2024, March 25-31

March went out like a lion, it would appear. Speaking of lions, here's our bleppy sexy beast. 

We got snow and rain throughout the week as early spring continues trying to take hold. 

Eliza's 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Haymond sent this flashback shot of her in class a few years back. Aww!

Fergus occasionally likes to follow us (especially Mike) when we take Kai for his walk. Hallie showed him following us to our friend Amanda. 

Pull up your pants, Mike!

Even though she was a bit past the age for doing an Easter egg hunt, on Saturday Eliza went with Hallie to participate anyway one last time (maybe?). The city held the hunt at Memorial Park this year.

We got a dusting of snow in the mountains and rain on the valley floor. 

Eliza collected a fair amount of candy but won no prizes. 

Landon thought Ferg was so adorable lying on the couch that he needed to get another picture.

Later in the day, we decorated Easter eggs.  

"What're you lookin' at?"

We are still getting use of the cups and egg supports our Camarillo neighbors the Boulters gifted us when they moved. Thanks! 

Even Kai found a place with us. 

Landon used a unique technique to get some interesting results on his eggs. 

We bought some strawberries earlier this week, and Eliza pulled this monster from the container. 

On Easter Sunday morning, we slept in before the kids got baskets. When we came downstairs, Hallie noticed Ferg sniffing at Kai. He may finally be getting used to his younger brother. 

When Mike and Eliza took Kai for a walk, they saw this couple of sandhill cranes in the Jakers plowed cornfield. You have to look closely to see them, as they started moving off as we approached. 

Eliza wanted Mike to catch Ferg blepping again. You'll see it if you look closely. 

We had burgers at Gma and Gpa M.'s for Easter supper. 

Eliza played her uke by the fireside. 

A group of deer decided to frolic in the grove east of the house. They were a hoot! Of course, Hallie had to get her deer photos.

 

2024, March 18-24

We had some fun making art and enjoying our pets. 

Hallie and Eliza went to Swig and got free stuff. 

On Wednesday, Mike and Eliza went to a local coffee shop, where Eliza's art teacher from BUH taught them some watercolor painting techniques. 

Here is Eliza on a lazy Thursday afternoon. 

And here is Fergus with a glorious curly blep.

We have had some pleasant early spring weather. Sunday morning surprised us with hail, then snow, then sun and clouds. 

We have struggled to get the kids to clean their rooms for as long as they've been kids. Eliza showed a small sign of hope that she might like organizing herself on occasion by getting a dresser drawer organized. 

Sunday is National Puppy Day. Kai came back from Brittany's in the early afternoon, so we got to get some quality time in with our pup. 

 

2024, March 11-17

Erin go bragh! As is tradition, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with corned beef and cabbage, soda bread, and special green Lucky Charms. For whatever reason, animals seemed to make up most of this week's photos. 

Here is Ferg on Monday. E is making a face because she chose to eat a fresh strawberry top first. 

We had snow off and on throughout the day Wednesday. Here is the scene in the morning at BUH, where E had yoga and art. She painted this horse, and she was willing to keep it. Sometimes she doesn't like to keep  her work, but we try to encourage her to give herself credit as she learns. 

The snow left later in the day, and the tulips are trying to come up. Hallie thought she had pulled all the bulbs at the end of last year, but as a present to her here was a surprise. 

Hallie and Eliza found a fun Disney-themed LEGO set at Target: Stitch with a Hawaiian shirt holding an ice cream cone! We built it over a few days and set it in the living room. 

Mike took E to see Jack and Raunchy a few days this week. As the weather transitions into spring, we have appreciated getting to spend more time outdoors in the sun. 

Funny story. At Hallie's work, the electronic babies are getting ready to go home with the students for the weekend. Hallie received a text saying, "Need help now!" The students in Hallie's lab and Hallie headed to the classroom to find everyone holding babies and trying to burp them to get them all to stop crying.

 

Kai came back on Friday, and he immediately found his toys. Sadly, we had to bid this polar bear farewell, as he had torn it open and pulled out the fluff.  We don't need a dog to barf fluff. Fortunately, he has four other stuffed animals to chew on to his heart's content. 

When Mike and Eliza went to see J&R on Saturday, Fergus joined them. He had a good time climbing up the hay bale stack and getting into the storage building on the property. Our cat and dog are quite the shadows.  

Mike took photos of some of the flowering ground foliage and found that Ferg had squeezed under the door. 

Later, we went up to Gma and Gpa M's house hoping to catch some kite-flying wind. No luck with the wind, but Eliza did get a chance to earn some money picking up deer droppings from the front lawn.  

On Sunday, we relished in a delightful early spring day. Hallie, Eliza, and Kai went for a walk along the Mapleton Lateral Canal Trail. Today they saw llamas (alpacas?) and goats. 

Later on, we had our Irish meal. Come by for some soda bread! Sláinte!