April...thus far

Well April has been a blast so far! KC has started simulator time and will take his "nickel ride" on Monday. His first jaunt in a real helicopter. He is so pumped about it. Tradition goes that the student receiving the ride goes up with his IP (Instructor Pilot) and takes the controls for a little while, while in the air, but before he goes up he or she (the student) must give the IP a nickel minted the year that they were born. Man, we did find one from 1979, but Lord above did it take a while! He had banks going through roles of nickels there for a while. :)
We had a wonderful Easter! KC's birthday fell on Good Friday this year. I felt bad as I wasn't able to attend all the wonderful things happening during Holy Week. I doubt Thomas or Ben would have made it through a three hour Easter Vigil Mass! But we did get up and go Easter morning, bright and early. We managed to get a seat and sit comfortably the entire time! Thomas was his usual wiggle worm self and Ben was a little pain but he calmed down after a while. Ben now crawls everywhere and has popped a second tooth. He pulls himself up on everything and I feel certain will try to walk before the summer.
After mass, we were blessed to have our next door neighbors Misty and Nate and Reilly let us borrow there huge FENCED back yard to have an Easter Egg Hunt. They both did really good. Ben just kind of picked at the eggs but Thomas was running wildly around getting the eggs that had jelly beans inside of them!
Getting back to KC's birthday, we decided to go down to Panama City, Florida to KC's favorite place to eat crabs, Dirty Dicks Crab House (BAD NAME, AMAZING CRABS). It is an actual restaurant establishment! Since he had to work all day Friday we went down all day Saturday. But then we played some rounds of putt-putt golf. KC's flight school buddies Eran, Adam (&wife Stephanie), and Ryan Trent all joined us. The boys were a unholy nightmare, but it all turned out for the best. For a gift, KC received something he always wanted, a poker set! I think every other Friday it will be Poker night at our place! For his birthday dinner on Friday however, he got his traditional stuff. I grilled salmon and baked a cake (which Thomas helped me decorate). Then he got to indulge in his favorites, a dark Guinness beer and a tub of crumbled blue cheese. Which he only gets at his birthday.