Spring Break Fun 2012

Oh my! They have changed Blogger! We'll see how this post goes. It looks pretty self-explanatory. I was off work last week, and we got to enjoy some time at home. Little Frannie was sick at the beginning of the week, but after a few days, she was feeling better. We used some time at the end of our week to go to Callaway Gardens with Mama. Then, Phil took the day off and went to the zoo with us the next day. I thought the weather wasn't going to cooperate on either day, but we were able to deal with some cooler temps and a little rain to still have a great time! Mama and I really loved the butterfly house at Callaway Gardens. It was kind of funny because the first question out of Rush's mouth was, "When are we going to eat lunch?" In his defense, it was lunch time, but we thought they would be so mesmerized by the butterflies that it wouldn't matter. Apparently, when you are three, peanut butter sandwiches, using the potty, and seeing hundreds of exotic butterflies fluttering around your head are all equally important. We went back afer our picnic, though, and they were a little more entertained.

The butterflies finally started to land on us as you can see in the last couple of pictures. There was a beautiful blue one that was my favorite. I never caught a great picture that captured his blueness, but the butterflies were so much fun to me! Next day... the ZOO! Hightlights for the kids were feeding the giraffes and riding the train. It was a rainy day, and the zoo was a little crowded. There were many field trips there, and I felt the need to use my teacher voice a few times. :-) The animals seemed to want to get out of the drizzly weather because several of the animals were so snuggled into their habitats that it was hard for us to see them. The giraffes were happy to come and eat the alfalfa out of the kids' cups, though, so that was definitely worth the trip. P.S. Giraffes have long tongues and extremely large faces when you are nostril to nostril with one.

The day ended with new stuffed animals from the gift shop. Just what we needed!!! :-) Spring Break was a nice little taste of what we having coming this summer! I am ready!!

Neighborhood Egg Hunt 2012

Fun day!! We always look forward to our neighborhood egg hunt. It is very laid back and lots of fun for the kids. Well... for the most part. We will get to that in just a minute. We waited a few minutes for everyone to get there so we could start filling up those baskets.

This was the first year the twins could really do the egg hunt on their own. When they gave the signal, they both took off to find their eggs. On the younger kids' side of the street, they don't really "hide" the eggs. It is really more of an Easter Egg Race. As in race to fill your basket with the eggs that are obviously lying right in front of you. It works, though. The kids love it, and they get lots of little prizes and junk that they find completely thrilling.






And everything was all smiles, good cheer, and treats... until this guy showed up.

If you notice, there is a twin missing. Once again, Rush snuggled up with his long lost pal, ole E.B. Fran?


Not a fan of the Easter Bunny... This brought sweet Frannie's time at the egg hunt to an end. So, she headed back home with her Daddy. Rush and I decided to stick around for a while. He and I enjoyed a bag of popcorn and one more visit with the Easter Bunny. He was giving out lollipops after all.

We had a fun lunch after we got home. (Thanks for the idea, Pinterest.) I put the kids' standard fare (pb and j, goldfish, and grapes) inside Easter eggs, and then served them in two egg cartons I had saved for the occasion. They LOVED it!! I threw some fruit snacks in a couple of eggs to make it even more exciting. We don't usually eat those for lunch. :-)





We also did our first (of many) egg decorating sessions today. I boiled 18 eggs this morning, so after nap, we headed outside to dye some eggs. The kids did great with it. They were able to put them down into the dye themselves, and they LOVED picking out the colors. We made lots of different colors, and then at the end, I let them mix all of the colors together... thrilling..in case you were wondering. They had a ball with that part. I love how excited they get about the little things! I know it probably won't always be that way, so I try to soak those times in. I was pretty proud of myself for not getting too stressed out. I think being outside helped. The day was beautiful, and the cleanup was basically non-existent. It was a fun activity! I hope it will become a fun tradition for them in the years to come.





Looking forward to a beautiful Easter tomorrow! More celebrations to come!