Spring has sprung! Feels like summer is springing this past week, actually – it’s 80 degrees and the cherry blossoms have long since fallen from the trees. I have swept up the last of our magnolia petals and I bought a watermelon on Sunday!
But a backtrack to April, when Juliette was still wearing her fleece.
And Isaac sported his navy blue sweatsuit at Roxhill.
We discovered a new playground in the neighborhood recently and Juliette has been refining her hopscotch skills.
Isaac has some work to do.
I spent a Saturday morning out in Redmond with the kids while Shane played at a nearby pickleball tournament. We roamed around Farrel-McWhirter Park and Isaac befriended a pig, a goat, and a cow.
Juliette loves to play hide and seek with her brother; the moment she darts out of sight, he throws his arms open and asks over and over, “Where go?! Where go?!”
Found her.
Donuts, then another playground, because I love these kids that much. And because Isaac is driving me peak crazy when cooped up indoors.
Our mornings start early, but Juliette has learned how to brew my coffee, bless her heart.
And sometimes we’ll pile back in bed at 8am on a Saturday morning for snuggles and shenanigans.
We’ve been mostly healthy these past few weeks, knock on wood, but there were a handful of days in April when Isaac stayed home with a fever. We worked around it, literally, but oh, it was rough.
We were in Santa Monica on Easter Sunday, so we did our egg hunt and our reading of Luke the weekend after. Juliette still loves a good game of “you’re getting warmer”…
I filled Isaac’s eggs with his own toy cars and bouncy balls, but he was still pretty enchanted by it all.
We spent much of the afternoon putting the eggs back together so that he could crack them back open and leave the remnants on the floor.
Is that all there is? WHERE GO?!
After several days of travel and of not feeling our best, that particular Sunday at home felt extra sweet.
DJ Raphi dance party to burn off those jelly beans!
And then a brief moment of mellow.
Backyard weather has been such a boon. Tee ball and bubbles and basketball, oh my!
Lots of neighborhood strolls to admire the corner tulip patch and our favorite cherry blossom lane…
And perhaps most notably, spring sports have begun! Our weekends (and the the occasional weeknight) are consumed with Juliette’s soccer and softball games. I’m not mad about it – I love watching this girl hone her talent and her team spirit.
Isaac is VP of her fan club.
Shane is assistant coach on both teams, which means I’m on Isaac watch, but occasionally Buddy hangs with Dad and I get a moment to focus on the field.
We have our short list of favorite softball venues – Lincoln Park is top notch because of the nearby woods to wander in.
This is the first year that Juliette has played kid-pitch softball and she’s spent hours doing target practice in the backyard. A parent remarked at a game last week on Juliette’s intense focus when she pitches. It’s like she’s willing the ball over the plate with equal parts arms and mind.
Get it, girl!
Juliette has the sweetest buddies that love to hang with Isaac between innings.
Ball boy is really falling down on the job…
Game over, but one last loop around the bases for Buddy, of course.
Seriously, though, SO MANY softball games. I don’t know that we quite anticipated what we were signing up for.
Isaac goes to the evening games in his PJs and we usually split after the third inning. It’s a lot, schlepping a toddler to the ball field a couple of times a week, but he’s a good sport about it.
And soccer! I like watching Juliette play softball, but I love watching her play soccer. Her team has come such a long way in the couple of years they’ve been together and she is fierce out on that field.
Go green!
(Plus Isaac.)
Now, let’s tuck that beanie away for awhile, huh?