Signs of spring!

Here's how we've been celebrating spring this week.  In the 5 days since we've returned from NY we have:  cleaned our basement and created Rec Room interation #8,000 (these teens really need a place to hang out!), snuggled an emotional cat a lot (she missed us!), had a major winter storm on April 19th, picked up 6 new baby chicks at Meyer Hatchery, and taken our spring photos at Lakeview.  Phew!  Gotta fit it all in as it's projected to be in the 80's this weekend so we'll be spending all our time on the beach then... 

Ah, spring in Cleveland.  Never a dull moment! 

Monday:

Reunited!

Also, not pictured, 6 hours spent in our basement.  It does not matter how much we clean and move things around, that place is never going to be photogenic.  But I do think we've achieved "less gross and ok for teens" level, especially once we pick up the new-used couch for gaming, to go with the upgraded TV. 

Tuesday:

Winter returns!

(probably the sketchiest road conditions all season!  On April 19th!)

Then right after school we drove through the continuing wintry mix to pick out our new babies at Meyer's.  No time like the present.   With our flock down to 4 after the hard winter and the predator issues, the kids and I thought we definitely needed to raise some new ladies.  Nat seems to think 4 chickens is enough but he tends to be over-ruled when it comes to animals around here, poor man.  We set out to pick 4 chicks, and returned with 6, so not too bad in my opinion. 

The view on the car ride home.  Best 50 minutes ever. Handfuls of warm fluff!

Wednesday:  The Reaching Heights spelling bee!

And posing chicks for photos of course!

Thursday: We were planning to go get the second floor at Rexwood ready for new tenants who arrive May1st...  but then the sun was shining and it was above 40 degrees and so it was a moral imperative to be outdoors.  Time for Daffodil Hill! 

The children were not particularly enthused about a photo shoot at the cemetery.

But they rallied. 

And tormented each other.

And kind of drove me crazy.

And also they were perfect.  Just like the daffodils. 

Hippity Hoppity!

 Happy Easter! 

                                     

Our first time ever traveling for this holiday!  Easier than packing for Christmas, that's for sure.  But me and my holiday obsession, I still managed to fret about which decorations needed to come along, and making our cutout cookies, and and and.  It was only one big Ikea bag full of Easter stuff, though, so that's not too bad. 

We had a nice, relaxing weekend in New York, despite crummy weather and a new Covid outbreak in the area that kept us from going to church and seeing the Koon cousins.  The important thing was we got to have lots of quality time with Claire, and Randy and his family too. Crazy that we hadn't seen them since summer!  

The moment we arrived in Aurora, the magic happened.  Our kids get along better in New York state than in Ohio, apparently. Or maybe there's just something about swings.

 We stopped by to see our happy place, all buttoned up for winter, grey and cold.  And still perfect.

 The Castle is for sale!  Unfortunately it is not for the likes of us, with an asking price of $386,000 and several offers above asking already.  Le sigh. 

 Win thought off-season lake water was just fine for a swim.

I always like to look up at the remnants of our Bistro Barn sign from that magical wedding day 16 years ago... It's still hanging in there!

 

We were treated to some sunshine in the late afternoon...

... then had Chinese takeout for dinner and spent the evening looking through old yearbooks and Nat's swimming memorabilia.   Weren't we cute?

Day two:  the day of the Aurora Village egg hunt, and also the day of cold and dismal rain.   We soldiered on though, helping to hide the eggs in strategically sheltered spots to protect the paper from the drizzle.  We also bought a canopy tent to protect the egff hunt organizers, who included our Lulu! 

Randy, Sarah and Hannah joined us for the afternoon, and we all went out to do the hunt together.  It was much more fun than we anticipated, and all of the teens got into it.

Back home to warm up and frost cookies!

And then, again in the late afternoon!  After surviving the whole egg hunt in the rain, we were treated to this.  Nat and I went to Long Point, and I ran back through the village.  Nothing better than this lake in the sunshine.

Day three:  Easter morning!  The Easter bunny made it to Aurora (along with the traditional Easter tablecloth of course.)

Nat and I were up at 7, because that's just how we roll on holidays.  At least one of our children was ready for action. 

The others were still sound asleep when we joined Claire and Randy for their Sunday walk at Long Point.  A different experience than the day before!  Sunshine but bitterly cold with wind whipping in off the lake...

We froze ourselves solif in 15 minutes and headed back for scones and coffee...

.... just in time for the snow.  I feel like snow on Easter has become a somewhat regular occurrence over the past few decades.  But usually that's when Easter is super early, not on April 17th!  goodness. 

Still patiently waiting for those kids to wake up...

Finally!  A girl came downstairs for viewing of the bounty...

.... then waited some more for her brother to wake up.  (They both just adore sweet Haven.)

Time for baskets, finally!   Good thing church was nixxed  because we never would have made it on time.

I love how this girl still loves her stuffies. 

Indoor egg hunt due to snowy conditions.

Fun to have new hiding places! 

Then it was time to get ready for Easter Brunch...

I enjoyed the opportunity to dress the Easter table with Claire's pretty things.

Just look at these three.  Seniors!  The girls have just committed to their colleges for next year (Sarah at Union College and Hannah and Univeristy of Buffalo) and David has narrowed it to two.  We just had such fun spending time with these remarkable young people, and sharing in all the excitement of this time in their lives. 

We did that thing we always do and stood in the kitchen for quite some time...  then it was time for egg hunt number two (Ivy's eyes just lit up when she heard there would be TWO egg hunts on Easter!  Still my little girl in there)

Claire explained the rules and then they were off, finding all but 4 of the hundred eggs in about 5 minutes.  These capable kids. 

Trading the loot.  The eggs had a number of dollar coins and 50 cent pieces and the kids were instructed to make sure to share it out equally after the eggs were opened.  Kept them nice and busy for a while.

Time for the traditional "sit and chat before the meal..."

Blessings, and food, abound.

The weather cleared after the egg hunt, once again... just in time for some (kind of chilly) famility photos and a simply lovely sunny drive back to Ohio.

A short but sweet visit, and maybe a new tradition!  Happy Easter all!