Easter Family Photo

One goal for 2011 was to take more family photos. And even though we are a tad behind on Alexander's four year old pictures (likealmost5monthsbehind) in which we take our annual professional family photo, I have tried to remember to take family photos at events. So far, we're three for three...which is exactly how many times I have beggedrequested the boys to take a family photo.

Alexander's birthday party

Disneyland

Easter Sunday

Dang, those are some cute kids.

Easter Recap

So, the last couple of posts have had some weird spacing issues. As in, HUGE spaces between words and pictures. I haven't quite figured out how to fix it. I figured I'd post a lot of pictures and write captions and see if I can re-adjust, if necessary.
Anyhow, we had a wonderful time at Grandma Great with loads of loved ones around us. Auntie Kimmie was called in as the substitute bunny and did a fantastic job, hiding our plates.

It was a very Happy Easter (and the kid collected enough to pay for six months worth of binkies)!

Baby Marigold makes the cutest Easter Bunny, wouldn't you agree?

Cousins


I love how much these two love and laugh together.

The Egg Hunt begins



After the hunt, the kids play and play and play.
And Alexander eats chocolate...for the first time.

Needless to say, it was hilarious to watch a four year old, running around with a chocolate-high.
Hilarious.

I tell ya, I love Easter at Grandma's.

Always have.

Always will.

Easter Fun - 2011

In a few hours, we will arrive at my grandma's house. We'll hang out, eat too much food, and proceed to the Easter egg hunt (you can read about last year's adventure here). I've never experienced an outdoor egg hunt, with real eggs. Instead, big and little kids, race through Grandma's playroom, searching for plastic eggs filled with my dad's poker winnings (thanks, Dad!). Living in the Northwest means unpredictable weather and once upon a time, a brillant someone decided on an indoor egg hunt. I've never complained.

Obviously, with a single child, the arrival of the Easter bunny is rather anticlimatic. We don't hide eggs. I do, however, pack bags for the boys and make the special delivery from the Easter Bunny. Let's face it, it's really just another excuse for me to spoil the boys and I love it.

Eric is the harder of the two to shop for and usually ends up with candy. Alexander, on the other hand...

knows exactly what bag is his.

knows exactly how to dig into the gifts.

knows that a cool monkey towel for swim class is awesome.

and knows that I'm going to ask for a photo of the new doctor gear (playing doctor is his latest obsession).
Being a doctor is serious business.

Just between you and I, I look forward to Easter at my grandma's house more than any other holiday. Even more than Christmas.

That's saying a lot.

Happy 1st Birthday, Marigold!

One year ago, we posted this...
Today, we celebrated this...

It was a beautiful sunny day. It was almost like Marigold ordered sunshine for her very own day!
We had a terrific time, playing at a local park.
After playing on the toys for about 45 minutes, Alexander moved on to bubble blowing.

Eventually, he did blow plenty of bubbles. And chased them all.

Finally...it was time for presents! We've been working with him on realizing when we give present, the presents STAY with the person who receives them. AND we let the birthday boy/girl open the present. Not an easy concept for an eager four year old. Fortunately, Fidelia didn't mind busy hands helping her out.

Happy First Birthday, Marigold!
Thanks for letting us join your party!

We love you!

EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!

Umma came over to walk this morning and told us a train had been derailed in Seattle...

We pulled it up the news on the internet and took a look at the train. Alex grabbed his 'noculars and told us he was ready to go take a look in person.

That's serious business.

The nice people from the railroad let us stand on their property and take a few photos then we went on to running a few errands.

Ballet is a sport, right?

Seriously.

5T

Alexander is built like his dad. Fast metabolism. Long legs. Skinny bean-pole of a kid.

When we were at the park, I noticed that his sweats no longer touch the top of his shoes. In other words...high waters!

OH NO! Not MY kid!

I immediately started thinking about exchanging out his clothing for larger sizes. However, my thought is we can hold out on 5T clothing until fall. It will be summer soon (not that the endless rain is any indication but hope springs eternal). He'll be in shorts and short-sleeved shirts all summer so why spend the money on clothing that he may outgrow in six months? Thus, I convinced myself to wait until the fall or late summer.

Today, I walked in the door and he ran to me.

In jeans that are short enough to be capri pants.

OH NO! Not MY kid!

Fortunately, we have wonderful friends who have passed on clothing to us. I've purchased items on sale in larger sizes. All these items are in a bin in his room.

Today, that bin was cracked open and all 4T pants has officially been replaced.

I've always enjoyed replacing his clothes because it's as close as I get to flooding him with a new wardrobe. Like his dad, he simply doesn't care about his clothes.

I thought I'd shop online sales for another pair of jeans for him.

I went to The Children's Place (their jeans are perfect for bean-pole boy), clicked on the Baby Boy tab and... there IS NO 5T! Apparently, baby boy ends at 4T.

WHAT? My son isn't a BABY BOY anymore?

When the heck did that happen?

Playing at the Park

Yesterday's sunny skies demanded a trip to the park.

A ride on a slide.

Who am I fooling? There were MANY rides on a slide.

A ride on a swing...notice it is the BIG kid swing. No baby swing for this kid anymore.

Actually, Alexander started in the baby swing but after a full swing, he decided...well, it just didn't feel good to him. I'm sure you can read between the lines.

Springtime. Sunny days. Playgrounds and Parks.

Nothing better when you're four years old.

Thank you, Big Papa and Umma!

Nothing better than finishing a 550 piece puzzle...unless you're sitting on the dining room table to put in the last piece!

Hurricane!

Remember the post about a train surprise this week? Well...things didn't turn out quite like we planned. We were hoping to take Alexander to a REAL train yard, where a friend works. He offered and we jumped at the chance. However, his boss was on site Thursday so we had to cancel. Turns out live train yards have liability issues, blah, blah, blah...

However, our resilient little man didn't melt down in disappointment. Instead, he looked at me and said, "I KNOW! I'll make my own train yard right here." (apologies for the blurry photos. The kid doesn't exactly slow down for photo these days.)

So, he built...

and built...

and built.

Eventually, he had to come up for air so we went walking with Umma at the mall. Mommy rarely has the chance to join the group so Alexander led the way. And apparently, today was Mommy's lucky day to enjoy a hurricane!

So, the wind blew...

and blew...

and blew!

This may be the best vacation ever!

What a day!

Two big events today, people. And, lucky you, Mommy was home to capture them for the blog. And how much do we love having Mommy home on spring break, so you could enjoy all these entries?

You're welcome.

SWIM LESSONS

Mommy hasn't seen her little fish swim for several months. Naturally, I had to take about million pictures. And videos. Ya know, for those days when he is an Olympic swimmer and I need to sell footage of him as a little swimmer so we can live off our kid happily in retirement. Oh, don't judge...you know you'd do it, too. There are a couple of videos so be patient as they load...the last one may be my favorite.

FIRST TRIP TO THE DENTIST

After a very short nap, Alexander and Mommy had dentist appointments. Mommy dislikes the dentist, as it is.

Imagine how fun the car ride must have been with a SCREAMING Alexander in the back seat. FOR THE FULL 20 MINUTE DRIVE TO THE DENTIST.

AHHHHHHHHH!!!

Anyhow, there must be special air flowing in the dentist office because the minute the kid walked in, he was just FINE. Eric and I may have been a bundle of nerves but thankful the tears had stopped.

The little man was great. Daddy sat in the room to keep him company and I could hear them chattering away.

I don't know why he has sunglasses on but if it works, wear the glasses, kid!

Teeth were cleaned, the dentist gave us both the stamp of approval, and Alexander is happily spending the evening with his grandparents.

While his parents de-stress with cocktails at home.

just sayin'