Easter 2015

We had an amazing and busy Easter this year.

First we had a picnic and egg hunt with my MOPS moms.  Since we meet after bedtime, this was my first time meeting most of their kiddos. New friends!

We also attended the Easter Egg Hunt at our church.  We attended the same event last year.  We didn't have enthusastic hunters this year.  Alex is a bit too young and Colin figured out the eggs have things in them and wants to open them immediately!  It was still a great event.  Colin was also old enough to participate in the pony ride and other games and crafts.

And this year Colin colored eggs for the first time!!

Thanks to pinterest, I used a whisk (which worked awesome!!) and the mess was minimal.  Colin also got some great counting practice in counting to 10 with each dunk.

Alex seems pretty excited to get involved.  Maybe next year, little guy!

 On Easter we went to an early church service and then had baskets and eggs at home.  I didn't get a great picture of our baskest this year.

The Willmunders invited us over for Easter Dinner.  Look at our big guys sitting at the table!!

It was 1st Easter for both baby brothers!  I can't believe how long it's been since someone else's first Easter!

What a beautiful celebration!

Ladera Spring Celebration

 In 2010, I rode my bike over to the Spring Celebration in Ladera by myself to check it out.  I remember thinking, wow, there are a lot of kids.  Today, we went back, with two kids of our own.  It's crazy how time flies!

They had a mini egg hunt for the little guys and both of our little people participated.  It was crowded, but fun.  Alex found his very first Easter Egg!

Colin loved looking for eggs, just like last year.  He's such a sweet boy and was so gentle with all of the other kids.  The end result is not very many eggs, but several sweet sharing moments.  I love my sweet boy!

I can't believe how big our boys are getting!

Gavin and I tried to skip it, but Colin really wanted to meet the Easter bunny. Both boys did great, no tears or fear at all!

There was also an awesome slide.  Unfortunately it was for 3 and up.  Fortunately, Colin can't read...

Saturdays are so much fun.  After we came home for a quick nap, we headed out to our very first pool day of the year!  Both kids loved the water, and Colin remembered all of his lessons from last year's swim lessons!  He can climb out of the pool all by himself and did pretty good jumping in.

We BBQ'd for dinner and spent a bit of time at the water table.  It was a long and full day in the sun, and both boys were exhausted by bedtime.  Gavin and I stayed up and watched a movie, and I just kept thinking how much I love our Saturday Family Days.  We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place and have such a healthy and happy family.

Disneyland Trips 3 & 4

We've returned to Disneyland!

Our third trip was with Grandma when she was visiting for her birthday.  Since she hadn't been back yet, we started with California Adventure.

We rode Colin's so far favorite ride: Ariel's underwater adventure first.  We also visited the bread factory, went on the Underwater Merry Go Around and our big hit for the day: The Mariachi Divas.   As usual, Colin LOVED the music and especially the instruments.  He even did a little dance!

Watching the show (pre dance)

We headed over to Disneyland where we rode It's a Small World for the first time!

The final activity was the parade.

Our Fourth trip to Disneyland was last week.  It was an absolutely gorgesous day (85, sunny, and clear) and so we made a last minute decision to make it a Disney day! (Colin had been asking all week).

We went to Disneyland and were pleasantly surprsied with how empty it was.  We took pictures with the fire truck and then rode pirates.

We rode the Jungle Cruise, Buzz Light Year, the Submarines, and the teacups for the first time today!  Colin said his favorite was either Pirates or the Jungle.  Alex was absolutely in love with the Submarines.

We had a quick lunch at Pizza Port and tried to get home for nap.  Unfortuantely Alex fell asleep in the car so our schedule was pretty skewed for the rest of the day.

I love being able to explore the park in pieces and I'm sure by the end of year, we'll have seen everything!

Blinks: A story from his head.

We read to the boys every night before bed and sometimes throughout the day.  I try very hard to never say no when Colin asks me to read to him.  One day, I had a terrible headache and was laying on the sofa in the playroom when he asked me to read to him.  I asked him if it was okay I told him a story from my head instead.  He climbed up in my lap and I made up a story about some bugs.

Colin now loves stories from my head.

Often before books at night time, he'll turn around and loving touch my head and say "I want to hear a story from your head."  So far, his favorite stories are about bugs, 'truction' equipment, farmers, princesses and lately I've thrown in a few classic myths.  When Grandma came he asked her for stories from her head as well.  (I think he asks daddy as well, but I don't know that he's ever told him one.).  

The other day after dinner we were sitting at the table while daddy took a break and Colin told me the very first story from his head.

"Once upon a time, Grandma got dressed up! She got dressed up in green and went in her car. Then she found an egg.  The egg was white, no a green egg.  She open it. What was in it?  Surprise! Cowboy!"

"Another grandma story from my head!"

The story didn't proceed exactly like that, there was lots of questions from mommy along the way, but still, it was amazing.  He's imagining and creating and sharing.  

This kid amazes me every day.  

Disneyland, again!

Since we got our Disneyland passes we hadn't been back.  Alex wasn't immunized against meales yet, and while the risk at Disneyland is probably similiar to any other public gathering place, the guilt/benefit ratio just didn't work out to go until we were able to get an MMR booster for him.

So after that, we took a second quick trip!

Flat Stanly got to come with us, but he waited in the car.

We parkdi n a weird place and had to take a bus, but Colin kind of liked it, And when we left we were able to use the bus as our 'last ride.'

We went to California Adventure.  And despite his face, he liked the trolly!  His monster puppet also got to come along!  There was anotehr trolly wiht a singing troupe in it and Colin REALLY wanted to go in that one with Mickey.

There were a few BIG hits though.

The first was the entry show.  There were insturment men!  Colin was so excited.  And he participated!! He was by far the littest guy, but he did awesome.  My little star!

We also rode the Chew Chew Train (mom wasn't a big fan of the smells...), the rocket ride, and our favorite of the trip "Ariel."  It was so fun to watch Colin and Alex just soak up the colors and music on the ride.  I'm pretty sure he would have been happy to ride it over and over again!

It's kind of nice doing Disneyland a few rides at a time.  Can't wait until next time!