School Concerts and Grammy Visits

The Pergandes are in crazy mode. The basement project is moving full throttle and Mom and Dad have been traveling like fiends for work. Last week Mom was in Orlando for the General Mills national sales meeting. I had a great view from my hotel (shown here) and my highlight was meeting Bob Costas who spoke during the event. Look for that picture to show up in a future blog. The kids also both had school concerts this past week. Presley had her very first concert at school where she sang and danced with her friends. Canyon performed an authentic dance from Columbia for the Spanish Immersion school. Another highlight for the kids was that Grammie came to watch the kids this past weekend while Mom and Dad enjoyed a reunion with friends at New Orleans Jazz Fest. Those pictures will be in the next blog. Grammie did great, the kids had a blast, and Canyon only missed the school bus once.

Easter Weekend

We had a very enjoyable Easter Weekend. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. We started off the weekend with egg decorating. This year the kids made "camouflage" eggs. On Saturday, we had a neighborhood easter egg hunt. Canyon and Presley did an amazing job sharing eggs with their younger friends. We also enjoyed a nice Sunday Easter service at the Upper Room. And on Monday, April 13th, we hosted a few friends over to watch the Cubs home opener and celebrate a couple of birthdays (Trisha and neighbor Mark). And the cubs won!! Go Cubs!

Spring Break - The Villages, Florida

After Sanibel, we headed to the Villages, just north of Orlando to visit Great Granny (88) and Great Grandma Wanda (90). Our first night in town, we went with both Grandmas to Spanish Springs to listen and dance to music. Great Grandma Wanda also treated the kids to some new watches and all of us to some yummy ice cream. On our second day, we enjoyed visits with Aunt Mary and Uncle Al and Aunt Joy and Uncle Bud. The kids had fun diving for torpedos in Aunt Joy and Uncle Bud's pool. We were also lucky in our visit to cross paths with some of the Kleeves. Aunt Colleen drove to Florida with Cody and one of his pals for their spring break. The kids enjoyed cart rides with the boys, swimming at the local pool, and playing shuffle board for the first time. We also got some great games of Mexican Train and Buzz Off! in during our visit. The Villages has a ton to do so we promised to stay for a longer visit next time.

Spring Break - Sanibel & Captiva Island

This year's spring break started in Sanibel, Florida, a relaxing island with some of the world's best shelling. The kids loved finding the "best" shells and saving them in these great cigar boxes they were given by a local. We stayed at the Sanibel Inn and enjoyed a nice room by the pool for lots of swimming and also enjoyed some fun bike riding around town. On the first day, it was raining, so we visited the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum where we learned about the names of the shells and the rules for shelling. We also enjoyed some cool restaurants, including: the Bubble Room with crazy memorabilia all over the place, the Mucky Duck where we listened to great music on the beach, the Island Cow with great shrimp tacos, and the Lazy Flamingo where we bumped into some of Presley's HELC friends. The Minnesota Twins have spring training in Ft. Meyers and we were able to catch a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Twins won and we were lucky enough to catch our first baseball (Daddy did) at a major league game. A fun adventure!