April 2018

Easter Egg Hunt

Kari and Nate's family came over and we did an Easter Egg hunt with them in the backyard.  The kids gathered over 50 hard boiled eggs. It was quite the treat.  

Rise of the Garden
We have officially started the garden.  Here's Zade planting some thornless rasberries we purchased.  In addition, we've planted blueberries, strawberries, snap peas, red peppers, and hope to plant some pumpkins and corn soon. 

It's been a major undertaking getting the garden to this point.  We've been doing a ton of weeding to clear out all the prior plants that used to be in the garden area. 

Spring is officially here.  A few pictures from our yard.

Aria celebrated her Bday with some friends at USGA, where they enjoyed doing some quality tumbling.

Here's her new dance/tumbling leotard.  She's excited.

Spring Break

Florida

For Spring Break this year we headed to Florida, where we got to spend time with Tara's parents and siblings, and my sister's family.  Here are some of the highlights. 

Orlando Temple

On Sunday we found a church near the temple and took the kids to see the temple grounds.  It was beautiful. 

Seaworld

One of the kids favorite rides was "Atlantis" (pictured in the background).  There were hardly any lines the day we went and the kids went on it over and over again.

Probably the best show we saw was the dolphin show.  My favorite part was watching one of the trainers have two dolphins push him around the arena, with one of his feet on each of their noses.  As they went around the pool they spun like a corkscrew.  It was pretty amazing.

We also went to the killer whale show and sat in the splash zone.  Ryzen got a little more than he bargained for. :)

Aquatica

Stephen talked Tara and I into going down one of the big water slides at Aquatica.  It turned out to be more fun than it looked, and Aria and Zade went down it too. :)

Everyone enjoyed going down the lazy river.  

Busch Gardens

The kids favorite ride was the serpent ride (shown below).

Discovery Cove

Tara and Zade did a dolphin encounter, where they got to go dolphin-back-riding.

Here's the moment I caught Tara cheating on me. :)

The rest of us just snorkeled around the water in our wet suits.

Epic McD

We found what is apparently the largest entertainment McDonalds in the world.  It was over two stories with a huge play place.

Disney Springs

Pirate Cove Mini Golf

Zade's Bday

We couldn't help but celebrate Zade's Bday again. :)

Anniversary

Tara and I went to the Melting Pot to celebrate 15 awesome years of marriage. 

Gator Farm

We then drove up from Orlando to Jacksonville and visited my sister Annette's family. They took us to a gator farm.  

Apparently there are albino gators.

Here's where the feeding frenzy happens. But to stoke the fire, they began feeding rats to the gators.

Mindler's Beach

We also went to the ocean near Jacksonville.  The water was somewhat warm, so the kids enjoyed going boogie boarding.

Back in Oregon

For Easter the kids found their baskets and then went on a hunt for Hershey's kisses. 

They then began feasting on their candy as we watched General Conference. :)

Other Misc. Photos.

Here's Tara with her little Subway buddy. On a weekly basis they head over there and "eat fresh". :)