First Piano Recital

On Saturday, May 9th, Caleb had his first piano recital. He LOVES his lessons with Mrs. O'Leary each Monday afternoon and even though it was going to be a very busy day, he was determined to play his songs. Thankfully, he was allowed to play first and we left as soon as he was finished. We are so proud of his hard work!

With everyone else in wedding mode, Marshma and Papa were the only ones able to meet us there.  (Grandaddy actually stayed home while little brother took his nap!) 

Whew.

The last few days have been awesome, but exhausting at the same time. 

The boys are now able to officially call Briana "Aunt Briana," as she and Uncle Luke tied the knot this weekend. A few hours before their wedding, Caleb had his first piano recital, which went great. And, to end our weekend on a relaxing note, we spent Mother's Day afternoon at the lake.

Before things got busy around here...

 Little blankie was found at Marshma's house. It went missing Christmas and their cleaning lady found it last week wedged in their couch cushions upstairs. (I had looked in the basement couch!)

We got our boat out of storage and on the water for this season! Instead of fighting ramp traffic and trying to back the boat into storage with only inches on each side, we have it at the marina on the lake. It is so much easier and so convenient. We are super excited!

We made our first evening Graeter's run of the season for (simply the best) pints of ice cream.

(and first sticky hands!)

The rope swing is still hanging at the back of our neighborhood! (I decided that it wouldn't hurt to leave Luke's bike helmet on. ha!)

And, on Friday evening, we had the rehearsal for the wedding. 

While Caleb took his job very seriously, Luke...not so much. (This was while Bri was making her way out.)

Excited for the BIG day!!

The Rest of April

This is what the second half of our April looked like...

Spiderman went to dinner with us one evening.

We are so proud of Luke...he is finally able to write his name legibly. (Ignore the "V" and "H"...those were his mistakes.) For a little guy that isn't too interested in writing, this was a big accomplishment!

Wearing Uncle Matt's camo from when he was little. Loved seeing the "M.H." on the tag. :)

Rhett has had a rough month or two. We think he may have fallen down our deck stairs?? Not sure, although he has done something to his spine. He is on his second round of anti-inflammatory medicine, and we are hoping this does the trick. This was taken after an afternoon at the vet...he was worn out. (Somehow he always covers himself up!) 

Luke and I spent a total of 5 hours shopping...on the quest for a pair of dress shoes to go with the rental tux he is wearing at the wedding. It took all three malls, but thankfully, just in time to pick up Caleb from school, we found a pair. Payless. Go figure.

We had an impromptu dinner with neighbors. Crazy boys!

Caleb celebrated his buddy Mason's birthday at Bricks & Mini-Figs.

I just love watching this group of kids grow!

Mason is the only kiddo in Caleb's class that Caleb hasn't been in class with (preschool or Kinder) in previous years. We are so glad that Mason came to WA! He's a sweetheart!

I met the girls from my community group at church early one Saturday morning and nine of us headed up to IKEA. By the looks of the Suburban, it was a successful trip. It isn't all mine...that belongs to three of us. ;)

We had dinner with cousin Ava to celebrate Aunt Erika's birthday.

That night, Ed gifted Caleb his old XBox 360. Caleb has been in Minecraft mode ever since!

A breakfast date before school. That morning, Caleb said Mom, we should really do this more often. How could I ever resist that?!!

First Lake Trip of the Season

 After we returned from NC, Creed and PeePaw spent most of Saturday installing electronics (GPS fish finder) on the boat. On Sunday, with blue bird skies and temperatures close to 80, we couldn't resist taking the boat out for the first time. The only issue was that with all the rain we have had, the ramp at Taylorsville Lake was closed due to flooring and the Ohio River was flooded as well. So, we decided to take the boat to Guist Creek, a small lake in Shelbyville. It turned out to be the perfect family day on the lake!

Best lunch location

Caleb took a (short) turn fishing

while I read my Kindle

and Luke played with the wax worms.

one, two, free...

It was also Luke's job to bring the boys new worms when needed.

Later, Luke hit the jackpot and caught (tiny) fish after fish. He was SO proud and, I predict, going to be Daddy's fishing buddy. He was so excited for a picture with his fish that he just reached out and grabbed it!

So, Creed took some time and showed Luke the correct way to hold a fish. Luke wasn't scared at all! 

(Caleb wasn't impressed with the fishing at this point.)

This is so funny...All day Caleb and Creed kept going back and forth, challenging each other to jump in the FREEZING cold lake. At one point, Creed said something like "I'll jump in if you do." Big mistake. Our lake rat took that as his opportunity, and to our surprise, ran and jumped off the boat! 

We were shocked, and the cold water definitely shocked Caleb, as evidenced by the look on his face. But Creed...he kept his word. 

The Rest of Our Trip

Aside from our museum hopping, we also went to a playground...

and rode bikes, soaking up the beautiful, spring weather.

Hallie Girl LOVED the boys, and they loved her right back. For a lab pup, she really is a good girl. But, that doesn't stop her from sticking close to Luke during snack time. (If she only knew that our little rabbit was snacking on raw veggies and ranch dip- ha!)

One of the best parts of spring break was that Peepaw decided to buy a new truck from Creed, which meant that he could ride with us back home and stay another day. Actually, it meant that he could drive us! Much like our trip there, the boys were perfect little car riders on the way home!

Excited to get home and see Daddy

Spring Break, Greensboro, NC

For our last full day of spring break in NC, we headed to Greensboro to visit the Greensboro Children's Museum. Much like last year, it didn't disappoint!

(My favorite...check out his "prisoner.") 

The one thing that I did notice was that Caleb is outgrowing these types of "play" places. While he has a blast for a while, it just doesn't hold his attention like the more science-based places, such as Charlotte's Discovery Place. Luke, on the other hand, could have moved it and lived there.