March

While getting ready to repair the garage ceiling...they noticed another leak behind the side of the garage wall. A pinhole leak was in the hot water line. So....now that's repaired. I asked them if they'd like to remove the rest of the garage wall to find more problems haha. 

Deacon campout! Jim and Jacob had a great time, although it was funny that they only hiked two miles. Gotta start somewhere!

John enjoying the last of the deer burgers. It was good while it lasted!

Jacob had friends over for his birthday. It was cold and rainy and yet they ran around outside and then swam in the heated pool. 12 years old!

Diana dissected owl pellets and she found a mouse skull and other interesting bones! She loved it!

I took a much-needed trip with Jacob to Orlando. On New Years Eve, we filled out these papers about our past year and our goals for the new year. Jacob randomly put that he would love to go to Sea World. Jim and I discussed it and then surprised Jacob with the trip. It was wonderful!

Dolphins

Big ol' manatees

Sea turtles

A zillion baby alligators. Still terrifying.

The penguin ride is gone and is simply a walk around up-close exhibit not blocked off by glass! It was cold, but perfect in Orlando. I loved seeing them up close.

Dolphin show! We sat in the upper splash zone but never got wet. We weren't sure if we wanted to get wet or not.

Awesome sea horses

Mid-morning ice cream just because. I loved having Jacob be the leader and decide what we did all day. He's growing up fast and it was good to spend fun time together.

Again, we didn't get splashed. But beware if the assistant trainers stand in front of your row and tap the water because you will get SOAKED. It's kind of an all-or-nothing splash zone.

This walrus was giant. And literally just bobbed up and down like a blubbery mass.

Lobster rolls for lunch

Flamingos go into trees!? I didn't know that, it was fun to see.

Seals are so fun to watch, they remind me of lab puppies.

And the cutest little otter does anything for food.

Jacob's happy face breakfast!

John was determined to make a peanut butter and jelly for his school lunch and no simple lid would get in his way.

Kathryn came into town for more dental work and Jim went with Diana and Katy to take her to the beach for a day of fun in all the crazy.

Meanwhile, I took the boys to Defy after school. Gotta get those wiggles out!

John loved being king of the mountain while his brothers pretended to get thrown across the play area.

Mango is everyone's best little friend.

When we had the gravel pit and a few trees put in, the landscapers mulched half of the yard! The kids were super happy about that haha. But we made sure they got plenty of fun as we continue to add mulch to the yard.

Just another peaceful scripture study.

Michael got his chance for a getaway a few weeks later. We drove down to Myrtle Beach and went to Wonderworks- a museum with a bunch of cool science stuff and rides.

It's weird to see the electricity hit your glove and feel nothing. Michael loves being dramatic.

This ride made you feel like you were on a roller coaster. She asked mike what level ride he wanted. He said the fastest and hardest. And he thoroughly enjoyed every second, while I enjoyed watching him lol.

Joe's Crab Shack was our lunch both days, it was so good!

Jim sent me a pic of Jake and John on their day off school- John changed into fresh pajamas for the day haha.

Mike loved this bike and went 360 as many times as he could in the ride.

Beautiful sunrise

We also went to Ripley's Aquarium, it was all decked out for St. Patrick's Day.

Cool creepy crabs

Penguins!

Mike posing with a pirate statue

We love lizards

Mike caught the "treasure" in the sand area.

More lizards!

We brought our bikes from home and finally got a great ride down the beach. It was too cold to play in the water, but a bike ride was a great way to enjoy the sand and surf.

Mike stopped a lot to find shells. He is so funny, he just loved finding cool, perfect shells.

The highlight for Michael was the knights show.

The show has changed a lot from when we saw it years ago. Lots more action and more talented knights.

Meanwhile, Jim sent me this pic of John who had finally convinced Jim to help him make this guitar.

One of the knights had horns and Mike was sure they stole the idea from Lloyd Alexander's books.

We had a super fun trip and enjoyed being together. These two trips I took with the boys were such a blessing to me as a mom to enjoy time with just them without anything else going on.

Meanwhile, while I was gone, Jim took Nicole to get her driving permit! Yay!