Chicago

At the beginning of May I took a quick trip to visit Elise before she left Chicago. We did a lot in the few days that I was there.

The first day was nonstop!  We stopped at a yummy bakery first off, then the nature museum, and after dinner we visited the Art Institute.

I really enjoyed the Art Institute!  My history classes at BYU were focused around music and art. 
I had seen many of the pieces of art in my books but seeing them in person was incredible!  It was definitely a huge difference from a small, flat image in a text book.

We went down to Chinatown to look for souvenirs.  I had to get a picture of Alexander St.  for my own Alexander.

I think my kids would really love walking around Chinatown... there was so much to see.

Even though Elise lives just down the street from the White Sox stadium I had to stop by Wrigley Field for my Cubs fans at home.

We played at a really fun park with awesome slides!  They were so long and fast!

The view of the city was incredible.

We also stopped by the "bean" and walked around for a while.

That night we got the best Chicago-style pizza.  It was so, so delicious!

The next morning Elise and Austin took me to their favorite donut place in town, the Donut Vault and then we headed to the Children's Museum and Navy Pier.

In the evening we stopped for some authentic  Chicago Italian lemonade.

They turned Buckingham Fountain on that weekend so we stopped by after church.

It was a fun, quick trip and I'm so glad that Elise and Austin showed me some fun sites in the city! 

Book of Mormon

Alexander finished reading the Book of Mormon!  He has been our most eager reader yet.  He'd read on his own, he always knew what was going on in the narrative, and he would read a whole page sometimes before letting mom or dad have a turn.  He loved it and was so proud to finish!

Random April

Some of the random April happenings in the Crane household...


Rich bought a small pop-up tent for the boys to use on campouts.  We wanted to make sure that William would be able to fold it back up so we got it out.  Lydia was obsessed with it and everyone had a fun time playing inside.  The boys even had a living room campout one night.

Rich took William to his first General Priesthood Session.  Afterwards they ate dinner at In-n-Out.

We found out through Henry's kindergarten teacher that Koo Koo Kangaroo would be at a fundraiser for another elementary school here in Vegas.  We have been listening to their music since before Henry was born so we jumped on the chance to watch them live.  It was really so much fun!

James had a field trip to the Smith Center so he got all dressed up.  I love that our school makes the effort to have culturally enhancing fieldtrips.

Lydia decided it was a really fun thing to suck on her toes when she didn't have her pacifier.  So gross!

I was able to go with William (and the rest of the youth from the ward) on a temple trip.  Including the leaders we had over 80 people in attendance!  It is incredible!!

I took the boys to see the new Beauty and the Beast movie.  They all thought it was great!  It's been a while since they've seen the animated version so we borrowed it and were able to watch that as well.

James has an amazing primary teacher (who happens to be our neighbor).  She has been making an effort to do service projects with them throughout the year.  In April they "egg-ed" the bishop's house (with notes and candy-filled eggs) and then rode their bikes to the gas station for a treat.

And I finally hung pictures in the loft!  I've been waiting until I painted it and I'm pretty happy with it.  I think I have a few more pictures I'd like to add though.

Easter Fun

We had a great Easter.  Lydia found a bunny costume in our costume basket and insisted on wearing it all over the place.  She was the cutest little Easter Bunny.

She really wanted to wear it to the ward Easter Egg Hunt.  She is seriously adorable!

During Spring Break Alex taught us how to dye eggs with cool whip.  The boys thought it was fun and yummy.

Easter morning I found Lydia hiding in the guest room closet.  I actually noticed the markers with no lids scattered around the room before I saw her curled in a ball.  When I finally saw her and her face she whispered so softly, "Sorry, Mommy.  Sorry Mommy."  Luckily it all came off.

I'm so glad that we could celebrate the resurrection of Christ and the hope it gives to all of us.  I hope I conveyed that message to my children and the significance of this holiday.

Spring Break

We had a wonderful and much needed spring break!  Alex loves to play the most complicated games that we own which means we don't always have the time to set them up and play them.  First thing Monday morning he asked if we could play Risk.  It was the perfect way to start off our Spring Break because we had all the time in the world!

We found out that the aquarium was doing special early hours for members only.  It was so nice to get there an hour before anyone else!  We saw everything we wanted to see before all the crowds got there!  It was perfect! (I sure hope they do this a few times during the summer.)

Since the last time we went they've opened a little playground outside as well.  We explored and played until the bird cages were ready to open.

One day we headed to the Springs Preserve and went to the new area again.  It's such a fun new exhibit.

Alex loves to go to the nature exchange.  This time he traded in some of his points for a sand dollar.

We even did a science experiment with eggs.  We let the eggs sit in vinegar for a few days and it was cool to see how the shell was dissolved!

Lydia just loved having her brothers home every day.  Throughout the day she would look and me and exclaim, "The guys are home!"  She misses them when they are gone.

She really loved playing with all her babies too.

The Easter Bunny stopped by our house on Saturday.

We played at the park and our neighbors were there too.  Lydia just loves their dog, Cuddles.  She even shared her water with him.

James climbed the tree at the park.

It really was a nice, mellow Spring Break and has me really excited for the summer!

Nevada Citizenship Awards

James worked hard to earn the Nevada Citizenship Award this year.  They held a special assembly to honor those who had put in the effort to earn this award.

Because James was the first from his class to finish the requirements he was asked to be part of the play the students put on to show off their knowledge.  It was really fun to watch him!  (I'm really sad that my videos turned out fuzzy... I'll have to ask around to see if anyone else got better video)