the beginning of spring break

Yep... I wasn't done posting pictures with that last post. I took so many pictures! Believe it or not, I have picked out my favorites.On our second day we went to the state park where Ryan proposed to me 5 years ago. Though we didn't go the actual spot, we did enjoy the wild life of the beautiful park. We went in search for some alligators and found 2! I unfortunately didn't have my camera with when we got out of our car at that spot. First we just saw a female and then a male came swimming up and they both went off into the marsh. A lady told us that they were going to their nest full of babies (we could hear them).

Then we went to the dock where the fisherman dock their boats and clean their fish. We got there just at the right time- the end of the day when the boats come in. The pelicans have it on their schedule. They come for the cleaning scraps. You can see the trail of birds swimming in this picture.
my mom, the Hollywood star.
Here you see my dad at the cleaning table faking the birds out. They gathered all around the table- right up close to us.

We can never pass a playground up.
Dennis is so strong and agile. We should really get him into gymnastics.
Dennis went from standing on the ledge above the bar that he is hanging from (in the next picture) straight to hanging from the bar. He just reached down and stepped off the ledge. I was shocked! He even did it again. I was impressed with the strength it required to lower his whole body down without dropping from the bar.

We went to another children's play which ended up being the same play! Dennis still loved it the second time.
We had a picnic again while watching "the cat and the river rat".

best pals







Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We had a great time.

spring break part 2 in pictures

I always love going to the condo. The beach is so perfect. Not many people are ever in front of my parents place. The sand is like sugar and the water is such a pretty blue. My dad goes walking 5 miles everyday along the beach. I went with him a couple of times but never made it all the way.

The kids loved to play in the "river".

Here is Grandma with Zola.
Ryan, Brad and I tried out the boogie boards.





naptime
Getting ready to go to the concert in the park. (check out Jude in the background with a waffle house hat)

Concert number 1.
Eloise and Dennis ran around the field many many times. He got pretty tired.

I love my camera... check out this picture of Brad and Jude.
I just love holding Zola. I sure miss her while I am at work.
Here is the whole gang.
Zola loves her Grandma. During the concert they exchanged smiles.

A while later... and after a few more laps around the field... the two made it back to our blanket hand in hand. Too cute.
Totally exhausted.




3/21
The only snaps I got at the pool. I guess he was done swimming.

Picnic on the balcony
concert number 2
Zola was lovin her Grandpa during this concert.
We had a quiche and pizza picnic
the band
Our last morning we went for a walk to get donuts for breakfast. Those donuts were so delish! I got the peaches and cream donut and it was to die for. I think I will get it again next time I crash in Panama City Beach.

What a good trip.

the match

Match day was Friday, March 16th. It was pretty crazy. All of Ryan's classmates crammed into a small auditorium and one by one went up on the stage to open an envelope telling them where they would be going to residency. We were so happy to find out that we would be headed back to Minnesota after his intern year here is St. Louis. He matched in Radiation Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

It will be super nice to be only an hour and a half away from my parents and a couple of hours away from all of my siblings. Ryan really loved the Mayo Clinic when he spent a month there this past year. He loves the caliber of Frisbee players. He loves the size of the town (very similar to Idaho Falls where he grew up). I don't have an opinion of the town yet since I have only driven through it a couple of times. We are excited for the change but are really going to miss our life here in St. Louis.

See a picture of us here.

bath time with grandma

We headed back to the condo for another week.

3/17- Here is Zola taking a bath in Grandma's sink. Isn't she beautiful!