April highlights {school carnival, solar eclipse, signs of spring, soccer}

1) the first annual school carnival. our school is only three years old, and this year has seen tremendous growth in social events and community-building activities outside of school! with our work schedules and the littlest ones, we aren't able to volunteer and help with the planning as much as I would like to in a future season of life, but we so enjoy participating in these events and appreciate the hard work it takes to pull them off! 

the carnival was set up with a dozen different old school arcade-style games and stations, including a firetruck and police motorcycle. the kids got their game card stamped at each spot and after their game card was filled up, they could trade the card in at the candy bar and fill up a treat bag to take home. I thought this was a genius way to get the kids motivated to try different games or things they might not have gravitated towards at first, and it also made sure that kids weren't filling up multiple bags of candy!

several of the 8th grade girls volunteered at the face painting station. they did a great job!

E's first time in a big bounce house! she was absolutely in her element

2) Monday, April 8, the Feast of the Annunciation and the solar eclipse! Pittsburgh was slated to experience 97% totality. this was the topic of intense debate in the community, both online and in real life. several of the local school districts canceled school or arranged early dismissal for fear of eye damage if kids were looking at the eclipse unprotected. on the flip side, I'd read that anything less than 100% was really not that spectacular. we could have driven just 90 minutes northwest to experience a total eclipse (or up to see our friends in Erie, two hours north, which was also in the path of totality). but it would have meant pulling the girls from school and they were already going to miss 3 days for Disney later in the month. plus the forecast was for clouds and possible rain, and Nick was working out of town, so I didn't want to drive all that way solo with the kids if we weren't going to be able to see anything. since the eclipse was slated to be visible from our area just 15 minutes after school dismissal, I decided to pick the girls up at school and stay there to see whatever there was to see before driving back home.

lots of other parents had the same idea. it was really fun to be part of a big eclipse-watching "party". several kids had made pinhole viewers out of cereal boxes. and it was truly amazing to watch through the eclipse glasses as the moon slowly edged its way over the sun. at the peak of the eclipse, the light shifted to an eerie yellow cast that reminded me of a 1970s photo filter. of course it wasn't as dramatic as a total eclipse, but it was definitely still worth watching!

3) signs of spring. it's been so wonderful to see the sun again! we've still had record-setting rainfall this month but then the sun comes out, we can open up the windows, and enjoy being outside. 

Antney's opening day is what truly heralds the arrival of spring around here. 

we brought a neighbor friend along! (this was Greta's "what do you mean I'm not smiling?" face)

baby's first taste of ice cream. she loved it!

the obvious choice for me: Boston cream pie. it was SOOOO good!

backyard fun with friends. my older girls were at least 3 before they could hold on to a big swing reliably but Elizabeth is determined to keep up with the big kids!

4) soccer Saturdays are back! Cece is playing again with the school's combined 1st and 2nd grade junior developmental team. before practices started, she told me that she really wants to score a goal in a game this season, so I got her a little practice goal to set up in the backyard. I think it's been used twice ;) she is thrilled that several of her girl friends are on the team this spring, since there were only two other girls on the team in the fall. 

first game of the season. I goofed and brought the wrong color jersey for her to wear but fortunately at this level, no one batted an eye

wearing the right navy jersey for the next game

all smiles after a big win (plus extra jubilation as one of her teammates had celebrated his First Holy Communion that morning and brought cupcakes to share with the team!)

5) Company. the second-to-last Broadway show of the season! I'm really glad I read a bit about the show prior to seeing it -- it's a vignette style musical with much more spoken dialogue and a slower pace than most other shows I've seen. Sondheim's original show stars Bobby as the male protagonist who explores his friendships and relationships on the eve of his 35th birthday. then, in 2018, the show was re-written with a female protagonist, Bobbie. this is the version that's currently touring. it wasn't my favourite show of the season but still enjoyable, and any night out at the theater is a win in my book! 

the cocktails typically run $13-15 here but somehow I got charged only $11 for a Maker's Mark Manhattan. felt bizarre to drink it out of a plastic cup with a straw but it was delicious!

there was horrible construction traffic and I got to the theater 20 minutes after the curtain. (I listened to the soundtrack through my AirPods while stuck in traffic, parking, and walking over there so I would know what was going on by the time I arrived!). it ended up working in my favor because there were whole rows empty near the side entrance. it would have been disruptive to get to my reserved spot, up in the balcony in the center of the row, so I just sat down in one of the aisle seats closer to the stage. would never have worked with a sold-out show but it was definitely fun to watch from a closer vantage point than usual!