Easter 2014

Family photo with the Easter Bunny at Busch Gardens.  We couldn't resist.  They had the cutest setup, and he had just come back from break, so there was no line.

We had a wonderful Easter:  Elena had Spring Break the week before Easter and Dan took that week off too.  It was a perfect staycation.  Plus it was almost a free week which makes it even better.  Thank goodness that between me and my mom/dad, we have passes to most of the local attractions.  We also had a wonderful Easter Sunday:  lovely day at church, awesome dinner at my parents, egg hunt in the backyard.  I love holidays so much and it makes me so happy when everything goes smoothly.  Here are the highlights of our week.

THURSDAY night:  We started the "Week of Fun" off early.  We went to the circus on Thursday night - which, not coincidentally, if half price night.  The kids loved it.  It was their first time ever.

They were very impressed with the Ball of Steel.  The boys loved it for obvious reasons and Elena was rooting for the girl who wore hot pink.

Yay circus fun!

SATURDAY:  Elena had her piano recital and we loved being there for it.  I'm so glad that it worked out that Dan was able to come.  He has missed out on so much the last 3 years because of work.  It was so perfect that he was able to get Elena's Spring Break off and that her recital was during that time.  She did great and wasn't nervous.

After the recital, we went to Toys R Us where they had a Lego Built It make and take.  We surprised the kids.  They didn't know until they were in line that they would each be receiving and building Emmet's car from the Lego movie.  I didn't get any pictures from that, but here's one of Jonah loving this pink cart.  He pushed it around half the store.

MONDAY:  The Zoo (and the weather was perfect)

My cuties in front of the giraffe habitat.

The Fennec fox is a favorite because he's so cute.  You can barely see him curled up in the back.

TUESDAY:  The Aquarium (it was pretty crowded due to rain, but we had a great time)

Gloria the tomistoma was chillin' with all 3 kids looking on.

WEDNESDAY:  The Museum of Contemporary Art

They had an exhibit on Vik Muniz which we absolutely loved!  We watched his documentary called "Wasteland" on Netflix that night.  It was so good.  Coincidentally Dan had seen it before and was able to tell us all about the artist as we walked through the exhibit. We weren't sure what to expect taking 3 kids to a modern art museum, but we Elena had gotten a free family pass at school, so we risked it. :)

We couldn't take pictures of the artwork at this museum, but they did have a create your art room, so I took pictures here.  The kids used recyclable materials to make a teddy bear on the magnetic board below.  The kids and Dan also made collages.

Jonah took a nice nap at the museum and woke up a little at the end to run around.

Their finished products

The one photograph-able and permanent piece of artwork at the museum:

Dan was intrigued by the statement being made by the artist of this particular piece.

THURSDAY:  It was a chilly day, but we took a risk and went to Busch Gardens.  We ended up having a great time and not being too cold - we brought lots of layers for the kids.  

Kevin is very interested in volcanoes and Pompeii right now, so we talked him into going on "Escape from Pompeii". This picture was taken in the boat on our way up.  He's being so brave.  You can see the end of the ride in the background.  He didn't like the fire, the falling statues, or the drop at the end, but at least he was willing to try it!

Afterwards, we took him on his favorite ride: St Elmo's Spire.  It just goes up and down.

Posing with the tulips:

All three can ride this one at once.  It's a favorite.

Speaking of favorites: funnel cake with strawberries, ice cream, and hot fudge?  Yum!!!

FRIDAY:  Children's Museum. Check out my cute boy blowing bubbles!

Friday afternoon when we returned from the museum, we dyed Easter eggs. Kevin knocked the blue dye off the table.  Luckily it washed off in the bath.  I thought it would be hilarious if he had a blue foot and thigh for a couple weeks.

Sweetie girl was so careful with her eggs and decorated them each with stickers, glitter, and pompoms.

Jonah needed help of course, but was happy to dye eggs for a couple minutes before he ran off to play.

The finished products:

SATURDAY:  Kevin and Elena were invited to Chuck E  Cheese to celebrate a friend's birthday.  Other that this one outing, we let Saturday be a laid-back day since the week as a whole had been pretty nonstop.  I like this picture because it shows how intense Kevin is when he plays air hockey (or any game really).

Elena and Kevin with Elena and Victoria and Chuck E.

EASTER SUNDAY: The baskets (in age order from left to right starting with Dan)

Sunday evening at Granny and Grandad's.

 

Dapper dude

"Look, Mom! I have 4!"

They were so quick, it was hard to get a picture of them while they were searching.

I didn't give up on blogging, I just got a little behind.

A photo summary of early spring:

This was such a fun thing!  Kevin realized that balloon would float above the black fan in Elena's room if he pointed the fan up. It started simple. He colored on one balloon and called it the Earth.  Then he drew craters on a smaller one and called it the moon (the one all the way to the right in the above picture).  He wanted to make a solar system, so he added another fan and more balloons (I think 5 was the max that the fans would keep up at once).  For 2 days, he played with it constantly and was showing everyone that came by the house.  Elena had a good time with it too of course.

The Lego movie with the grandparents.  Everyone loved it.  Jonah made it through the whole thing thanks to a nap in the middle.  It was such a treat to have him nap in my arms for a bit. 

Just hanging out one day.  I love that 2 of my kids are old enough to play fun games with.  We like: Monopoly Deal, Uno, Phase 10, and Wits and Wagers.

"Cheese!"  This face makes me so happy.  Unless I'm trying to take a cute, semi-normal picture of all 3 kids or something, then it frustrates me. :)

Elena wanted to dress up as Amelia Earhart when her school had a day for historical figures.  She let me know at about 6pm the night before.  We looked up some pictures online, I destroyed a pair of swim goggles to make her flight goggles, and it came together pretty well. When I say "pretty well" what I mean is that she looked awesome.  Thank goodness she had a fake leather coat and boats as well as a plain white winter hat to top it off.  This is probably one of my favorite pictures of 2014 so far.

With the warmer weather, we've been enjoying Mt Trashmore more and more.  We walk around the lake and then play on the "mountain".  It's 77 feet above sea level, but around here, you call that a mountain.  It is the highest point in the city.

We were so happy to have Aunt BB over to celebrate her birthday!  I'm so glad we live close to her.

Our good friends took us to the Botanical Gardens one day while the older kids were in school.  It is always such a fun, beautiful place to go.  I love spending time outside in Spring and Fall.

On the last day of Elena's dance class, the parents were allowed to come in and take some pictures.  She's such a lovely little ballerina.  I'm so glad that the rec center here offers little 6 week dance classes for such a reasonable price.  Elena takes one a couple of times a year.

Touch the Truck day at the local rec center was a big hit with my kids.  We went one Saturday for about an hour and got to sit up front in a police car, fire truck, this monster truck, a excavator and various other construction and city vehicles.  Jonah was scared to get close to the monster truck without me, so he's not in the picture, but he did get to climb up and play in the back.

Firefighters!

He was loving it and protested everytime he needed to bajar (get down).

Jonah is 24 months!

Dan joked that we should do 24 candles to symbolize the fact that Jonah is 24 months, but not officially 2.  Poor Leap Day baby. ;)  Our sweet boy suddenly seems so much more independent. He is talking much more and in short sentences.  His favorite things to say are:  "Again, gain, gain!" and "Don't like it!"  He loves his "leche" (milk) and his "banos" (baths) and is especially attached to his family: Mommy, Daddy, "Nena", "Kenin" and grandparents.  Here are some birthday party pictures.  We just did a simple family party this year: pizza, pinata, cake, and presents.

 

Below is an UPDATE on Jonah along with photos that just happen to be recent favorites and have nothing to do with the text. :)

Jonah is getting easier to understand and I'm so grateful.  For the longest time, he would talk like crazy, but I rarely knew what he said.  After months of getting really good at repeating after me, he is getting much better at communicating his wants.  This morning when Dan got him out of bed he was so unhappy and crying.  I would've just thought he woke up cranky if he hadn't been able to say: "Toe hole. Don't like it!"  His big toe was sticking out a hole in his footie pajamas and he was so frustrated.  Cute boy.

Jonah loves to be outside. He always has. Back when he had colic (I will NEVER forget those first 3 months no matter how hard I try), it was the only thing that would occasionally calm him.  He loves to sit outside, run around, color with chalk on the porch, go to the beach, go for a walk, anything outside.  Despite the fact that we hadn't been to the beach since September, he remembered and ran to get his bathing suit when I mentioned the beach on a warm day in March.

This boy loves his mama

Jonah loves everything with wheels: cars, trucks, trains.  He loves Legos.  We are trying our best to get him interested in the millions of Duplos we have, but he prefers the little blocks that he sees his brother and sister play with. Thank goodness he's good about not putting them in his mouth.  

He looks so grown up to me when he eats an apple

He also loves cuddling while reading a book or playing on the IPad. His favorite books right now are by Sandra Boynton - like Snuggle Puppy and The Bellybutton Book.  He's such a cuddly, loving boy.  The other day he noticed that I had a tiny scratch on my arm and he said, "Oh no!" and gave it a kiss.  I love his tender heart.  One of my favorite things is the way his brow furrows when he is concerned or unhappy.  It's hilarious.  I seriously need to get a photo of that frustrated look.  This one is obviously a happy one:

He stayed out in the snow long after Elena and Kevin got cold and came inside.

When he turned 2, I switched him from 2 naps a day to 1, so now we are able to go on more outings and spend more time at Granny's and Grandad's house which is fun.  I love this age.  Jonah's discovering the world and loving it!

His first painting

A Shovel, Snow, Vaseline, and Wedding

 Jonah was so exhausted, he fell asleep while I was putting my impromptu butterfly Bandaid on him.  

The shovel story:  We had a lot of snow days here this past winter.  On one of those snow days, the kids and I were in the front yard, and Elena and I came inside for 1 minute (she needed help with her shoes).  I heard Jonah cry -for real- and I ran outside. Kevin was looking sheepish/worried about getting in trouble.  And a wailing Jonah was sitting down in the snow about 4 feet away from him. I couldn't figure out what happened until I realized that Kevin was holding a shovel.  A full size, metal, roundpoint shovel with a 4 foot long handle.  We'd used it the day before for clearing the driveway (we don't have a snow shovel). So, Kevin went to timeout and Jonah was subjected to an ice pack while I frantically called Dan at work.  I sent him some cell phone pictures of the cut - I think our cellphones have like 2 megapixels.  Anyway - after conferring, we decided against driving him to the emergency room for stitches. When Dan got home that night, he glued the cut closed.  I wish I had a photo of the cut, but they are only on my non-smart phone.  It was about a centimeter across and right between the eyes.  My poor sweet baby.  It's a cute little scar now, but every time I look at him and see it, I feel so guilty about the whole thing.  He'll have that scar forever.

Here's a picture of the cut partway healed up.  His eyes were a little bruised underneath, but never swelled up.

Here's a recent picture of my little man.

Snow:  As life happens with 3 kids, life goes on no matter what happens.  The same day that Jonah got hurt, Elena had a playdate.  She and her friend Elena made a cute little snowman with no help.

The next day, we went to Granny and Grandad's and they all got pulled around on Grandad's boogie board.  That's what everyone around here uses for sleds on the usually rare occasion when it snows.

They built a snow fort.

Kevin does love his little brother, honest.

Vaseline: In the next 2 pictures, he's showing off his Vaseline hands.  Of course, it didn't photograph well because Vaseline is clear, but it was pretty hilarious.

The Wedding:  I don't know where this idea came from, but Elena and Kevin were playing together one afternoon and decided to have a wedding.  First Elena made Kevin propose. "You have to get on one knee Kevin.  Now tell me how I'm wonderful and you'll love me forever."  Then, they changed into their "fanciest" clothes and had a wedding.  It was - as you can imagine - so sweet and so funny.

After the wedding, they started the reception with a dance.  They first had to bow and curtsy according to Elena.  It was so fun to watch their little performance.  And yes, they know that they can't actually get married.  We've explained to them that you marry someone outside of your family, so that you can add someone new to your family.  You don't need to marry someone in your family because you are already together forever.  They just randomly thought that it would be a fun game. 

After church one Sunday they all started drawing on the board while I was cleaning up the Primary room.  I was so glad that I happened to have my camera with me.  I love to capture these little moments.