A visit from Aunt Tina

This last week Aunt Tina came to visit!  We had a good time and I managed to snap just a few pictures.  Tina was welcomed to Kansas City with plastic bead necklaces and beautiful door signs made especially for her, as well as 3 very grubby excited kids.

As a special treat we had ice cream shortly after she arrived.

Then we headed out and showed her the swing set.

Gus and Bernadette were happy to show off their new pumping skills.

 And Gus showed Tina what he as learned at gymnastics.

Bill and Tina took the kids to Lego Land (mom skipped) on Friday but we had a nice family day on Saturday.  We ended up going to a wonderful park near us.  The kids played and then we all went on a nice walk.  The weather was perfect.

We even attempted to get a family picture.  

And what family day in Kansas City would be complete without some Kansas City BBQ?  We found a great restaurant with a private area of the patio we had all to ourselves, totally fenced in so we could enjoy our meal while the kids ran wild.  It was heaven.  

We are so glad you came Tina and you are missed!

Family Day at Prairie Star Ranch

A Few Silly April Shots of the Family

Dominic and Bernadette snuggling after a morning bath and pretending to chat with daddy and grandpa on some old ipods they've found around the house.

Some pictures with daddy down by the lake.

And a few pictures of what we do the most--swing.  Swing for hours every day.

Gus finally mastering pumping!  Yay!

Lots of Love.  We Miss you all!

Nancy, Bill, Gus, Berna, Dom and Baby

A Few Easter Pictures

I wish I had more Easter pictures of the family to share, but here is what I have...starting with a few random around the house, enjoying our well-lit kitchen pictures.

 

The backyard Easter Egg Hunt.  Which we did on Saturday...which is good because it SNOWED Easter morning (what?)

 

Dom is no fool.  He camped out by a bucket full of Easter Eggs and just started chowing down while the other two ran around like hunting for more eggs.

 

The spoils!

 

Two little gents after mass.

 

And a princess

 

And the family.  Evidently the kids don't find it very fun to take family pictures..

  

As I mentioned, it snowed (more like slush) on Easter morning, but it got nice and warm that afternoon, so Gus and Berna skipped their naps and instead went out to run, swim, bike in the puddles.  They were very muddy and happy.  

This is a view down our street.  Bernadette is obsessed with this little bike and rides up and down our block several times a day.  Gus likes the sweep the sideway.  Whatever.

All the best and a happy Easter to All!

The Bandzuch Clan

Spring Time in Kansas

Once again I am behind on sharing pictures.  We've been busy and loving some of the beautiful weather lately.  Here are a few pictures from the past couple weeks and they show pretty well a few of the things we have been REALLY INTO lately.

first off, we still love the broken down old park in our neighborhood.  Might be falling apart...but the pea-rocks make it incredible.

The kids are also really into doing trains down the slide.  Dommy loves just being part of something with the big kids.

Lately we have also gotten way into perler beads, or as we call them, melty beads.  We made this crucifix, Gus made a Darth Vader for show and tell and nearly every day Gus sits down to design yet another robot holding a light saber. 

We've had a couple of rainy days, so the kids are also really into mud right now.  But, who can blame them?

Oh, and sidewalk calk.  Gus loves drawing intricate maps on the cement out back.

More than anything, we are into swinging.  Oh my.  Mom spends hours every day pushing them on our swings...can't wait until at least one of them learns how to pump....

Lately Dom has become a little bookworm, rivaling his brother.

Thanks to Grandma, the kids love to watercolor.  We worked on these last week and they are up on our mantle for Holy Week.  Turned out really pretty.

We spent the weekend on base with my sister and her 4 kids.  It was Therese's 8th birthday.  We also celebrated Bill's Birthday, which is today.  We had a blast.  The kids love their cousins.  They also love dressing up and all things boy--guns, swords, star wars, legos, etc.

Dom put this get-up together all on his own and he walked around like this for an hour.  Killed me.

Bernadette was thrilled to be with Therese.

another gangster spotting.

Bernadette and her Patchy.  They get along so well!  Which is a big change from a couple of years ago when all she would do was bite him.

And finally, here's the whole crew.

We are back home now, doing some Holy Week penance and getting things pulled together for Easter.

All the best!
Nancy and crew