Picture Day

Yearbook pictures were taken last fall, but today the kids get their spring pictures taken. :-) Usually they have gotten them taken individually, but now that Livie is in kindergarten, I'm having them take it together as a group. Noah got his hair cut yesterday. The girls got their hair straightened. Hopefully they'll have big smiles and take a great picture!

Back to Hiking.. Yay!

After 5 long months of cold weather we finally had a beautiful day and we took advantage of it by getting out and doing some hiking. :-)



The kids were so excited to get back to Starved Rock and explore some more trails. This time we headed for the Ottawa Canyon. Tater, of course, was with us and I think he was even happier than the kids were!

All along the trail we would come up on these little caves.

That is a picture of me and the kids on a big rock outside of the cave in the picture above this one. Pete took it for us.

Here is yet another small cave along the way to the canyons. Livie is doing her "Yeti call"!

There was a LOT of mud surrounding the creeks. We were super-muddy by the time we left. Me more than the kids though. Pete always found a way to discover the best way to pass over and would help the kids. Me? I'd just walk through the creek and get muddy. After falling in, I gave up trying and full embraced the mud! :-)

This was the first canyon we went to. I can't remember its name. It was on a trail that went to the left of the Ottawa canyon. It had a really pretty waterfall. The water was soooo cold though! Definitely still winter, though the outside temps this week prove otherwise.

The kids liked this cavern, because they could touch the ceiling. I don't think Pete could stand up in this one.

I love exploring the canyons more than the topside trails. The beauty down there is all around you.

Because most, if not all, of the rock in that area is sandstone, we found lots of sandbanks. This one had rocks that had fallen off the side of the canyon. The kids liked picking up and loading up our backpacks with the rocks they found.

Tater was cracking us up with his incessant need to pick up sticks along the way. This one was so big, he could barely carry it, but he was determined to make this sticks his!

There were a few times we had to cross big trees like this to get where we were going. This one they climbed, though, just for fun.

Livie wanted her picture taken by this big, giant rock!

This is Ottawa Canyon. We were the only ones there for a while and because the entry into it is narrow, we decided to take Tater off his leash and let him run around. I WISH my video was working, because it was hilarious to see him run around. I would call him from the other side of this pond and he ran right through the middle of it until he couldn't touch, then he got a little freaked out and swam/ran back to Pete. Then he discovered the shallow part and would barrell through there to the other side to run past me and run back to Pete and the kids again. He did this for a good 10min before people started showing up. After all that walking and climbing and hiking, that 10 min was enough to wipe him out. We left to hike back to the van at this point and was a lot slower and calmer on that trek back. And, of course, as soon as we got the van, he laid right down and took a nap on the way home. He might make our hiking a little crazier, but he sure makes it a lot more fun! We had a great time and were so thankful for the beautiful weather, so we could get outside and enjoy it!

Sherm!

Two years after losing Hobbes, my dad decided to adopt again. This is my niece Avery and dad's new little pug puppy, Sherm. Can't get over how little he is!! The kids are sooooo excited to meet him! Sherm is named after one of dad's all-time favorite baseball players, Sherm Loller. I think it's a great name for a precious little puppy, who - from what I hear - loves to take naps on dad's shoulder. He took Sherm to the nursing home today to meet mom and she is already totally in love with him, as is half the staff and residents there now too. When we go back to IN for spring break, we get to meet our new nephew Drew and our new puppy brother Sherm. Should be a fun trip!

Mmmm... Star Wars

My dear sister-in-law Cara sent out some awesome Star Wars cookie cutters! We couldn't wait another minute to use them, so we made up a batch for Bible Study tomorrow night. Livie wanted in on the baking action!



These were a new kind of cookie cutter for me. You push down on them, then push in the top and make the impression. Very cool! Livie loved helping, but realized shortly into our baking session that something was missing...

A crown, of course!

We have an x-wing, a tie fighter, the Millinium Falcon, and the Death Star! I'm not gonna lie. Had to make extra Death Stars. They're just too perfect not to have extras of!

Here is the finished product in all its buttery, sugary awesomeness! I can't wait to make them again for the Trolinger-side of the family, who would fully appreciate the joy of eating Star Wars cookies. :-) Thanks, Cara!!!

Eagles!

Not only did our talk about the deliciousness of Hanks get my dad excited. So did the talk of our Eagle Watch Weekend back in Jan. He's an avid bird-watcher and in his nearly 65 years of life, he's never seen one. Well, I should say, he's never seen on until today! :-)



We headed out for a morning visit to see the eagles nesting, but had to stop first and get filled up on donuts. :-) Dad had tried to go see the eagles yesterday while Pete and I were at work and the kids were at school, since he was at the house with nothing to do, but the minute he stepped outside the restaurant he was eating breakfast at, it starting pouring down rain. So, he just came home. I think that was God's way of giving him the chance to see them with his grandkids. :-)

Dad said he prayed last night (and I prayed on the way there), that he would see them. And, thankfully God said YES! We got there and there was only one other guy there, so we had nearly the entire viewing balcony to ourselves. They were up in the trees and flying around. Even saw one with a fish in his mouth. So cool!!

We brought both sets of binos and they had the viewers there. The guy that was there also had a scope on one of the eagles in the trees and let us look through it.

It was very, very cold, so we kind of would take turns going outside and then inside to see them. Madie liked being out there with her Papa.

So did Noah. :-)

Livie was very cold and very cranky, so she didn't stay out there long, but she looked through that man's scope to see the eagles a couple of times. She liked that part.

Before we left, Dad got the kids a bird call book that has 100 different kinds of birds in it and a thing you push to hear their bird calls. The kids loved it! It was great to see dad excited about something he's never gotten to see or experience and getting to share that with us was a bonus! He loved sharing his excitement with the kids and have them get excited with him. It was a good morning!

Visiting

I have been a TERRIBLE blogger! I had to blog today, so I wouldn't go a whole two weeks without posting! Can't say a whole lot has happened since Noah's birthday party. He had the flu last weekend. I've been teaching. The girls are doing their thing. That's about it. But, yesterday my dad came in for a visit, so I thought it would be fun to post about that!



All our talk of Hank's lately made dad decide we had to go there and get some more prime rib. I swear, 2012 is the year of the beef. We've been there more in the past month than we have in the past 5 years! But, hey, can't complain. I mean, it IS prime rib after all. :-) Dad actually got a seafood platter, but he, Pete, and I all helped the kids out with their dinners and they, of course, got the rib.

Papa did what he always does and gave them cash straight away, which meant a quick little shopping trip to the store. Noah had the most money, because of his birthday, so he picked out his very first electric drill and got a new set of plyers. Madie got some legos and Livie got some LalaLoopsy coloring things. So far, it's been a fun visit! Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we'll get to see some eagles tomorrow!