroni and cheese made with goat cheese and rotisserie chicken. Sounds different, but it is amazing! Thanks to Michael Symon for the recipe.
Watching Conference. I have to admit that since I've had children I haven't been able to concentrate during the talks as much as I would like.
Jude was a great sport, especially since he missed his nap. Aunt Linda did a wonderful job finding fun activities for the boys to do to keep them occupied while we listened.
The ice and water kept Jude and Mason entertained for a while. Let me just say I'm glad water is an easy clean-up.
Between sessions we took advantage of the beautiful weather and enjoyed being outside.
Lance kept climbing over the railing on their balcony and jumping off the other side. Crazy boy.
All four of my boys!
We even went on a walk on a trail next to the Potomac river.
The group, minus Uncle Rob who was taking the picture.
We saw several turtles sunning themselves.
Lance, trying to become one with nature. I swear this child never wears clothes.
Nice guns, buddy.
Jude had a great time throwing rocks into the river with Lance. Anything Lance does, Jude has to try to do it, too.
Jude trying to show Mason how to throw the rocks.
After our walk, we drove back to the Simmon's house to watch the final session of Conference. To try to keep the boys within earshot of the talks, we broke out some Easter egg dye and let them color some eggs.
Jude thought his hand was better than the wire egg holder to get the egg in and out of the dye. Good thing we had plates under each cup of dye.
I showed Lance how to put food coloring on the egg and use a straw to blow cool designs on it. Messy, but cool. Lance thought it was awesome.
Sleepy time. There is something about Conference that seems to put everyone to sleep at one point or another.
Lance and my cousin Bethany.
We had a great time! George had to drive back down to Charlottesville that evening so he could start another week of his Wilderness Medicine rotation, but the boys and I stayed until Monday when I dropped Lance off at his dad's for his Spring Break. Jude and Cole and I finally made it back to Charlottesville Monday late afternoon. It's good to be home!
