San Antonio for Spring Break!

This year for spring break, Jon and I thought it'd be really fun to take the kids down to San Antonio, TX to see the Hartzler's and enjoy some warmer weather. I will start by saying that is was SUPER FUN, but it was also pretty horrible too. First, both of my kids had the stomach bug while we were there. Kylie had it first, and she actually started throwing up the night before we left. At first, I thought it was food poisoning, but when she was still sick in the morning, I knew better. We went to the airport, where she continued to throw up. I called Sari from the airport, and she still thought we should come down. So we did. Once there, we kept Kylie in her own room for the rest of the day on Saturday, and by Sunday she was back to herself. Needless to say, we didn't do much on Saturday, but it was really nice to just hang out and catch up with Sari and Rob! On Sunday, everyone was feeling well. We laid pretty low, but we did take a hike around the neighborhood and into the creek bed near their house. We also went out for an adult-only dinner with some of their friends. It was fun to get out and enjoy some true adult conversation. As we were driving home, Sari got a text from the sitter that Brooks was now throwing up. Ugh! The bug didn't hit him as hard as Kylie. He only threw up a few times during the night, and by the Monday morning he was feeling ok. We could tell he was still not himself so Jon, Rob, Brooks, and Walter (the youngest Hartzler) stayed home, while Sari and I took the rest of the kids to a cute little town nearby called Boerne. We went into a few shops, ate lunch at a little dinner, and stopped for frozen yogurt on the way home. Monday night, Sari and I were able to get dessert and drinks with Catherine (who had been away for the weekend) after we put the kids to bed. It was so good to catch up with her too! After saying good bye to Catherine, Jon, Rob, Sari, and I hung out by the fire until the early morning hours. Tuesday, everyone felt well, but it was time for us to go. We ate breakfast and headed to the airport! It was definitely a quick trip, and we didn't do too much, but it was so nice to see our good friends. We are glad we went...especially now that we know that none of the Hartzler kids caught the bug! :)

There was a lot of playing and hanging out.

Sari is reading to Helen, Hugh, Brooks, and Witt.

Our Sunday hike.

L to R: Brooks, Witten, Hugh

(Hugh and Brooks were immediate besties!)

Kylie and Helen enjoyed all the girly things!

All six kids.

L to R: Hugh, Brooks, Witt, Walter, Helen, and Kylie

Jon and Rob talked all ortho all the time.

The put themselves in Rob's office for a few hours one day to discuss all of their "cool" cases.

How many orthopedic surgeons does it take to hang a clock?

Answer: more than two...It never got hung!

Shopping!

L to R: Helen, Kylie, Witten, Hugh

Helen

Witten

Kylie

Catherine, me, and Sari

We had fun taking pictures on the morning that we left!

Yay Spring!

March definitely came in like a lion this year. What February lacked in winter weather, the first half of March made up for! :) Thankfully, we had a trip to San Antonio and visits from my mom and Jon's older brother and his family. We had a busy month that flew by, and we are loving the beautiful spring weather that the end of this month has brought. Here are some pictures of what we've been doing:

Kylie celebrate Dr. Suess' birthday at school by doing lots of reading.

She is starting to read little chapter books now, and it's so fun to see her learn and grow!

Brooks is OBSESSED with animals.

The weirder the animal, the better in his mind.

He learns about obscure animals either on Wild Kratts (a childrens' show) or in his animal encyclopedia.

This day, I found him in our neighbor's tree telling everyone who would listen that he was a Philippine tarsier.

I've included a picture of one for comparison!

Brooks got some mail from his cousins, Elias and Espen.

I love how he relaxes with his hands behind his head!

Kylie had Spirit Week at school.

This was crazy day!

We celebrated Jon's 34th birthday!

Kylie made the sweetest card for him.

"Spider Daddy!"

We went out to dinner with the kids and Greg and Kaaren.

We also ate a massive piece of birthday cake!

During spring break, my mom came for a quick visit.

We went to the Clay Cafe where we spent a couple of hours painting pottery.

I also took the kids to COSI (Center of Science and Industry) for a few hours one day.

We had lots of fun doing science-y things!

The week following spring break, Jon's older brother, Tony, and his family stopped for a day on their way back to Wisconsin from a Florida vacation.

We had fun hanging out, playing,  and catching up.

Here are the Barlow girls, Kylie and Bergen.

The kids played really well together, and also had a cousin sleepover that they enjoyed!

L to R: Espen, Elias, and Kylie

The two younger Barlow's enjoying a story!

The only real outing we took with them was a trip to Graeter's, which is a local ice cream shop with an indoor playground.

It was chilly outside, so it was nice to let them run around for a little bit!

L to R: Elias, Bergen, Kylie, Espen, and Brooks

Kylie, Brooks, and I are attempting a vegetable garden this year.

We started our seeds last weekend!

Kylie was a great helper.

Here is some more of Kylie's work from school.

They are learning about living things, and now have a few guppies in their classroom.

This is a chart she made about the information she has learned about guppies.

And here is her St. Patrick's Day clover artwork!

February Update.

February was a nice month here in Columbus. We were able to enjoy some time outdoors, and we even had a couple of days in the 70s. Here is what we were up to...

Brooksie and I had a mommy-son date while Jon and Kylie went to his office one Saturday morning. 

Brooks and I went to Johnny Rockets for lunch.

He was a huge fan of the "chocolate smoothie" (aka chocolate milkshake).

We went to a few Ohio State sporting events including a co-ed gymnastics meet.

A bunch of our friends were there too!

This is Kylie and Annie enjoying the meet!

We continued ice skating lessons.

The kids are doing great and improving quickly!

We also went to an OSU swim meet with the Hart and Flores families!

L to R: Annie, Kylie, and Claire

We celebrated Valentine's Day!

I went on a weekend girls' trip with my high school girlfriends, the Pink Stars.

We went to the Wisconsin Dells.

Even though it was the middle of February, it ended up being a really warm weekend!

I made a quilt for my friend, Erica, who had a daughter on March 2nd.

It was my first triangle quilt!

At the end of the month, we had a couple of really warm days.

One of those days, we went to the zoo...in our shorts! :)

We also spent some time at the park!

Kylie made this snowman artwork at school.

Below, she also wrote out instructions for building a snowman.

These two pictures are from a couple of question and answer sessions in Brooks' preschool class.

So cute!