Stay-cation Spring Break.

It rocked.

We had rain almost every day.

We didn't care.

Larry and I have spent the first three days back to the normal work-school routine missing our girl, for sure.

We had a huge Easter Egg Hunt with all of our Old Orchard families the day before Easter - about 90 people there, in all!

We had a little breakfast with Old State Line to re-fuel before heading off to celebrate Addy's fourth birthday!

Look at all that cuteness!

Aunt Kay sent a special delivery in the mail, and Ella read it cover to cover.

We did a special Easter manicure.

Ella rocked out her Grandma-made Easter dress. Christ rose from the dead and she apparently was feeling a little sassy about that.

We went to my brother Greg's house after Ah-men where he did not disappoint with his masterful Easter Egg Hunt.

It felt soooooo good to do this. We spent extra time cuddling and 'resting' (translation: I rested, she did not) with our relaxed schedule. 

Ella got to hook up with her neighbor buds on Tuesday morning.

She fell asleep HARD every night.

Our awesome zoo just unveiled the new and improved aquarium. Woah! We ventured out on a cold, rainy day with Piper, Oliver and their grown ups. No crowds!

We had to hit the Parakeet Retreat before leaving, so yeah, this was me.

And then lunch at an incredibly greasy spoon downtown where the mural was as good as the food.

More rain on Thursday but it didn't stop us from traveling to the Detroit Institute of Art for the awesome Kahlo/Rivera exhibit.

The rain stopped that evening, sun came out briefly then the tornado sirens screeched. Spring is here!

On Saturday, we had Roz over for the day so that her grown ups could get stuff done as they prep for their move (CLOSER TO US!!!). We spent the entire day outside working in the yard and playing.

In an effort to squeeze in a last bit of stay-cation fun, Ella and I hit the Art-o-matic event downtown Saturday evening where Larry was playing with the band.

And last but not least, was our book signing bash for our church friend, Olga. It was a packed house complete with Cuban music (compliments of Larry and Spencer).

My camera was smoking hot by the time Sunday came to a close. I left the book signing to photograph our friends' daughter for her senior pictures. It was a lovely day to be at our awesome art museum, even though my body was fifty kinds of tired.

Our girl...trooper...best third-wheel ever. It may not have been the beach in sunny Florida but dang if we didn't try to make it a good time. She was happy to go back to school and see her cool classmates and teacher. She also knows we are on the homestretch now - counting the weeks for summer break!

~H

Holy Week, are we ready for a break!

We are in the thick of Holy Week with Jesus Christ Superstar being played more, more discussions about last suppers and why Good Friday means no one goes to school. What a delicate balance for us as we steer through explaining our beliefs and also including information on other faiths.

It made getting her grade card even better this week:

When tested, she spelled the word good as God, capital G and everything. I hope she never forgets that God of ALL is just that - good.

Last night, Ella looked me square in the eye and said, "The Easter Bunny isn't real, is he? Someone does not dress up in a bunny suit and bring me candy in a basket while I'm sleeping. You do that...right?"

Thanks, Ella!!! You aren't even 6 years old yet! I was honest. I told her we did it all. She was so relieved that some freakish person dressed up in fur wasn't breaking into her home. She did promise to keep her mouth shut and not tell any of her friends. Santa is up next and I'm quite surprised she hasn't put two and two together on that one.

Larry has had a pretty active gig schedule with the band. Although Ella doesn't like it when he's gone, she does like getting to hang out in bed with me until he gets home.

So I see a lot of this. And I can't help myself because I think she is a stunning girl who is even more beautiful when she's sleeping.

Saturday morning, we got to meet up with my friend Samantha and her family. Sam (always Sam to me) and her husband adopted Drew and its been a special bond that brought us back together. We had a great visit with them. You can also see that Drew had fun with the selfie remote!

We even got to get all dressed up and stuff on Saturday night and be non-parents for the annual Arts Commission fundraiser. It was made even better by having some of my neighborhood mamas with me this year.

Thomas embracing Palm Sunday.

Roz and Ella hanging out on a perfect Sunday.

Yesterday was incredible just-warm-enough-to-break-a-sweat weather. Ella spent a lot of time bossing and supervising me. She changed into her red high heel sparkle shoes and grabbed an umbrella so that she could watch.

Our skin was pink and tingly from the sun. After five months of snow on the ground (or something pretty close to that), I could have cared less about sunburn. The Vitamin D infusion was more important!

We are looking forward to a break from school and work and schedules and early wake ups and packed lunches this week. Although we have no far-away plans for Spring Break, we do have some pretty wonderful tricks up our sleeves for day trips.

Happy Easter, Ella-Land!!!