Julia First Communion

Julia was the center of attention for a day. Yes, she was excited. Yes, there was plenty of sugar. Yes, we were tired by 6:45pm.

Grandma and Grandpa

Grandad

First communion friends

Godfather, Uncle Z

Super excited to open gifts

 

Passed out at 6:45pm on the new Unicorn Pillow

 

Please Mom, Can We

The girls gang up to try to get their way. Please can we have a play-date!

Girls working on their puppy-dog look

 

Splat R Ball Repair

The fairly expensive Splat R Ball gun pictured below worked for about 1 week before jamming. Since RJ was sick and there was nothing else to do, we decided to take it apart to see if we could fix it.

After removing 16 screws, inspecting the wires, and noticing that the wires got hot when the trigger was pulled we took out the white power mechanism and noticed two things (pictured).

1. A random staple was located inside the gun. Not sure how that got there during the manufacturing process.
2. Behind the staple is the motor that seized up. After manually spinning the aperture an 1/8 a turn, the gun started working.

So we put it back together. Shot some diet coke cans and the motor randomly seized up again. Cheap stuff from China. Sigh.

RJ and the Stomach Bug

After a full day of sports on Saturday, we thought that RJ had just overdone it. Unfortunately it turned out to be a bit more serious ... with a fever and an upset stomach.

We knew things were serious when RJ did not finish a can of Sprite, eat cookies/treats from the neighborhood Spring Fling, and say he was too tired to play video games.

After church RJ spent most of the day on the couch

Girls Second Grade Soccer

After 3 years of watching RJ play sports, Julia participated in her first game. Her team was mostly friends from St. Agnes.

Julia (#10) in her first game 

Julia contributed 3 goals in a 4-3 win against purple. Although the credit for one of the goals belonged to Charlie who got it within 4 inches of the goal. Additional credit goes to Doug for selecting a stellar soccer number (10) for Julia to wear.

Getting ready to go back in

 

Spring Break Fun

 A late Easter plus a heat wave allowed the spring breakers to have water fun without going south.

RJ and Bradley toss a Frisbee through the sprinkler while Julia runs through it.

Kids built a water slide with a slip-and-slide extension. 

Fairy Garden Paint Job

It was time to paint the dilapidated fairy garden house. 

First you need to spray it clean

The you get Sara to paint it (and pretend you are helping)

What a Yoyo

Saturday before Easter, we expanded the garden. All day long RJ checked for the arrival of his non-responsive yoyo. Every time a truck drove by hopes went up ... and down.

12 hours later we were almost done

 

During Easter, the yoyo finally arrived.

The next day, RJ played with it enough to break it ... cheap aluminum connector ... but Sara got a good video of the Yoyo (not referring to RJ) in action.

 

Hopefully the company will replace the defective part ... then RJ can check the front door every 5 seconds again.

Easter 2023

Cousin Bruce and Cousin John celebrated Easter with us this year! 

Nice pic ... except Doug holding that golf ball

A more typical family photo

 

Lunch with Cousin John, Bruce, Laura, and Granddad

 

Julia golfs in dress, RJ golfed in a suit

 

We played some backyard golf and then we watched the Masters. We dressed better than the pros. Augusta national was slightly more scenic than our back yard.

 

Easter egg hunt

 

St. Agnes Father Daughter Dance

 Prior to the dance, Julia said "Dad, it's going to be a bunch of girls screaming and running around." 

After the dance I can confirm the validity of that statement.

Ye old photo booth pictures