Easter Eggs, Brunch, and Babies

Today I got to spend time with some of my favorite people.  Every time our sorority clan gets together, I am overjoyed and amazed at how we can all come together and hang out like we did 10 years ago in college.  Granted, our family has grown a bit.  The scary thing is that the children almost outnumber the adults at this point!  That is what makes it even more exciting and fun though.  I love seeing how our children play together, and I hope someday they become as close as we are.  That could be a challenge, because while many of us live in St. Louis, not all of us do.  Even today when we had people in from the east and west coasts, we were missing a few sisters that live out of town. 

This may sound weird, but I honestly think the women in our ever-growing clan are the most amazing, fun, and downright cool people I know.  Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky to be able to hang out with them.  I could probably sit here for hours writing about the amazing things that I see in each one of them.  While that is extremely tempting right now (said in all seriousness, with no sarcasm), if you've spent any amount of time with me, you've probably heard me rave at one point or another about any number of these amazing women.  So, I will refrain for your sake.

At this point, you are probably wondering what prompted this Phi Mu lovefest.  Well, our giant, crazy Phi Mu family converged this morning for an Easter weekend brunch and Easter egg hunt at the park across the street from our house.  We ate, talked, passed around babies, laughed, and watched the older kids hunt for eggs.  Before we knew it, 4 hours had gone by, and we were all a little sunburnt!    I am sure I don't have the best photos from the day, but here are a few of the ones I captured that just make me smile.

 

Botanical

This afternoon, we managed to get in a visit to the Missouri Botanical Garden between spring showers.  The kids had a good time walking around and looking at the flowers.  For both, however, I think the children's garden was the favorite. I tried to get some nice photos of the kids in front of the blooming flowers; instead, I got some priceless snapshots that really show their personalities.  Here are the pictures along with my captions for each moment. I hope they make you smile!

Le Fount de Audrey

 

 How far can I get before she stops me?

Cover Shot...and Barrett's Photo Bomb

Siblings (Need I say more?)

Taking a break

 

Barrett can either smile, or look at the camera, but he would not do both at the same time.

 

 

 

Coast to Coast

The past week has been a crazy one in the Nance household.  Billy and I were on separate coasts while the children stayed put in the Midwest.  

Those pictures were seriously taken in the past 5 days by a resident of our household.  Billy left Sunday and was supposed to be home Wednesday from California.  I was to leave Wednesday and come home Thursday from Washington, DC.  Billy got delayed an extra day, so his parents stepped in to watch the kids while I was gone. 

As stressed as I was in the moment when I found out Billy wouldn't be home Wednesday, I was still able to stop and smell the roses...well, cherry blossoms actually.  My meeting was in a building right next to where the cherry blossom festival was going on; so, after it was over, I went for a stroll and acted like a tourist for a while. 

Billy also found some time for fun on his trip.  In fact, he called up one of my sorority sisters that lives in San Francisco and went out to dinner with her one night. 

In moments like this, I sometimes can't believe this is my life.  I am so blessed in so many ways.  It is pretty unreal.  That doesn't mean I don't get stressed to the point of tears when I don't know how I am going to care for my children because my husband and I have work trips at the same time (that totally happened on Tuesday night).  We are so lucky to have parents nearby that bail us out and alleviate that stress. 

Thursday night when we were all home together again, it was almost heavenly.  Barrett still wouldn't stay in his chair during dinner, and Audrey whined about pretty much everything, but Billy and I didn't care.  It was so good to be home, and even better to be together as a complete family unit again. 

5 Years Old

Audrey's fifth birthday started with a bang...well, really it was more of a WOOOOO.  Around 5:20 this morning, the tornado sirens pulled us from our sleep, and we started Audrey's birthday huddled under blankets in the basement blinking our eyes awake.  It wasn't until we were back upstairs and I was starting to get ready for work that I remembered what day it is.  Audrey's birthday! 

Even with the crazy start, Audrey didn't care.  She was so excited that it was her birthday, so she made her bed and dressed herself before I even had to ask.  It is so amazing how much she can do on her own these days!  The quilt might be a bit crooked and the pillows might be lopsided, but she is so proud of herself that I can't burst her bubble.  I am so proud that she tries and doesn't complain about doing things for herself! 

After a school day full of cards from friends and princess cupcakes, I picked her up.  She had told her teachers that she wanted to go to Bread Company for dinner (St. Louis Bread Co).  That was fortunate for her, because there is a Bread Co on the Delmar Loop, which is where we were headed for her birthday surprise.  I told her we had to run an errand, but we had loaded her bike in the back of my car. We took her to Big Shark Bike Shop, and she got to trade in her old bike for a new one.  She was so surprised and excited; I honestly don't think I have ever seen her so speechless. 

While she had Bread Co on her mind, her dad persuaded her to dine at another popular Loop establishment with the offer of a birthday float.  So, we went to Fitz's for dinner and the biggest root beer float I have ever seen.  I was glad they brought enough spoons and straws for all of us, because we definitely had to share. 

 

On our drive home, the bad weather returned, and the tornado sirens followed us home.  Audrey had a chance to try out her new bike riding around the basement while we waited out the storm.  Her day started and ended with focus on the weather, but she made the best of it.  On the way up to bed, her dad grabbed her a piece of hail out of the yard, which she decided to eat.  Her conclusion was that the root beer float tasted better.