Easter 2014

Happy Easter!

So thankful for this day where we can celebrate Jesus' resurrection!

Jack - 3 years old

Amelia - 16 months old

 Amelia and Jack checking out their Easter baskets before leaving for church.

 Jack got a chocolate bunny, chocolate covered marshmallow eggs, a fishing pole bathtub toy & a Bernstein Bears book.

 Amelia got a mermaid bathtub toy, sun glasses (which she was soooo excited about) and marshmallow peeps.

We went to church and sang in the choir for the 9:30 & 11 o'clock service.  Awesome music, message and time of celebrating that Jesus Is Alive! After church we at lunch at Golden Corral with family then went to have our family egg hunt with the cousins at the park in our neighborhood.

 I love that there are 2 little girls(Eliana & Amelia) all dressed up in Easter dresses.  Too fun!

 Our family of 4 - Easter 2014

 This was the longest lasting egg hunt ever!  So many eggs!  It must have taken at least 10 minutes for everyone to finish hunting eggs.

Egg Hunts

The weekend before Easter we had fun going to our neighborhood egg hunt and the church helicopter egg drop.

 Saturday morning we took a wagon ride to the front park for the neighborhood egg hunt.

 Is that a face of excitement or what?!

 Ready to hunt!

 And their off!

 Amelia caught on real quick...picking up 2 eggs at a time! Way to go!

 Success. A smiling boy and an Easter basket full of eggs!

 A visit to the Easter bunny.  Jack was brave and happy to get a picture taken.  Amelia....not so much.

 Next was the petting zoo. Both kiddos loved this and had no fear of petting the animals.

 When we were finished at the neighborhood egg hunt we headed over to the church's helicopter egg drop.  Jack was in love with just watching the helicopter.

 On Good Friday we went with some of our friends to go visit the 'Grandmas & Grandpas' at an assisted living home.  The kids dressed up in their Easter clothes and had a parade for the residents.  The kids (& residents) heard the Easter story using Resurrection eggs and we sang a couple Easter songs together.  It was a sweet time getting to see the residents and to bring a smile to some faces.

While there, we were surprised with a visit from the Easter bunny.  That made for some big smiles for these big kids.  (Not pictured is Amelia clinging to mommy.  She is not a fan of big bunnies.)

Staying Busy

We try to go to story time at the library every couple weeks.  Afterwards the kiddos like to go play with the play kitchen, play in the puppet area and read books.

 Amelia was quite proud of herself for climbing up into this big chair for the puppet show by Jack.

 Jack's puppet show

 Tooth brushing time

 Going down the slide.  This girl has no fear!

 Jack went on his first long tricycle ride around the block.  He does awesome on his bike!

 Slam dunk!

 One evening after dinner we went to go play at a new playground and park close by.  The kids (including my big kid Barrett) loved throwing rocks into the stream.

 We followed a trail that lead over to the big road.  Climbing up this big ramp (not sure what it is actually called) was an added bonus.  We couldn't stay too long because a storm was approaching. 

 Jack is holding a pile of sticks here.  He was using them to "build a fire" on our walk.

 Such a beautiful sky!

 Amelia's favorite part of this playground was going up and down the stairs and slide all by herself.

 We have begun playing on the balcony at home much more often.  This way Amelia doesn't have access to eating all the acorns and berries in the yard.  Still lots of fun but much more relaxing for mom. :-)

 It was time to move Amelia into a new car seat since she is growing so tall.  So we moved Amelia to Jacks old car seat and got a new booster seat for Jack.  Jack sure loves having cup holders on his new seat.

 Amelia's first time in her new car seat - 16 months old.

 While emptying the dishwasher, I turned away to put something in the cabinet, turned  back around and this is what I found...Amelia in the dishwasher.

All set for a bike ride/car ride!

An Evening of Learning to Fish

Jack had been anxious to get out and do some fishing (he must take after his Daddy.)  So one evening we took a walk over to the pond so the boys could try and catch some fish.

 Jack loved that casting part of fishing.  He caught on to that process quite quickly.

 They have an audience...little sister Amelia.

 Taking a quick break from watching to do some swinging...

 Although Jack loved casting, he didn't so much love the reeling it in part.  He kept trying to just pull the pole up and walk backwards versus reeling it in.  He got a bit frustrated with that part, but overall he had a great time!

 Fishing buddies!

 Jack taking a break on the wall while Daddy tried to fix the pole. They didn't catch anything this time but still had so much fun.

I love these beautiful evenings we get to enjoy outside with my precious family.