Our Baby Turned 6, and I Survived a Field Trip.

If March was a blur, April made our heads spin. We hit the ground running after Spring Break. Seth was in Texas for his MBA capstone, so Ana & Ata bailed us out for a week. It was too busy to snap many photos, but they did #allthedcstuff and we were grateful.

They fled just in time to avoid all the birthday parties, one of which inexplicably included ice skating,

and luckily April & Gunnar showed up just in time to cover down while Seth had an infection and Finley snapped her humerus in half jumping on the trampoline.

We are two-for-one ER customers, if nothing else.

We celebrated Easter and the return of Jayne & Tony,

Earth Day,

and Ford's birthday (one million times.)

Including with the "Rocky" themed boxing party of his dreams,

which required not nearly enough liability waivers, and an alternate activity for poor Finley.

And, with our baby now 6 and our big girl sadly on the sidelines, we finished up the month with so many soccer games and a few one-handed life saber fights,

a Korean BBQ goodbye to Grandpa,

milking our injuries,

and a field trip to the National Zoo experience I would literally not wish on anyone, for any reason.

And now it's May....!

March at Mach 5, and Spring Break in Peru!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we sure do pack a lot in to a month...! I cannot for the life of me figure out where March went. I do know it was action-packed. We dressed like book characters and played hooky for a trip to the Spy Museum,

enjoyed both winter and spring weather,

got haircuts;

saw Riverdance at the Kennedy Center with friends;

and celebrated St. Pat's, cherry blossoms,

and the birthdays of some of our faves.

And then we fled the country.

I had been devastated when I found out I had to work over the kids' spring break, and then decided to pull them out of school early for a last minute trip to Peru for Lehua's 10th birthday. Best. Decision. Ever. Even if the FCPS truancy office is less than thrilled, judging by the number of voicemails they have left us.

I took one million photos, and they can be found here for the really dedicated. The highlight reel is epic on its own: Lehua's fabulous lakeside birthday party,

Lehua's fabulous family celebrations,

and Lehua's fabulous spa birthday getaway.

I am never going to be able to throw F+F a a 10th birthday party after this one (thanks, Bustamantes)...!

Besides the birthday extravaganza (and because there is basically nothing better than vacationing with top-of-their-field travel professionals), there was also rafting and riding,

waterfalls (some of us in undies due to a suitcase swaparoo) and death marches (a real Walters family tradition),

and way too much wildlife for my taste (although the alpacas were a real hit with the kids.)

With such idyllic-looking photos, I would be remiss if I didn't also confess to bathroom disasters resulting in hasty new outfits, and restaurant meltdowns.

Peru is always magical (even though we missed the rest of the family madly). By far the most special parts of our whirlwind South American adventure, though, were the opportunities to spend time with our (extended!) Peruvian family, party with Lehua for her Big Ten celebration, and see and be part of the fantastic life and profession that Sara and Daniel have created for themselves. We even got to be the first to tour the beautiful lakeside land they bought for construction of their dream house.

Oh, and Picky Ford ate street vendor pork rinds. It was a real moment.