Winter blasts and Springtime fun

We had a pretty mild winter this year. I recall only one major snow storm. The kids got to stay home from school that day and play in the snow. They always enjoy that. Ally got to really know what snow is like and seemed to enjoy it. It was very cold, but lots of fun.

Here are our beautiful "snow angels"!

Ally loves to pose for the camera these days! We can't help but think she's the most adorable toddler in the world!

Here's our little "Ally-cat"!

Jessica has lost 4 teeth already. This is after her 4th front tooth fell out in March.

One of Ally's favorite things to do is have someone read her a story. Both older sisters are always happy to oblige.

Recently the kids had Spring Break and Brian's vacation overlapped two days so we took a family day trip to New York. We've been there a number of times but we have never gone to Ellis Island or the Statue of Liberty. So we ordered ferry tickets, parked in New Jersey and took the ferry to both Ellis Island and Liberty Island. It was a great experience to see such a grand part of our history. We didn't have a lot of time to see very much of Ellis Island since we had to get to Lady Liberty by 3:30 or we couldn't go in. When we got to the Lady, we were able to hike up the 160+ stairs in the pedestal. The girls were troopers. Brian carried Ally part of the way and then handed her off to Julie. What a difference that was! It was much tougher to carry her up the stairs, which just goes to show how out of shape we are! YIKES! Anyway, despite the wind and chill we enjoyed the view from the top of the pedestal and the whole trip in general. And the girls did great! No complaining at all! That was a miracle in and of itself!

We actually bought Easter dresses and shoes this year. We found matching dresses for Jessica and Ally at Costco. Unfortunately they don't sell Courtney's size there so she was out of luck (although she didn't see it that way. She was a bit relieved.) The Easter bunny filled baskets with a little bit of candy, including "Reester Bunnies" (Reese's pb bunnies...I loved that marketing idea!) and certain Webkinz stuffed animals that the girls have been wanting for a while now. Courtney wanted a reindeer (wrong holiday, I know), and Jessica wanted a turtle. They love Webkinz...they each have 5 now, I believe.

Courtney may have lucked out in not having to match with a sister for Easter, but we bought these matching outfits at Old Navy that were so adorable. She didn't mind this time because she wanted it so much and didn't care whether Jess got one or not. So she did and they both looked so adorable. Nice little Spring outfit.
We took a walk one day when the weather got up to 70+. The flowers were out...we think our favorites are the daffodils. But the tulips are nice too. It did get cold and rainy the next few days so Spring is still teasing us, but I'm sure it will be here soon!