April has entered, Easter has come and gone, and one exam is in the books. Hopefully to never be taken again…but I might not know the results until June. The flowers are blooming and smell wonderful. The light is staying out later, but I’m sleepy early anyways. We’ve been able to hit some parks after school which is wonderful. We had one weekend that was really very quiet and restful at home aside from having friends over for dinner two nights in a row. Then we had Easter weekend which was not as restful but still memorable and lots of fun.
Reese is full swing in her activities right now and has kept us pretty busy the past two weeks. She had her last swim class of the winter session, her March Girl Scout meeting, dance class, and her one and only soccer practice the other night before the games, and games-only, season began on Sunday. Brooke is really great about tagging along and helping out with most all of Reese’s activities. She has enjoyed kicking the soccer ball around, playing at the park and other activities when she is allowed. It will be quite the jungle when she starts her own activities but I’ve already set my limit to two weekly activities per kid otherwise I will go insane.
Like I said, Easter weekend was filled with fun activities. We went to Lottie’s school on Friday night for their Japan Night celebration. All classes of all grades performed for the parents and there were six stations set up for kids to participate in various Japanese-themed activities to get a stamp and get a prize at the end. Both girls tried their hand at all activities, dressing up in kimonos, calligraphy, chopstick skills, etc. Lottie did great in her performance and ironically we know two of the other kids in Lottie’s class through their parents so we got to catch up with them, one being an old coworker of mine and the other being one of our Ragnar teammates.
On Saturday of Easter weekend, we walked down to Madison Park for their Easter egg hunt and celebration. We got there right at the start and a good thing we did otherwise we would have missed the egg hunt, we were first in line for the facepainting before the line became an hour long and we were able to snag some of the complimentary coffee and pastries they had set up before those disappeared. They had live music, a real Easter bunny which Brooke kept a very close but distant eye on, and a few craft activities. After the egg hunt we moved on to the playground to alternate between playing and eating their candy. We met up with three of Reese’s friends and classmates and we met up with Brooke’s best buddy from school for some playtime on the playground, then relaxing on the beach of Lake Washington in the glorious sunshine before walking back for a slice of pizza from Pagliacci’s, Brooke’s nap, and to spend the rest of the day at home.
And for Easter Sunday, after Reese’s dance class, we headed up to Luis and Carina’s house for a big Easter lunch, another Easter egg hunt and for the kids to play. Lunch was great with contributions from everyone. Luis made a leg of lamb. I brought some homemade rolls and a salad and deviled eggs. The kids were very well behaved at lunch and then resumed play before the hunt started. All kids got a bunch of eggs but Reese and Eliana, being the oldest, definitely landed the most eggs in their baskets. We sang happy birthday to Eliana with Polly’s amazing sheep cake and then we headed back to our house around 2 pm. After Brooke’s nap at home we gifted the girls their Easter baskets from us with a few little toys and then a new bigger scooter for Reese, gifting Reese’s scooter to Brooke and now they each have a purple scooter with matching streamers. We took the scooters for a ride down to the park to play for a bit before heading home and spending the rest of the night watching a movie and having pizza.
Last week flew by. We didn’t really have any afterschool activities until soccer practice on Thursday so I was able to get my last bit of studying in before my test on Wednesday. I think my test went well. I really had no idea what to expect with the computer based testing and at a test center but that all went fairly smoothly. I was there for over six hours, 5.5 hours of pure testing my brain power, a short 20 minute break in the middle, and it took about 30 minutes to get me checked in, for them to take my photo and scan my palm in each time I entered and exited the exam room. My brain was fried and has been ever since. I had just a purely difficult time even sitting at my computer to work the rest of the week. Thankfully the next and final portion is just under two weeks away so I have a little time to recover and study some more for that. That one is the big unknown to me because the format of it changes so much now that it is computer based. I’m not feeling as good about that one but maybe by the time it gets here I will be. At least this time around I will know what to expect of the testing facility and the codes and references that will be provided to me.
And to kickstart spring break Reese got sick, in our bed. She was well enough for dance class Saturday morning but then spent the rest of Saturday lethargic and out of it on the couch. And I spent all of Saturday with loads of laundry. Fortunately she woke up Sunday feeling much better and was able to participate in both our soccer game and Clara’s birthday party at her old friend Seattle Gymnastics Academy. Reese misses it and I do too and think once dance is over she’ll be back at it. The party was fun and well run but no one had more fun than Brooke who was allowed to be on the gymnastics floor too, had a one on one coaching session by one of the coaches and then got to have pizza and cake alongside the big girls at the end of the party.
I do feel like some weight is off of my chest with having one done. We have spring break this week so it’s a bit of a different week for all of us but I think it will be a good one for the girls. I’m very glad that alas spring feels upon us. And getting these exams out of the way now makes me feel like I will truly have summer back to my own wishes. Hopefully!
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Chelsea
