C'mon Dover!

I finally made it to a real, live horse race. We took the kids to Keenland over Easter weekend.
the key to having the most fun at a race is to bet $2 on a horse with 68:1 odds to win, and then watch that horse stay in second place right until the end. I can only imagine how much more exciting it would have been if my horse had actually won.
We taught the kids all about gambling and how if you pick the right horse, it can really pay big--for instance, on a two dollar bet, we made three dollars (we let the kids have the winnings just to teach them a lesson).
The following day, we headed to our state's capital for Earthday (it's like my 5th favorite holiday).
Gabby scares me some times:
The kids got FREE pedometers (those are the best kind).
But the highlight of the whole weekend was when Oliver's name was pulled in a drawing for a brand new composter (I was so proud I screamed when they read his name):
I think he was more excited about it before we started filling it with garbage:
Gabby didn't win a composter:
The next day was Easter and we were all so burned out from all the fun we'd had the days before that we kind of skipped it. But don't worry, Monday was Easter take II, and we made sure to observe it. P.S. Easter candy is 40% off on Monday.
The goods:
Oliver was shaking, he was so excited when he figured out that there was real candy in every single egg (in case you haven't heard, I've rid our home of all sugar). And yes, that is a Halloween ghost bag Oliver is carrying.
Easter take 1 had its challenges:
We got one good shot though:

Day 3: Enter Bionic Woman

Don't feel bad that I did way more than you today.

It began with a 30 minute jog around the neighborhood, followed by washing 4 loads of laundry (the dryers are up and running again--Hallelujah)! Then it was off to pick Gabby up from school (today was an early day, as every day should be). Then we met up with Adrea and Mr. Henry at Chuck E. Cheese's.
Alex scored big time by finding a friend with token-loaded-grandparents.

Upon returning home, I was reminded by Google that it was Earthday. So in celebration, I pulled up Fern Gully on Youtube. Noah, you'll be pleased to know that your son Alex wanted nothing to do with the movie.

Background: when Noah and I were dating (9 years ago), I made Noah watch Fern Gully on Earthday. We got Earthy drinks (I believe mine was "Rain" while Noah's was "Gravity") and we made an Earthday cake. I'm pretty sure it was then that Noah decided for certain that he was totally in love with me.

This year's Earthday cake:

Candle blowing. Yes, we sang "Happy Earthday to you"--it's good Karma.

The kids and I ate our cake outside to enjoy the Earthy surroundings and talk about the things we love about the Earth. Gabby loves grass, trees, flowers, rain . . . everything. Alex loves cake.

Earthy picture: And now for my next trick, I will pass out.