A Splash of April

April has included all kinds of weather

as well as all kinds of fun.  Here's a

sampling from the Loyd place.

In an after-Easter egg hunt, Bri removes
her boots before enjoying the "booty"
from Grandma's Easter eggs.  Hunter is
already snacking.

And our snack reminds us that the birds need to eat,
too.  Filling the feeders is a frequent task when the
children are here.

Hunter is very methodical.  He learned from the best
(Hint: not me).

Both Claire and Bri enjoy scooting
round and round our little house on
this yard sale bike.

Evan gives fair warning-- he's about
to blast our ears!

Hunter and Evan love to slide cassette tapes into
the player in my '73 Mercury station wagon.  It
doesn't matter that the battery's dead.  This car is
a favorite play spot and transports us to the beach,
the store, or even Santa's house.

Evan's ready to deliver a smack.  We're all about
hand-eye coordination around here.  Note the jackets
in some of these pictures.  April weather, like March,
was unpredictable.

BOOM!  Choka-loka

When we send our patriotic Claire and
Evan home, we're also saying goodbye to
Batman and Spiderman (two other superheroes).

We've got some new wind-up floating toys for the
stream and waterfalls.  Evan's about to let one fly.

But don't worry.  He'll use one of our yard-sale
lacrosse nets to retrieve it at the next bridge.

We're also working on fishing skills (of which I
possess NONE).  Evan and Claire catch on quickly.

Reeling it in means letting it slide down the pole.
Much safer than fishing with hooks!

Claire also loved this activity, but as you'll see in
a video in an upcoming video-only blog, she got
a much bigger kick out of making splashes, rain
showers, and fountains with her pole.

Evan and Grandma cool off by probing the sandy
bottom of the stream with their hands.  NO FEAR!

Here goes Turtle, plunging over the biggest waterfall.

Here he joins his friends Shark and Manatee in the
whirlpool until the kids rescue them.  And start all
over again.

Hunter tries another approach.  He's using a hockey
stick to snag one of these ring-shaped frisbees.  Not
as easy as it looks, but he did it.

We also celebrated two birthdays in April: Judy and
Brianna.  You'd have to be a super code-breaker to
decipher their ages on the cake (spoiler alert: the cake's
upside down).  Notice Hunter is poised to help with
the extinguishing of candles.

Bri is glowing with joy as a new four-year
old should be.  And she's also inviting you
to stay tuned for the next two blog posts.
I hope you will!