2015 Week Fourteen | March 30 - April 5

This was the week of Easter. For the first time in my teaching career, I had Good Friday and the Monday following Easter off, so we were able to visit family for the holiday.

While the long weekend back was mostly about eggs, the kids (and in this case, me) had a lot of fun playing games, too.  They may have been some whining and complaining when someone fell, so we only played a few rounds because it got really annoying when it happened over and over...

Ian challenged Grandpa to a few games of chess, and even though Grandpa claimed to be rusty from not playing in awhile, it must be like riding a bicycle, because he beat Ian.  

The same couldn't be said for Grandma, though, who suffered one loss after another in Guess Who at the hands of Annaliese. I even started monitoring to see if Annaliese was answering the questions correctly and she was. 

Playing with cousins couldn't be beat, either.  They all took turns giving each other tractor rides, and Oliver brought his pedal tractor over as well and they had races.  

We did some experimenting with dyes this year- we used food coloring and vinegar here instead of the PAAS tabs like in years past and it worked wonderfully.  Doubt we'll go back to buying them again. 

This photo just cracks me up. It's really distorted :) 

While we used the PAAS here, Grandma also tried dry rice that had been died with food coloring.  Just add that and an egg in a ziploc and shake, shake, shake.  The egg came out looking very textured.  

Classic hiding spot. Didn't trick her!

Not so much a fan of prickly bushes, but he was able to get his egg, anyway. 

Pointing out Emery's orange egg to her and talking to her in a voice a few octaves higher than normal, trying to encourage her to get it.  

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend we had many of Darrin's family members come to visit and we got to meet our niece Oriana for the first time.  We had lots of fun!  They got in Friday after work and Grandpa joined Darrin and Ian at soccer practice. After that, everyone came home and we enjoyed some Parmesan tilapia for dinner (my favorite fish recipe, and oh, so easy!).

Saturday morning we dyed eggs.  The kids always look forward to it, but I think I like it more than they do.  After only two or three eggs, they're ready to be done.

After egg dyeing, we headed to the zoo.  We spent several hours there and had a great time. The kids and I were there a few weeks ago for spring break, but we came in from the south. Coming in our normal way, we could really see the construction changes starting to happen. It will be neat to see how they upgrade what we already think is a terrific zoo in the years to come.

While we were at the zoo, the Easter Bunny visited our house, so we were able to hunt when we got home.

Sunday morning we said our good-byes to Darrin's family and went to church. After service, there was an Easter egg hunt for the kids.

That was followed by lunch at Marlena and Noah's and another hunt. We also opened Easter baskets and the kids had fun playing with their bubble blowers.

Easter Weekend- in Pictures

We left Friday night after work for Davenport. Saturday morning, the kids got a bath at Great Aunt Brenda and Uncle Ron's house.  Needless to say, I had fun with her hair.

Annaliese enjoying the rocks in their backyard. 

Annaliese just posed on the rocks, but Ian enjoyed leaping from one to another. 

Saturday afternoon was my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary.  I thought Annaliese wouldn't get a nap, but I was wrong. Slept in Darrin's lap for about two hours.

I wanted a picture with the kids and their great-grandparents, but Annaliese wouldn't go unless she was in Grandpa's arms.

The kids slept together on a mattress on their floor. First time Annaliese slept in something other than her crib or pack & play.  Ian loved it and asked to sleep together again. 

Easter morning egg hunt.

It was a stretch to get it, but she did.

Posing with their baskets.

Killing time before lunch at Great Billie's by swing in the park across from her house.  That's a look of elation on her face. 

At the top of the tall-twisty slide.

Coming down the twisty slide.

Easter egg hunt at Great Billie's.  The bunny did a good job. This one was hid behind a piece of bark.

And this one was so tall, Darrin had to fully extend his arms (my bad for not having the camera oriented vertically...)

Annaliese carried her basket slung on her arm like a purse for the 3 hunts we had this season.  She'd just throw them in there.  Needless to say, we  had more than a few  cracked eggs.  Didn't help that she dropped her basket and the all tumbled out. 

Hunting at Great Billie's.

Hunting at Great Billie's.

Another good  job by the bunny. My cousin Amber helps Annaliese reach her egg.

We tried for an Easter picture with Great Billie, but Ashlyn wasn't having any of it. If it wasn't for her, Annaliese was about to go off, anyway. Didn't want to be in the picture without Grandpa. 

Fun-filled Weekend

It was another weekend of 90-degree weather. I never would have thought that March would go out, and April come in, with such fantastic weather.  Saturday morning dawned chilly, which was perfect weather working in the community garden at church.  We have three plots there, though not the one we had last year.  Most of our morning was spent cleaning brush off the plots we got because they weren't maintained by the people who had them last year.  Ian spent the morning scooping OmaGrow for people to dump on their plots.  Annaliese just wandered between us and Ian.

 

After Ian's last swimming lesson for the season, lunch, and naps, (oh, and a yogurt snack) it was egg dyeing time.  Some clothes were damaged in the dyeing of these eggs. 

 

We set a record high in Omaha on Saturday of 91, and celebrated by turning on the lawn sprinklers and letting the kids loose.  Funny thing is, we thought Annaliese would love it, as she has already this year run through the hose when I've watered grass seed, but she hated it and Ian screamed with glee the entire time.  

Sunday brought our Easter Egg hunt, in which the Easter Bunny (Marlena and Noah) hid the eggs while we stayed late at church to clean up the coffee and cookie items.  They had lots of fun hunting, and it was fun for Darrin and I not to know where they were hid.  This is the first year Annaliese actually hunted, as last year she was still indifferent to the whole thing.  Still, Ian ended up pointing most out to her; she didn't find a lot on her own, though she did the ones in the trees and was very excited to get them down (we missed your assistance, Grandpa Dan, as you've had the job almost every year of helping them get them out of the tree). They enjoyed their Easter gifts as well, and although we only got pictures of the kite flying, there was bubble blowing, ball kicking, book reading, and Lego building.