We are busy with Holden.  Busy with work (in my case, I am busy with quitting work!)  Busy with interviews for unappealing new work.  Busy with house projects.  Busy managing chronic sinusitis, ear infections, and repeated tympanic membrane ruptures.  Busy with oscillating between snowstorms and summer fun all in the same 4-day span.  Busy with packing away Holden’s outgrown winter clothes.  Busy with thinking about how life is just whizzing past us.

I’m not going to talk about most of this stuff here (mostly because much of it is highly unpleasant).  However, I will provide the abbreviated update (in pictures) of what has been going on with Holden.

We had a wonderful trip to Myrtle Beach during spring break in March.  Rob and I were sick that week, but it was still wonderful to relax away from work and spend some time with family.  While in South Carolina, we visited a zoo, the aquarium, and of course, the beach!  Holden got to experience the ocean for the first time, and also got to meet his great grandma for the first time!

Here’s Holden with his great grandma and 4 generations of Friesel men:

Holden at the beach:

Holden on his very first ride at an amusement park:

Holden also developed a fondness for otters while on vacation.  Ever since meeting these gregarious creatures for the first time, he will occasionally pretend to be an otter by “swimming” around the floor on his belly.

Here he is, meeting otters for the first time:

Upon our return to the great frozen north, we got to do fun stuff like attend the Shelburne Farms Maple Sugaring Open House.  We enjoyed a pancake breakfast fundraiser, chased chickens around the farm, and pretended to drive tractors:

Over Easter weekend, we dyed a few eggs:

And had a mini-Easter egg hunt in our yard:

And of course, no Easter is complete without chocolate (and a snooping kitty cat):

****Funny aside about this picture–we had already gotten H dressed for the day when he insisted that we put his pajamas back on OVERTOP of his clothes.  So we obliged.  What the heck.

We also have been taking MANY, MANY trips to the local parks.  Here was an especially beautiful day, where we grabbed lunch at the Beansie’s Bus and let H run wild in the park following an ice cream treat:

In April, we had some special visitors come up from Maryland.  A good friend of my dad from his childhood has two adult children, both of whom are now in their 30s.  I keep in regular contact with the daughter, who has two kids of her own.  Her girls, who are 6 and 4, had a lovely time with Holden.  It was their first time in VT, and they had a blast!  Holden loves being surrounded by beautiful girls:

We have been painting with chocolate pudding:

And most recently, we have hiked Snake Mountain (elevation 1300 feet) with Grandpa.  Unbelievably, Holden was able to hike about 2/3 of the way up totally on his own, before I was forced to haul him up on my back the rest of the way.  He is such a strong little hiker already!

Here we are at the top:

Today, Rob took Holden out to meet the Storm Troopers while I stayed behind and re-finished our countertops.  When Holden met the Storm Troopers, he asked if they were Snoopy.  Yes, H—Storm Troopers totally have that black and white thing going on, but they are decidedly NOT Snoopy.  So cute.

And the best surprise from today was unexpectedly running into Holden’s best buddy Mallory (with whom he used to share a nanny):

These two seemed to remember one another—they have always gotten along so tremendously.  I hope they can always be friends.