Spring Brings...

Basketball Camp

A much needed activity to endure a week and a half of spring break. My eyebrows raised a little when I saw the 12-year old AAU girls basketball players at the camp and everyone started out the day running suicides. But Ella's tough. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?

Spring Picnics

Actually, nice weather to wait in while you're waiting for your girlfriends to come rescue you after your van breaks down, which has 4 young children inside because you're trying to help a girlfriend who just had a baby. But then she has to come fetch her own kids so that's not being that helpful after all, is it? And thank goodness for friends who have minivans well stocked with treats and potato chips to appease any 2-year olds who freak out when they see their not-so-trusty minivan is being left behind in the parking garage. Who knew that a 2-year old could love their vehicle so much? Oh, what a day that was.

Park Days

Bicycle helmets are Samantha's new accessory. I don't have pictures to attest to this, but they look particularly smashing when worn with only a pair of underwear on. (Yes--I said underwear--Samantha is potty trained!!!! Yippee!)

Dog Walks

I'll let you in on a little parenting secret. Don't ever buy a dog. Why would you buy a dog when you already have little chillins to feed, bathe and direct to the potty? Sanity Parenting 101 indicates that you should buy a house next to someone who owns a dog. Then when your children beg and plead for a dog, you send them next door for their dog fix, and then they come home happy and tired of the dog. And the dog hair and bad breath stay next door and not in your house. I am becoming more and more anti-pet the older I get and the more children I accumulate. I was checking books out at the library and the librarian asked me how many children I had. To be polite, I asked her how many she had. A daugter and two sons. The daughter being human and the sons being feline in nature. Cats do not equal offspring. I get a little heated on this topic. Hmmm...I feel a spin-off post forming.

Outdoor Picture Attempts

The girls had to be photographed in their Easter dresses. This was the best I could do. I know kids can be difficult to photograph, but I think mine take the cake. I'm not sure if it's harder to keep Sam from screaming or Ella from talking when trying to take pictures.

Cherry Blossoms

After being somewhat underwhelmed at the cherry blossoms on the mall last year, I decided it was not worth the effort to metro downtown with the whole family. So a much better cherry blossom outing was in the Kenwood neighborhood in Bethesda. We went on Easter morning and it was glorious. Perfect weather, the air was so fragrant and we loved oodling over all the big, beautiful houses.



It might be a little dorky to dress my three girls in matching dresses, but I bought these awhile ago and they all fit now and I couldn't resist. There will come a time when they'll refuse, so I may as well do it while I can.

Lucy-licious. She might be the mellowist, happiest baby around. Mmm, mmm, scrumptious.

How picturesque is that?

Easter Egg Hunts

The annual Bowcut-Kirwan Easter egg hunt was held in our back yard. My children have Jenn Kirwan to thank for showing their mother how a proper easter egg hunt is conducted. It consists of approximately 200 filled eggs. Of course your share doesn't ALL fit into your basket, so periodic dumping of your basket contents into plastic bags is required to store your loot while you go for a refill. You'd think this would keep them occupied for awhile, but you'd be surprised how fast 4 pairs of legs can seek out all those eggs. Maybe 15 minutes? Fortunately, the Kirwans are faster than the Bowcuts, minimizing our take-home stash.

A Belated (because that's the Bowcut way right now) Welcome to Spring!