HAPPY EASTER!

EASTER EGG HUNT

Due to the five inches of snow we just received on the second day of Spring our community easter egg hunt was postponed. We decided to have our own, so Mike and I surprised the kids with hidden eggs all over the house. The kids had so so much fun!

DYING EASTER EGGS

A touch of Spring!

Is it the perfect proportion?

What color will it be?

Look at Mine!

A VISIT WITH THE MARBLES

Say Cheese!

Our friends the Marbles were able to visit from Indiana for a couple of days.The kids played for hours! They enjoyed running around in the basement going to Jill and Katie's preschool for an Easter egg hunt, making Easter egg necklaces, having pizza and a sleep over. What great friends!

Look at us....we're funny!

A tradition to make silly faces.

The Babies.... So Cute!

Hey we're not babies... Look at what we can do now...

walk, crawl, play on our own, and climb the stairs.

We're the mighty toddlers!

Andrew and Tyler played in the basement by themselves for at least an hour.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

We woke up this morning to find a Leprechaun

had visited our home in the night playing tricks
and turning everything upside down!

We then enjoyed a yummy breakfast of green shamrock pancakes.

CHICAGO DAY TRIP

Prologue.... We the Thomas family set out for Chicago on an adventure to experience the biggest St. Patrick's Day Celebration. We began our trip at 7:00 a.m. getting everyone up and ready. Then we were off to the train station were we rode the train through the corn fields to the city for an hour and a half. We then took the elevated train further in to town. The kids Love the train rides.

Waiting for the L- Train... The waiting time has begun.

Jill was upset because she did not get to walk through the twisting gate.

Will this be the beginning of a long day? :)

Watching the buildings rush by.

DYING THE CHICAGO RIVER GREEN

The first chapter ... watching the Chicago River change colors. Ever year Chicago has a tradition where they dye the river green for St. Patrick's Day. We wanted to witness this event. It first turns bright orange and then bright green. We made our way through the crowds to high elevations on one of the bridges. This way we could see above the thousands of people. We then waited..... for an hour and a half!.. I guess we missed the bridge where the dye is put in. The dye then floats down the river. Well we were down the river. Therefore, it took forever. We left and walked up stream to see the color.

Where's the Thomas'...... Can you find Mike, Jill, and Jaden.

Chicago river before the dye.

Chicago River after the dye.

It was a grand sight as we watched the Irish claim the city once again.

CHICAGO ST. PATTY'S DAY PARADE

The second chapter in the day.....finding a way into the crowds of people to see the parade. We continued our 6 block walk looking for a spot with fewer people. We found one... Yea! After waiting for twenty minutes we were finally able to find our way to the front. The waiting paid off... we saw some great floats, heard beautiful bag pipes and the kids got hats, necklaces, and candy!

The last chapter in our day.... Dinner. We thought the perfect ending would be to have Chicago Deep Dishes pizza, but with the crowds it was more waiting, so we kept on walking and walking until we found somewhere to eat. The kids were ready for a break and we finally found a resteraunt. It was a Dive! Although, it was nice to stop and rest. Tyler says it all in the above picture. Let's go home! (He was only crying because I took the salt away from him. It didn't last long.) We finished off our day with more walking, riding the elevated train ride and then the train ride home!

It was craziness, but we enjoyed our Adventure in Chicago!