Crayola Experience was the PERFECT 2017 Spring Break Trip!!!!!

We decided to take a 2017 spring break trip to the Crayola Experience at the Mall of America, and man was it worth it! What an incredible day spent together as a family. Very thankful.

Started off the trip eating our cooler full of packed lunches on the balcony overlooking LEGO Land and Nickelodeon Universe...aka Camp Snoopy. Our kids were great sports...not eating out, not walking through Lego Land but overseeing it, and looking at all the rides without actually riding on them. Life truly is what you make of it...It's the "LITTLE" things in life that matter!

Maybe someday we'll make it back as a family to enjoy the amusement park!

And then we were off to the Crayola Experience!

Roz with her favorite colors, Blue and Purple.

Andray with his favorite colors, green and Duke blue.

And Rinny with her favorite color Purple.

Never a dull moment with Roz!

And we're in! Amazing teacher/educator discounts and family discounts!

So true...the history in this place was amazing.

First exhibit allowed kids to create their own "wrap" for their favorite colored crayon.

Andray of course picked GREEN.

CC wanted purple and Dad was there to help...

Pretty sure Jake had a "say" in this crayon wrap :)

Then we were off to create our own personalized coloring sheets.

Smile big Rin!

So cool.

Then the girls were off to color their "own" coloring sheets.

Next stop...the Molding Magic exhibit with Crayola play-doh.

Spent a significant amount of time here, was nice to sit down and rest!

Roslyn's fav color from the wall of 64 colors!

There was even a kid-size Lite-Brite there...kids loved it!

Found Andray wandering around in the Candy store...pretty sure he was drooling :)

Where it all began...was so amazing to read about how Crayola started and the evolution of the colors, crayons and markers, etc. 

This was by far Roslyn's favorite exhibit...Rainbow Rain.

This was so fun to dance under!

Then we were off to Doodle in the Dark!

Andray's quote, "I don't want to leave!"

(neither did I, such a cool place)

Despite being under the weather, CC mustered up enough energy to doodle as well.

Love Roslyn's doodling!

"I love my Stang and Frank family! I don't want to leave :) Me loving this time at the Mall of America." Sweet as always.

One last photo opp before heading to Rochester. Honestly, a great place for families!

Amazing field trip opportunity!

Our "Wrap it Up" results...love my family more than anything!

Christmas in March...

A long overdue Frank family gathering happened this weekend! We FINALLY got to celebrate Christmas as a family in March, despite 2 sick kids in our family and 2 sick kids in my brother's family. Truly, the Holidays are when we are all together.

Very proud of our oldest niece who had an awesome part in her school play, "Madagascar." These kiddos are growing up way too fast! Love them all!

#CousinsAreBestFriends4Life

Trust in God...

March Madness is Among Us...Best Time of the Year! Let's Go Duke!

March Madness is officially here...truly the BEST TIME OF THE YEAR!

Congrats to our Duke Blue Devils...made history this week by becoming the first team to win 4 games in 4 straight days to take home the ACC Tournament Championship...awesome! 

And now earned a #2 seed in the East Region of the NCAA DI Tournament.

Can't wait to watch basketball this week! (or at least have the games on in the background!)

All Andray wanted for his birthday was a #21 Amile Jefferson jersey (black with blue trim).

Despite having the flu on his birthday and having to open gifts a day late, he was one HAPPY CAMPER!

Can't wait to return to Duke with the family...hopefully soon!

Two of my all-time favorite Duke pictures of my family members...

LET'S GO DUKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nine is Fine...Happy Birthday Little Man!

And in another blink of an eye, I truly cannot believe Andray is 9...last year of single digits!

He has truly come "out of his shell" this year in school.

He continues to be smart, witty, soft-hearted, and kind.

And he's loving sports and Pokemon!

Andray is loving SPACE and the planets as well...super cool project made at school.

And he chose to do a school project on St. Paul, very special.

My most favorite thing about Andray is his LOVE for Jesus!

Andray loves watching sports with his Dad!

NINE IS FINE!

Love my March Babies! Time is going by way too fast!

May all your wishes come true!

Four Galore...Our Baby is Four!

A blink of an eye (literally) and our baby girl is 4! How can this be?

Carrine Faith Celestine Stang...you have changed my life for the better and I'm thankful every day for our 3 beautiful and healthy children! You are the PERFECT book-end to our family!

Our first photo as a Family of 5, already four years ago.

Little did we know back then that Carrine would be the BEST thing to happen to our family!

Started out as our 5 pound lil' peanut...

and has GROWN UP to be our confident, sassy, bossy and witty 4-year-old!

Little Sister like...

Big Sister...can you tell who's who?!

Saying that CC loves to wear dresses might be the understatement of the century.

This lil' lady goes NO WHERE without a dress or skirt on!

And Jake's little "Tator Tot" goes NO WHERE without her special blanket from Great Gma Rausch!

Love these blankets!

Thankful Carrine could wear the same outfit that Roslyn wore for her 4-year-old photo shoot...

Not sure which daughter had the more Sass and Smiles at this age?! :)

Carrine loves to give kisses and hugs every day...hope she never stops giving those out!

She truly loves her F-A-M-I-L-Y!

And she LOVES her stuffed animals!

No lie, she sleeps with ALL of these on her little toddler bed at night.

Couldn't resist capturing these stuffed animals in her photo shoot.

This is PRICELESS!

Carrine can't wait for the "Tooth Fairy" to come visit her (hopefully not for a few years yet), but especially since the "Nukie Fairy" came already one year ago and took all the Nukies away :)

Musically inclined = YES!

This gal loves to dance, sing, dress up, act and play, especially during family DANCE PARTIES after supper!

Curly Carrine...that's what some of Roslyn's classmates think "CC" stands for as her nick name.

Her curly hair is definitely a "topic of conversation" EVERYWHERE we go!

Hope it stays this pretty!

(and crazy)

Words can't express how much I love this lil' lady.

She's taught me MORE PATIENCE than I ever thought I could possibly have.

I think I'm most thankful for the extra time I've gotten to spend with her and the big kids these past 4 years.

Just can't buy this time back.

Definitely see a resemblance with the girls...

You have made my heart WHOLE Carrine...love you to the moon and back!

Happy birthday baby girl...don't ever lose your smile, gleam in your eye, curly hair, confidence, strong will, wit, laughter, imagination, happiness, and pure love for everything around you.

WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Can't wait for Disney on Ice with you and the family this weekend!
First school bus trip...here we come!