all grown up and graduated

Few things have made me realize how fast life speeds along as seeing my little sister graduate from college.....COLLEGE?!?!  Wasn't it just a few years ago that I would force her to let me braid her hair, teach her volleyball so I had someone to pepper with, and stare up at the same glow-in-the-dark stars in our bedroom talking about my wedding plans?  Ah yes, time races on.  I could not be more proud of my sis and so happy I could be there for her big day. 

Lilia was excited to be there too :)

tulip time

Last time it was "April showers bring a flood."  This time, it's April showers bring May snow.  Lilia and I went to Iowa for her first Tulip Time, and I was excited to be back after a 9 year absence from the food and festivities....but let's be honest, I mainly missed the food.  But what do you do when over 2/3 of Tulip Time gets cancelled because of snow coming down sideways, temperatures hovering around the freezing mark, and weather you wouldn't call decent even in the dead of winter? 

Well, first you snuggle under the blanket in the easy chair with Papa to watch a little Gunsmoke...

...hang out with big D...

...look out the window in disbelief of this May snow...

...sit on Nana's lap...

...and use uncle Ben as a booster to look out the window some more.

And when the weather finally clears enough to make a quick Tulip Time appearance, we donned the wooden shoes (thanks to Aunt Bailey!)...

...found some of the few tulips in bloom...

...and watched an afternoon parade together....

...to see the best part of the parade, by far - cutest little Dutch boy I've ever seen!

april flood

April showers bring...a lake!  I don't know if I've ever seen a school cancelled because of flooding, but we enjoyed having Matt home for the day!  We got our cars out of the driveway to higher ground about an hour before our driveway flooded over.  We also were able to get everything that we wanted to spare out of our cellar before 3-4 inches filled up that space.  I've seen some devastating floods before, but this is the closest I have ever experienced it coming up to our house.  I was sure glad to have my trusty rain boots from good ol' Theisens!

Looking south from our house.  The intersection was flooded at least 1/2 a block going both ways.  Two cars were stuck there already at 6:00 am, at least over their headlights at the worst point.  

From our driveway, looking towards the street.  Someone's pallet and trash decided to make our lawn it's new home.

Our backyard...the water didn't quite make it to the house.

So we've been having a groundhog problem under our shed....I guess this is one way to fix that problem!

This walking path usually goes under St. Charles Rd - no so much anymore!

The park in our backyard - can't even see the swings!

 From the bridge next to the park looking at our house (we are between the yellow and blue houses).

high fives

joy

these two just loved each other!

 my (only) Northwestern loves :)

I heard the cupboard door banging shut and this is what I found...

...and the face she gave me when I asked what she was doing. 

favorite way to sleep

Easter

Easter is my favorite holiday.  The last traces of winter are leaving as we get signs of spring.  Sunshine is starting to make our days warmer and longer.  And all the while, we are reminded of Christ's gift of grace in His victory over death.  We hope you were blessed by Christ's unfathomable love this Easter weekend.

And let's be honest, I love me some good Easter candy too (who doesn't love an excuse to eat good chocolate ANY time of year?)!  Lilia loved her Easter baskets...thanks Nate, Nicole, and Declan and Papa & Nana!

Easter basket grass is endless entertainment!

Ahh!! Puffs!!

Our little Easter bunny showing off her 2 teeth.

spring break

Lilia and I have enjoyed having Matt home for spring break.  Most years we are in the car as soon as the school bell rings on Friday, but this year we decided to stay home and relax and bit from the crazy pace of life.  We did manage a short trip to Louisville to see a part of the country we don't normally get to see.  On the agenda for the trip...

the Louisville Slugger bat museum of factory (of course!)

Day #2: Mammoth Cave.  Our tour was only 3/4 mile of the 400 miles of cave that they have explored.  Apparently every time they explore more cave, they get more leads of unexplored branches.  Right now, there are 50 pages of recorded unexplored leads - crazy to think how massive this cave is!

This face is a bit deceiving...about 1/2 through the 2 hr tour, Lilia decided she was hungry and tired but didn't want to fall asleep in mom's arms.  Couple that with the rangers turning out the lights to demonstrate how dark it can get in a cave, and let's just say we were a little unsettled.

The caves aren't always made with Dutch people in mind.

(finally asleep...yay!)

Lilia went swimming for the first time at our hotel and LOVED it.  She would splash the water and get it in her eyes and mouth...look a little unsure of what just happened....and then break out in smiles.

testing the waters

On the last day, we went to the Buffalo Ridge distillery for a tour...

...and stopped for lunch at Anybody's Diner before making the drive home.  I felt like I had stepped into a southern version of the Coffee Cup Cafe from my youth (take a look at what was the special for the day - I didn't see it until after we had ordered, otherwise I may have given it a try.)