Ryan, Holly, AJ & Rylan: April 2011

Friday, April 29, 2011

Sweet April

When the warm sun, that brings
Seed-time and harvest, has returned again,
'Tis sweet to visit the still wood, where springs
The first flower of the plain.

I love the season well,
When forest glades are teeming with bright forms,
Nor dark and many-folded clouds foretell
The coming-on of storms.

From the earth's loosened mould
The sapling draws its sustenance, and thrives;
Though stricken to the heart with winter's cold,
The drooping tree revives.

The softly-warbled song
Comes from the pleasant woods, and colored wings
Glance quick in the bright sun, that moves along
The forest openings.

When the bright sunset fills
The silver woods with light, the green slope throws
Its shadows in the hollows of the hills,
And wide the upland glows.

And when the eve is born,
In the blue lake the sky, o'er-reaching far,
Is hollowed out, and the moon dips her horn,
And twinkles many a star.

Inverted in the tide,
Stand the gray rocks, and trembling shadows throw,
And the fair trees look over, side by side,
And see themselves below.

Sweet April!--many a thought
Is wedded unto thee, as hearts are wed;
Nor shall they fail, till, to its autumn brought,
Life's golden fruit is shed.

Henry W. Longfellow

Thursday, April 28, 2011

During the kids spring break we were looking for things to keep the kids busy. It was so nice to have Cousin Lowell up from Maryland. He seemed to have kept Rylan and Arianna constantly involved in something, whether it be playing superheros with Rylan or just plain fighting over some competition with Arianna (which BTW, the fighting never stops with those two and EVERYTHING is a challenge/competition).

Mike and Tanya were looking to do something with their family and asked us to join them at the circus. We were so excited because the kids had never been before and I knew they would just love it. Okay, so I am going to be real when I say that my excitement was founded on the fact that my childhood memories consisted mainly of cotton candy, popcorn and light-up gadgets galore and I really wanted to share all of those things with my children.

We arrived at the event and met up with the rest of the family and then suddenly Ryan vanished somewhere into the fried dough stand and from there on out most of his time was spent purchasing food and toys for the kiddos. Amazingly the tickets were only 10 dollars a piece. A great inexpensive family outing right? Wrong! After adding up our extra purchases, we spent well over over 100 dollars. Ahhhh. Oh well, it was so worth it. The family had a great time watching the fun, although I have to admit that I am not a fan of the seating as my butt was really sore from the hard plastic benches and not to sound like a corny mastercard commercial, but just being able to see the magic in the kids eyes was absolutely priceless.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter 2011

Easter was very special this year, mainly because we were able to spend it with great family and friends. Cousin Lowell was visiting from Maryland and was able to participate in our annual Easter egg hunt which was very entertaining to watch. The kids loved their goody filled baskets and were wired on sugar for most of the day which made us parents wishing for bedtime to come quickly. Easter dinner was fabulous and celebrated at Owen and Ollie's restaurant in Dracut followed by an array of yummy desserts at Ryan's parent's house.

Such a wonderful time with amazing people!