Spring At Last

Let's see, the negligent blogger here will attempt to give a synopsis of on-goings from the spring  .  .  .  Um, well, we took what's a rather humongous vacation for our crew -- a trip to Florida over spring break (thank you Capital One mileage points!), which gave Anna and Jameson their first Disney experience and the second ever for Hunt and Bay.  We followed this with a day at Universal for Mama to go all Harry Potter like, and then, time in Clearwater for the beach and to see Winter, the dolphin of "Dolphin Tale" fame.  It was especially dramatic, because the picture immediately below is the freakish Central Illinois weather we left behind on March 25th  .  .  .

That's Chad in the navy and gold pull-over, flanked by Hunt and Jameson.

It's a Small World  .  .  .  and Jameson is still not a fan of having his photo taken.

Sir Cluver assisting with the "impromptu" reenactment of the night Belle met Beast.

Universal day was Baylor's 10th birthday!

I was SUCH a little kid at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter -- dined on pasties and drank 

down the Butterbeer; bought meself my own wand, Gryffindor pennant, 

and my own set of Hogwarts scarf and gloves.  I was all in -- way in.

Yes, I certainly REMEMBERED to use my camera on this trip, and now, you're paying the price for it!

Yes, it appears we did all of this on the same day, as the weather was unseasonably cold 

and we wore the same sweatshirts ev-er-y day  .  .  . 

My first dad (left) with his husband, Walt, their pooch, Chance, and the four kiddos.  

They were our gracious hosts in Clearwater -- taking us to the aquarium, the beach, 

and dinner at Frenchy's timed perfectly for great view of the sunset.

Winter, the dolphin!

The icy temps of the water didn't stop them!

I had a great opportunity this spring to visit my alma mater, Eureka College, to hear former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor speak.

Although I was unsuccessful at snapping a shot at the right moment (not for want of trying), 

she did smile and laugh a great deal during her talk.

The two bigs (A & H) ran track, J continued with soccer, Anna had her dance recital, and B started up another softball season.  Basic schedule for each kid times 4 kids plus Chad's bball coaching and mom's grad school work = insanity.  (Crazy smile.  MUCH gratitude to friends for carpool assistance!)

Of course, there were the end-of-year projects, and guess what state the J-man chose?  

(A shout-out to our Pittsburgh peeps, as I sit here typing and wearing my Bloomfield T-shirt.)

Oh, and the spring concert  .  .  .

I won't embarrass the kids too much in reporting their grades, buuut I have to share that one, young English-learner progressed in Language Arts from a C at start the year to a B in the middle, and ended on an A, and a tenacious, young, Haitian lady earned in her courses one B+ and eight (yes, 8!) As.  I'm proud of their determination and effort!  [The other two earned an appropriate number of free rentals at Family Video, as well  ; ) ]

Phew!  Now, on to the summer calendar, which, hopefully, may not involve any snow storms nor rainbow afros.