Eli's 14th Birthday!

He's a "real" teen!

This was the first year in Eli's life that he slept in on his birthday.

We only have Dunkin' Donuts here, but a Boston cream and glazed donut are Eli's favorite.

His first present was 'Beat Saber' on VR.

Fun Fact: Eli's favorite artist is Eminem

Then he opened presents.

Legos are still life around here.

Then we headed to Chick-fil-A for lunch.

We usually put in a mobile order while we're driving down, since it's a good 20 minutes and then it's ready for us when we get there.  Somehow I glitched something while ordering and accidentally ordered 8 fries!  Good thing we love their fries :)

As tradition now, we went to Dave N' Busters afterwards.

However, this time we were a little mad a Dave N' Busters, as they've doubled their prices!  

The rest of the afternoon was spent building Legos while jammin' out to Eminem.

Unfortunately, it was another birthday that Alison had to work and she missed going to the dumpling house again.  If you want to see Eli really happy, you take him here and get him some dumplings and a hot pot.

Ben and Eli stayed up late finishing this Lego set from Dune and adding lights to it.

(Ben's watching a video on how to install the lights)

Happy Birthday Eli!  I cannot tell you how much we love you!!!

If you're wondering...

What Ben's been up to...well, he's been busy!

He finished his dissertation!

We'll have a graduation party May 4th, but I still had to document the day that it was printed and mailed off.  Hmm, I'm not sure the correct order of the titles, but very soon it will Doctor Reverend Lieutenant Commander Chaplain Shear.

Also, he's put his new birthday gifts to good use and created some videos of his hikes.  He's gone a few recently while traveling for work.  You can check out his youtube page here, but here is his most recent video.

Happy Easter!

The Friday before Easter, we dyed eggs.

Life right now:

This is a weird stage of life that I wasn't quite prepared for.  The kids are old enough to help me make the dye and I don't worry about spills or messes, but then words like 'Fart' appear on my pretty eggs.

Easter morning, the kids found baskets.  I think it may be time to get bigger baskets...

Colin helped me make deviled eggs while I made sourdough bagels.

(p.s. Colin is amazing at making deviled eggs.  He has been known to make them for a snack.)

We had brunch before heading to church.

    

For the record, I was wearing very tall heels and that is the only reason you can see my head.  Colin is growing like a weed and is just a hair shorter than me...which will mean I will be the shortest in the family very, very soon.

And also, sorry to Alison for holding your waist so tight, making your shirt look weird.  I just love you too much!

After church, we enjoyed the rare sunny day and took Maya for a walk.  Then some guitar playing happened and after dinner we all played a game.

Poppy's visit

Rick watched the boys' basketball practice and then they played a little more when they got home.

I was in my room for a minute and walked out to see this:

Rick playing VR was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

That night, we went to hear the Porch Pickers play at a St. Patrick's day party.

 

Ben's 41st birthday!

After a run together, we opened presents

Eli got Ben a vintage Lego set

Then we went to the mall for a little bit.  Ben got some new clothes and got a pretzel with Eli.

Rick came to town that afternoon and we went to the dumpling house down the street for dinner

Unfortunately this was our first birthday celebration missing someone...Alison had to work and missed dinner and dessert.  BUT she did come with me to Dessertino the day before and helped pick out the variety of cheesecake.

(Eli is showing Poppy his new yo-yo tricks in the background)

 

Shear's take on NYC

We all took the train to the city.  Our first unexpected adventure was finding parking at the train station.

We eventually made it and were SO thankful that a friend from church let us borrow this lightweight double stroller.  It saved our day.

First stop, American Girl Store!

I was surprised how massive this store is!  Literally every doll you could imagine is in this 2 story store, along with a cafe, hair salon and place to customize your own doll.

Alison's dreams were made when Aunt Amanda told her to pick out a doll for herself.

After lunch, we went to the Central Park Zoo.

Watching the sea lions swim and jump around was the perfect little resting spot for us.

This is real life with a middle school son:

On our way back to the train, we stopped for snack of empanadas.

Grand Central Station

When we got home, it was time to open Nikki, which I found completely fitting for a New York purchase.