That's a Wrap!

Spring Break has officially wrapped. Play time is over, and now it's back to life, back to reality (as the song says). We had a nice week filled with lots of down time and game playing. With J in Orlando on business and Bethany at the beach, the girls and I had mucho quality time together. We played Zingo until we couldn't see straight. If you've never played it, you must. It's Bingo with a zing, or at least that's the way it's advertised. We also filled our time with plenty of rounds of Old Maid and Memory. Fun times! Friday morning I had to take my car to get serviced in Huntsville. This was less than a desirable outing according to my little princesses, but when I told them we'd spend the afternoon with Chuck E. Cheese they surely didn't mind cooperating. I'm not sure why, other than the fact that the girls love it, that I tend to think that going to Chuck E. Cheese is an inexpensive way to spend an afternoon. I'm quickly reminded once we get there and buy tokens that it's not. Prime example...

It took two hours and over $20 in tokens to earn enough tickets for Fun Dip and temporary tattoos...Tattoos that we had to put on in the bathroom before we left, mind you. As long as this is they only type of body art they ever have, I can handle it.

Saturday morning we went to a birthday party for one of Cate's friends. Buggy took to this car and put at least ten miles on it while we were there...
Her knees would barely fit under the steering wheel, but that didn't stop her. Then it was time to Mallard Farms to set up for our church's big Easter festivities that would take place the next day. The Stephensons are always so generous to offer their farm as a gorgeous backdrop. To say that their place is amazing is an understatement. When we got there, the girls wasted no time making friends with the 'mini horse' as they called it...
Also known as a pony! :)

My friend Amanda came to help, and while we were busy the kids had free reign to rip and romp and do just as they pleased. They had a ball. I'm convinced that if we ever lived on a farm they'd never leave home. Hmm, maybe we should look into that.
Towns, Parker and Cate found a few props which warranted a picture...
Just after that, Cate dropped the ceramic cat and his leg was amputated. She was certain a band-aid would fix it, but I was far more certain it would need super glue. It never fails...we leave our mark wherever we go!

It took several hours Saturday afternoon and a few more Sunday morning, but things came together nicely and we were ready for the crowd...
We kicked off the celebration with a picnic lunch. Food just tastes better when you're sitting on a picnic blanket in the sun, no doubt about it...
That was right about the time J and Bebby showed up, which was the first time we'd seen them in days. It's safe to say we made a scene. I had someone tell me that they loved how we were so excited to see each other. I had to confess that it wasn't because that was our usual greeting, but that it's because we'd been separated for far too long! After lunch, the first thing on the agenda was decorating and scarfing down sugar cookies...
I volunteered to bring the cookies. We originally talked about ordering them from a bakery, but since we were on a budget yours truly thought it would be far more thrifty to buy the bake-and-break kind to bake. After baking 29 dozen of them, I'm perfectly fine with never seeing or smelling another sugar cookie as long as I live!
These two didn't mind it, though...
Bethany had been asked to man the bubble table, and what a fine job she did...
If you ever need a professional bubble blower, she's your girl!
Cate had a blast chasing the bubbles around trying to pop them...
And apparently, you have to get your mouth just the right way when you're trying to catch them...

One thing is a given - there's never a shortage of things to do at Mallard Farms...
Like riding the horse train!
And giving the inflatables a run for their money...
Leave it to J to find a way to throw Towns over the top to make her bounce oh so high when she landed inside the obstacle course...
I was worried that it might start a trend, but thankfully no one else saw their horse playing!
The girls were having a blast, but they couldn't stay away from Bethany for too long. They were just a tad bit excited that she was finally home...
She's hands down the best big sister ever. She brought them both precious stuffed mermaids from the beach that they slept with last night and have yet to put down...
On another note, today is day one of cheer clinic with tryouts Thursday afternoon. This should be an exciting week!

Miss Sara had story time with all the children. She had such a neat way of retelling the Easter story. Why must the McClendon girls be the ones cutting up all the time? See below...
Somehow they got Parker to go along with it. He's the one with the green basket on his head. Goodness! While the little ones were occupied, B had a break from bubbles so she asked J to go with her to get a cookie. He tried to hold her hand which might have been the most embarrassing thing on the planet. I think she would have cut off her arm just to avoid holding his hand...
And I wonder why Towns and Cate were the only clowns with baskets on their heads.
There's my answer!

We couldn't end the afternoon fun without an egg hunt. After all, the name of the event was Hide and Hunt! When Miss Sara said the word, every child there took off as fast as they could in search of eggs...
Cate never has the sense of urgency that the other kids have. She took her dear, sweet time with her basket thrown over her shoulder...
And when she finally put a few eggs in her basket, she sat right down in the grass to count them...
She was perfectly fine that she only had six eggs while everyone else had baskets that were overflowing. It made no difference to her!

We rounded out the festivities by making a few goody bags which was the mission project for the day. Instead of filling the eggs our kids hunted with tons of candy and toys, we decided to spend the money on fun treats to take to a local school for children. Everyone got to fill the bags, drop in an Easter card from FBC, and pray for the child who would receive it...
It was neat to explain it to the girls and see them excited about doing something for other children. It's all a learning process! They were such troopers Saturday and Sunday. Most of the hours in the day were spent setting up, taking down and cleaning up at the farm. I found them a cool spot in the shade and gave them a Sprite to keep them happy while I finished up...

As if the Hide and Hunt wasn't enough fun for one day, the girls couldn't wait to get to the park to help Gray and Copeland celebrate their 6th birthday!
Towns played with her friends while Picaso was hard at work with the sidewalk chalk...
By the time the party was over, I had two bambinos who were ready to crash. I think we were in bed by 7 or so. But all is well because we have everyone under one roof again...
And that's just the way we like it!