April Snapshots, Part Two

And continuing with April (must catch up before baby!)....

My sister came out for our dear friend's gorgeous wedding. We enjoyed visiting with her and celebrating our friend's wedding. It was held in the rose garden at the Nixon Library--so pretty, all the bushes were in full bloom! And followed by a fancy dinner in the Nixon Library banquet hall.

Dustin got to meet baby Daisy for the first time

Picture does not do justice to how beautiful everything looked

No visit is complete for Rand and Ella without some time at the beach.

Elizabeth and I left all the kids at the beach with grandparents and headed up to Ventura to visit our grandma and introduce Daisy. She was well adored by all at the retirement home; Grandma enjoyed showing off her beautiful great grand daughter.

Tippy, our injured chick, got to spend a few weeks as our only chick, well-pampered by my fourth graders. Happily, someone from craigslist was willing to give Tippy a home. Elijah would like Dustin to build a chicken co-op so that we are able to keep chickens.

Tippy's bower

 

Magnets at preschool

Train tracks!

Buildng rockets with pattern blocks

Heritage Park is five minutes from my OB's and is an island park based around "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." The boys love it, so we've been trying to go after my appointments.

Apparently, the snack I packed was too small, so
Josiah decided to start eating the stale bread we'd
brought for the ducks

One afternoon they worked on making sea turtle habitats:

Their structures are becoming steadily more elaborate and detailed.

April was also the month of processing the big earthquake we had right at the end of March. The epicenter was only a couple of miles away, so the earthquake itself was pretty jarring and we had days of aftershocks. Elijah handled it pretty smoothly and now can confidently tell you our earthquake procedures. Josiah had a much rougher time and was afraid every little house creak was the start of an earthquake. No more reading in bed alone at naptime (one or two earthquakes did happen then) and room time was relocated to the living room, so he could be close to the group. He still (in June) regularly talks about what to do in case of an earthquake.