Tornado Warnings....

On April 28th around sunrise time we had some strong weather coming our way.....there were tornado warnings all around us and that's all they were covering on the news.....I went outside during the warnings and snapped a few pictures. I know I probably should've been seeking cover in the basement with the kids but I wasn't....they were all upstairs sleeping in their beds and I was watching the news coverage....most of the warnings were a little north of us.

Here's what the sky looked like north of us....
And here's what it should've looked like....looking south!

The crazy thing is that the very next morning around the same time there was coverage on every station of the royal wedding.....it's a good thing the tornado warnings were a day earlier because I'm not sure how the major stations would've handled the situation if the tornado warnings had been happening the same day as the royal wedding.....

Easter 2011

We got all dressed up and went to church on a beautiful April morning! All the kids...
The fam....

And individual shots...Carson...

...Jason...man, they're growing up fast!

....and Madison....

and one last group shot....

After the Zoo....

....the kids enjoyed the sprinkler....

Trip to the National Zoo

On April 19th we trekked down to the National Zoo in DC...we've begun to make this an annual trip over Matt's spring break from the school system....we go early (arriving by 9) so that we can avoid the crowds and the heat! We park at the bottom of the zoo and make our way up the steep hills so that the later part of our trip can be downhill.....less whiny kids! :) We were eating lunch by 10:30....and then had ice cream treats before we left at 12:30 or so.

One of the first animals we saw....prarie dog....good morning!

A quick stop to climb on the monkey statues.

Madison doing her impression of a gorilla.

And now for the real ones! Baby and Dad? collecting their breakfast.

A great close up.

The elephant exhibit (new)....yes you can "peek in their poop" (sort of).

A panda enjoying mid-morning snack....bamboo.

And yes even squirrels at the zoo....this one wasn't caged and the kids were enjoying sharing their lunch!

And just in case you thought Jackson stayed at home....nope!

The lion tribe....their are like 8 cubs up there with mom and dad on the right. Notice how mom is keeping her eye on the cubs and all the visitors while Dad is sleeping....how typical!

And a lone tiger basking in the sun.

And one last pose by the waterfall before heading home.

Jackson....3 1/2 months

Madison loved the opportunity to sit in the bath with Jackson and help bathe him....
One of his first walks outside in the stroller....

And hanging out in the big chair....

Grammy Visits....April 2011

Grammy couldn't stay away too long...Jackson was going to be 3 months so she just had to come back...and we wanted to attend the Covenant Life Youth Musical Godspell....

Carson and her enjoy a moment reading!
Jackson is thrilled she's here.

Jason shows off his puzzle skills.

And Jackson is still happy she's here....snapping all these pictures.

And Carson proves he can keep up with Jason.....look at that crazy hair.

Jason is very into his coloring!

And Madison is more distracted by the camera.

And Jackson is becoming concerned about what all these flashes are going to do to his eyesight!

But then he's assured that it won't cause any problems.

A rare moment...all kids in the picture.

Before girls night out....dinner and a musical. (well, Jackson did tag along)

Before church....and baby dedication Sunday.

And there we were....on stage and on the big screen....perhaps I would've smiled had I known!

This may be the only one of it's kind....me with all the kids (and they're all looking at the camera, sort of).

And they actually stayed put for another picture with Grammy....we must have bribed them with something!