Easter and Kite Fail 2015

April 6, 2015 by
Easter 2013: 
Easter 2014: 
Easter 2015: 
The Easter Bunny brought us giant chalk markers! And stuffed animals that look suspiciously like the ones from last year!
Amelia 2014: 

Amelia 2015:
Samantha 2014: 
Samantha 2015: 

After opening Easter baskets, we did a quick Easter egg hunt on the trail out back. Because Easter isn’t complete until we’ve done our fifth egg hunt. 
Hmmmm..which one to eat first?
Amelia did things the right way– properly collecting eggs in her basket
Samantha didn’t see the point in collecting eggs to be opened later. She simply picked up eggs, one or two at a time, ate the bunny grahams and threw the egg aside. No sense in wasting time. 
Yum.
Hard to say who collected the most eggs. While Samantha was busy eating, Amelia was pretty quick picking up her bounty. 
Here comes Amelia Cottontail.
Look! Kites!

Let’s fly one!

We’ve been waiting all spring for enough wind to go kite flying and had grand visions of flying one on Easter; much to our delight, the wind picked up and we scrambled to find a good spot. Enduring the taunting of another family who was successfully flying their Olaf kite without problems, we couldn’t seem to keep our kite flying for more than five minutes.

Kite watching. 
Kite watching is better with bunny ears on. 

Samantha was pretty confident she could turn our kite-flying woes around. 
I got this. 

Amelia enjoyed the show from the trail. 
And helped retrieve/throw the kite in the air when it inevitably crash landed. 
Kite down. 
At one point, the kite nose-dived and smacked Amelia right on the head. She was none too pleased. 

Good thing we had more eggs to cheer her up. 

After many failed attempts at kite flying, we left the trail with our heads down, and tails between our legs, trudging down the trail in defeat past the happy family successfully flying their kite. I think they pitied us.

Despite the kite fail, we had a relaxing Easter and everyone was in better spirits after eating Easter dinner en plein air.

A carrot date muffin or two (or three) may have helped too. 

Expert photo-bombing by Amelia. 

Happy Easter, girls!
Lots of love, 

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Filed Under: Easter, Uncategorized

Pre-Easter fun with friends

April 4, 2015 by
This week, S and A learned all about cool “big girl stuff” (the musical, Wicked, the Pinkalicious book series, binoculars, to name a few) from their friend, Kennedy. Kennedy’s little brother, Sebastian, was nice enough to share his toy lizard with the girls, which they instantly carried around like a pet.  
WE’RE SO NOT COOL, MOM. WE NEED BUTTERFLY BINOCULARS. 
Dinner with the lovely Smith fam. To their amazement, Amelia ate almost her entire fish taco and Samantha chowed down on my thai peanut quinoa salad and Jake’s chipotle burger. 
Shy with food, these girls are not. 
We’ve officially ridden carousels dozens of times this month. Time for a carousel detox. 
Samantha begged to sit on the horse next to Kennedy. 
Ryan is pretty much the only guy other than Jake and Grandpa that Amelia will let carry on their shoulders. For Samantha, only Daddy will do. 
Three Easter Egg Hunts in two days? Totally doable. First up, our ward hunt at the park. The other kids were fast, but the girls didn’t seem to mind that they only got three eggs each (or that I traded their jelly beans for bunny grahams).  
 Next up: neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt with our friends. Thanks Amy, for setting it up!

We were a little late getting to our neighborhood park after nap time, but Camden, Addison and Olivia came to the rescue by dumping out their eggs and hiding them all over again so S and A could participate. Camdyn was particularly instructive as to where the eggs were “hidden.”

Addison was so sweet helping the girls too.

Neighborhood ladies, Olivia, Amelia, Addison, Samantha and Camdyn. 
The girls showed Daddy their spoils when he got home from work. 

Hunt #3: the official neighborhood Easter celebration. We missed the toddler hunt and joined the nine-year-olds for their round– those eggs were gone in two seconds flat! The girls were happy with their four egg winnings.

C’mon, Amelia– be competitive!

Sister, over there!

Lily was nice enough to share her eggs with Amelia. 

Complicit in the annual pony torture. 

Several people commented that Amelia rode her horse like she was some kind of queen, waving regally as if we were all her subjects. I have no doubt that’s her master plan.

Out of character, Samantha grinned the entire pony ride. 

I had to drag Amelia out of the petting zoo– she wants nothing more than to have her own sheep. 

And ducks. Seriously, we need a farm. 
After several large doses of hand sanitizer, we ate a picnic lunch. I caved and let the girls have a hot dog instead of the tuna-pita bread sandwich, carrots, and dates I had packed them. Why do I even bother?
Nom nom. 
Bunny Queen. 

Easter Bunny time! Amelia looked like she was posing for a very serious family portrait, circa- 1890s.

Despite being ok with the other bunnies we’ve met this season, Samantha would have nothing to do with this particular bunny (bad vibes?) unless Jake was holding her.

Samantha was NOT happy I snuck in for a picture with her. 

The girls initially wanted to go in the bounce house, but got nervous at the last second. The operators kindly told Jake he could go with the girls if that would help them be less scared. He acted like he was going only out of duty, but let’s be real– he clearly enjoyed the slide more than the girls!

Lots of love,

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Filed Under: Easter, Uncategorized

Spring Chicks

April 4, 2015 by
Spring is here (or maybe we’ve skipped over it– it’s been HOT lately). Regardless, S and A have enjoyed celebrating the lovely warm weather with spring-y outfits and many rounds of pre-church ring-around-the-rosie. 

Never fails to tire them out before having to go inside and sit for an hour. 
Post-church horsey rides are also a must. 

We love our spring chickens!

Lots of love,

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Toddlers and Tiaras: WWF Edition

April 4, 2015 by
Just a few of Samantha and Amelia’s antics from “dance” class: 
I have to put quotations around “dance class,” as there’s typically not a lot of actual dancing going on. However, the girls love their teacher and get excited with all the props she gives them to work with, so as long as they’re having fun, I’m game. 
S and A are great at the individual “routines.” Ms. Emily has all the kids sit in a line and when their names are called, the girls usually walk on their tippy toes, jump over a stuffed bear, hop into a hula hoop and raise their arms to say, “Ta Da!” or some variation thereof. 

Bubble time is another favorite. 

All fun aside, we decided we are taking the girls out of ballet and putting them in tackle football (or wrestling?)

Often, Jake goes into work on Saturdays, but when he’s not working, I have him on dance class duty (yay for leisurely Saturday morning mom time!) The teachers always remark to me about how great he is with the girls, but also how clingy they are with him around. It’s funny to hear about how differently they act with each of us.

After dance class, Jake will take them to get a treat or go on errands, their favorite being Home Depot (in full ballerina regalia).

Practicing their dance (gymnastics?) moves. 

The angriest ballerinas you ever did see. I feel that way after a trip to Home Depot too, girls. 
My favorite part about having Jake take the girls on Daddy daughter dates is looking through any pictures he’s managed to take while preventing full-on I-wanted-the-BLUE-fairy wand brawls from breaking out.  Dance class never fails to entertain. 
Love you, sis!
Lots of love, 

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