Happy Easter!

What a wonderful day!  We decided to check out 7:00am mass instead of 9:00.  I love our church and all that they offer for families and hte community - I don't love how long even a regular Sunday mass runs.  We knew there was no little church or children's literugy, so chances were pretty high it would be rough.  It was early - and we were a couple minutes late - but we made it!  Once we got home the kids had to hunt for their baskets. 

When Brian was growing up his dad always hid their Easter baskets - he likes to talk about the year that he didn't find it until Monday because his dad hid it up the chimney - so that has become one of our traditions.  It was actually pretty comical because each boy found a basket, but no one found their own.  Max found Jack's, Jack found William's, and William found Max's.  Once we got it all sorted otu they headed to the basement for an egg hunt since it was rainy out. 

 Max looks so grown up!  I just can't take it!

 William loves dressing up.  He was so excited to wear his very favorite fancy shirt and his new dress shoes. 

All three boys love silly faces.  Jack's face is supposed to be his surprised face - even though it looks more like a roar.

 AFter some quite time we headed over to Aunt Carm and Uncle Mike's house for some more fun - including the annual egg hunt in their back yard.  The kids were scoping out all the eggs from the steps as we took their picture - and everyone was talking about the egg on top of the chimney.  With a little help - Jack got to do the honors. 

 Jack was pretty proud of his egg collection.  He also had a blast with his godfather Tony.  Tony does a great job of making him fly like an airplane.  Jack talked about it for two days!

Another fabulous holiday in the books.  We are so grateful for these moments with our boys!

The Beach!

The last day and a half of our beach vacation finally warmed up enough for us to head to the beach!

 Thursday afternoon was chilly - we wore long sleeves and pants, but we thought the boys would at least be able to play in the sand.  We actually met friends from out elementary school and the big boys had a blast creating in the sand together.

 If I recall correctly the complex they build had five hot tubs :)

And a 'Golden Gate Bridge' that Max was super proud of!

 Friday we spent pretty much the entire day at the beach!  It was beautiful!  Still a bit chilly for swimming, but the boys were comfy in their suits for some sand/water play.

 The big shovels were a huge hit, until dad used a little too much force and broke one.

 I couldn't take enough pictures and as I look back they are just gorgeous!

 We are so grateful that Nonna joined us for the trip.  Everything is more fun with Nonna along :)

 Max had a blast digging the biggest hole ever!

I think he was pretty successful.  Toward the end of the boys digging, it was tough to get them out of the whole!

It was a great way to end a great vacation - and for the record this beach day was on March 17th.  I got all of the vacation posts up within my self imposed one month time limit - barely :)

Boats and Planes in Alabama

The Maritime Museum in Mobile was another great stop on our trip the entire place was super kid friends and had lots of hands on activities for everyone in the family.

 William got a kick out of this pirate scene - although I think Brian was really the one that liked it :)

One of the exhibits talked about how they retrieve items from the floor of the ocean.  You could even try out the robot arm yourself.  Max was so close to picking up a coin!

 The kids area was a huge hit.  William was ready to board a ship and all three boys thought that the green screen was pretty cool.

 Jack enjoyed moving all the sea creatures around on the magnetic wall, but his very favorite part of the entire place was this shipping container exhibit.  One would light up on the floor and he would have to jump on it.  As he did, a fact would appear on the wall for me to read.  I think we read every single fact they had - about four times :)

 One day we headed over to Pensacola to check out the National Naval Aviation Museum.  Jack was in awe of the giant lights and planes hanging from the ceiling.

Here the boys stand before a flight log that shows this plane was the very first plane former President George H Bush every flew.  I'm not sure the boys got it, but I thought that was pretty cool.

 The highlight of Jacks visit was this super cool little playground.  He explored it top to bottom for an hour, while dad and the big brothers checked out the other exhibit.  The museum is on a working naval base, so there were naval personnel everywhere.  I was glad that Jack was contained and I didn't have to chase him for a bit.

 All three boys got to check out the cockpit of a Blue Angels plane.   There are even sometimes air shows on the base!  No air show on the day we visited, but they all enjoyed pretending to fly.  I was just shocked that a full grown man would fit in that tiny little cockpit!