Happy Birthday, Kyrie! #10

Ten years!! Wow!! Our little girl is growing up! She has done so much, and still has so much ahead of her! We were happy to share a weekend all about her! Of course, we started the day with a birthday donut... and ended the day with cake and presents! The next day, we would share the birthday fun with our friends at a pool party! A great start to another exciting year with Kyrie! Thank you to all our family & friends who helped make Kyrie's birthday a special one! 

Kyrie's party cake! She chose a pony theme for her party this year. Everything turned out very well... 10 years of party practice is paying off! Ha! 

Kyrie's mint-chocolate cake for our family celebration.

Party Time! Some of our very favorite people came out to help us celebrate Kyrie's birthday! 

Easter

We had a peaceful & happy Easter this year! We visited the Easter Bunny with friends and a little window-shopping at the mall! Easter day was warm with lots of sunshine! The kids enjoyed dyeing eggs the night before (which I made into deviled eggs for our Easter supper). They had lots of eggs to find on Easter morning and filled the candy bowl with their sugary treasures! 

Oh Rats!

Sugar! Our biggest & oldest rat (by a month or so). She has a white belly that looks like she walked through sugar! 

The kids love spending time with our 4 pet rats whom we have had for about a year. They each have their own personality, are friendly and love attention. They also love food (especially treats) and being held! Kyrie is in charge of the care & keeping of her ratties and is a good 'mama,' though she sometimes has to be reminded about things like cleaning the cage. Most days, the kids take the rats out of the cage for some exercise and cuddles in the TV room. I took my camera in one day to try to get some pictures, which is very hard because the rats are very curious and rarely slow down. But here are a few pics we wanted to share!

Marshmallow, called Marshy, who always squeaks and likes to walk upside-down on the roof of the cage. She is #3.

Sugar always wants attention and loves to give kisses.

Cookie who can be a little shy, except when it comes to tackling her sisters to give them baths. She is #2

Lollipop, called Lolly, who is the youngest, shyest & most calm of  the rats. She is very sweet!

Marshy is considered Degen's rat, but Kyrie still provides all her care.

Look at this sweet, ratty-face!

More kisses from Sugar! These ratty-girls love Kyrie & treats!

Newport Aquarium 2016

We always enjoy the opportunity to visit the Newport Aquarium near Cincinnati! This year the place was packed, so we got ahead of the crowds and then circled back through the exhibits after lunch. We tried out the new "Shark Bridge," an enclosed, suspension bridge over the shark tank, which the kids enjoyed. This is a fun, family day that helps break up our routine a bit!