Cape Coral Adventure

We went on an adventure to Cape Coral, FL last week. And, it was with Grandma! The sun, fresh salty air, laughter, swimming, and togetherness was priceless. And while it was definitely hard without Grandpa, we enjoyed telling stories and remembering funny things about him. His spirit was very much alive with us throughout the week.

Uncle Dave helped us breeze right through the airport!

We spent much of the week in the backyard pool, fully enclosed by a screened in lanai.

Playing 'Pearl' one of their favorite made up pool games :)

In addition to our daily ice cream rule on vacation, we added daily swimming, and daily meals outside as well!

Kyle & the girls made good use of the backyard canal by fishing and kayaking. Grandma & I kept our distance thanks to a plethora of iguanas!

We also went to Sanibel Island beach, and the Cape Coral Yacht Club beach.

We hiked through a Mangrove Eco Preserve one morning.

And last, but not least, we did Grandpa's favorite vacation activity - we took in a Twins spring training game!

Hadley enjoyed a homework free week, and got in plenty of reading and star fruit eating.

Piper was also a book worm, and especially enjoyed playing in the waves at Sanibel Island.

Bryndel made sandcastles, AND lost her first tooth!!

It was a magical week. The perfect blend of fun and relaxation. Thank you, thank you Grandma, for the special week! We sure love you.

January Recap

I may be outgrowing this blog :) As soon as I have pictures for a new blog, we are off and running to the next event. What an exciting, exhilarating, and slightly busy time, ha! God has given us so many wonderful opportunities, and we could not be more blessed by this busy season of our family's life.

Hadley finished her basketball season, not without our first dose of politics, but many lessons were learned. She was the fastest and happiest kid on the court every single game, and we could not have been more proud!

We spent many weekend mornings snowshoeing & sledding at the land. Such a peaceful place for our family.

We got Paige & Luke out there one Sunday too!

We had the most glorious snowfall in January too. The kind that hung from the trees like frosting . It was spectacular! Like God had painted it all.

The month ended with Catholic Schools week and fun dress up days. I think Dad was smiling from heaven the day Hadley wore his fox hat to school!

The week came to it's celebratory end with the school's first ever spelling bee. The Anderson sisters took 1st & 2nd!! Hadley was a very gracious runner-up to her little sister who out-spelled the whole school as a 3rd grader (spelling words like dimension & heredity). What a fun start to the new year!