Easter Eggstravaganza

Last Saturday, our HOA sponsored an Easter Egg hunt.  Last year's hunt didn't turn out too well (they started early, resulting in lots of angry parents), so our expectations this year were minimal.  We arrived extra early, just in case, and were rewarded with the first truly beautiful and warm spring day of the year.

There were three different egg hunts, divided into age categories: 3 & under, 4-7, and 8+.  That meant that Aubree and Bryce were together and Thane got to go with me (or I got to go with Thane...).  After reading news stories all week about aggressive parents trampling kids at egg hunts, I was impressed with how calm and happy all the kids and parents were able to stay over the course of the event.

When the "Go" was sounded (a minute late, just to be safe), Thane had no problem figuring out what to do with the eggs and quickly filled his basket.  We even managed to find the golden egg, which earned him an extra prize - an Easter basket with a big rubber ball.  

As I helped Thane, I tried to keep an eye on the bigger kid section to see how Aubree and Bryce were doing.  Aubree ran off with the herd of kids and was busily filling her basket.  It took me a while to locate Bryce, and when I finally did see him, I noticed that he was still at the beginning of the egg hunt area.  Concerned that he'd gotten overwhelmed alone in a crowd of big kids, I called him to come over to join Thane and I (reasoning that he'd just barely turned 4).  However, when he got closer I noticed by his overflowing basket that he hadn't been overwhelmed at all - just methodical.  I think he got the most eggs of all my kids.

After the hunt, which was absolutely wonderful and far exceeded our expectations, we stayed at the park with friends enjoying the weather as long as we possibly could without completely missing lunch and Thane's nap.

Easter morning when the kids woke up, I took them to the table to show them gifts that had been left.  We don't really do the Easter Bunny, per se, and haven't made a big deal about Easter baskets before. This was evident in Aubree's response, "what are those for?"  I didn't have a great answer, but they were thrilled with their church themed gifts and that's a tradition I think we'll keep up (because, honestly, the last thing my kids need is more toys or stuff).

Then we went downstairs for our traditional home Easter egg hunt.  I forgot that we usually do that on Saturdays.  Oh well.  It's fun for them to search through familiar play places to find eggs and again, Thane had no problem figuring out what to do.

Then we had a specially requested breakfast of cinnamon rolls and got ready for church.  (That's Captain Moroni with the Title of Liberty looking on. His sword didn't last much longer...)

Thane wouldn't stay in his seat...

And unhappily suffered the consequence.

Mark had the opportunity to give a talk in church on the Atonement and did a great job, even though he hates public speaking.  We had friends over for a big Easter dinner, and, according to tradition, I totally spaced taking pictures of the kids in their Easter finery (I think I remembered right after they all fell asleep).

I Heart You

Ah, Valentine's Day.  What's not to like about a cheesy holiday centered around writing notes for people we love, showing that we care, and sharing chocolate?

Our Valentine celebrations began in an a-typical way this year.  In our Homeschool Co-op, Aubree is taking an anatomy class.  Her clever teacher chose the class right before Valentine's Day to talk about (what else?) the heart.  But, did they only talk about the heart?  Oh no.  They made a replica of the heart (chambers, valves and all) out of water bottles.  A-mazing!  

Each kid assembled their heart models and took them home to share their experiment with their families. In addition to the heart, each kid had a bottle of red and blue water, to represent the oxygenated and unoxygenated blood.  We poured the "blood" into the appropriate chambers, started the heart "pumping" (thanks, Mark), and watched the bloody show.  Fabulous.  And this, my friends, is why joining a co-op is worthwhile.

After that exciting beginning, we went the more traditional celebration route.  I managed to take pictures of a few of our activities...

Making and decorating sugar cookies (always a fan favorite):

Making Valentine's for friends (heart necklaces for the girls this year - thank you Oriental Trading...):

Bryce's weekly Preschool co-op (a separate activity from our Homeschool Co-op), met on Valentine's Day and the kids had a wonderful party.  I even came away with a Noodle Necklace as a gift (and I looooovvvvveee noodle necklaces [for real]).  Here is a picture of Bryce with the boys in his "class."  

Feliz Navidad (Happy Nativity)

We're big on Christmas traditions.  We've realized (and are glad) that a lot of our traditions center around the Nativity.

Every year we make our own salt dough nativity set.  It's an activity we all look forward too, and it's amazing to see how much "artistic" progress our kids make in a year's time (I say kids, because I don't think Mark or I have gotten any better over the years).  

Last Christmas was the first year Aubree was able to try to make figures that actually looked semi-recognizable.  She carefully watched what I did, then deliberately copied my efforts.  This year?  She worked totally independently and her camel is arguably the best piece of the set (she also made the angel, the star, the wise man's presents [complete with bows on top], and the shepherd).

Bryce understood the concept and tried really hard to make a cow.  He got frustrated that his efforts did not materialize, and would smash his creations down to begin again. Finally, he decided he wanted to "help" me make Joseph, and was largely responsible for making Joseph's head covering.

Thane, because of his early bedtime, was asleep during our creative renderings.  However, tradition mandates that the baby of the family make baby Jesus.  So, with persistent reminders from Aubree and Bryce, I made sure that Thane had his moment to participate.

Aubree and Bryce were a little appalled at the lump that Thane produced, declaring, "that doesn't look like Baby Jesus!"

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A new tradition we started this year involved going on a "Journey to Bethlehem."  A friend told us of a 7th Day Adventist Church that puts on an elaborate, interactive "journey" each year before Christmas.  We got [free] tickets, bundled up, and headed out - unsure of what we might find.

Elaborate was an understatement!  It was an amazing 30 minute "walk" through the outskirts of Bethlehem, through the city gates, the city marketplace, and finally ending up at the lowly stable where we found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.

Along the way we met the Wise Men and their (real life) camels, were yelled at by Roman Soldiers, appeared before a gluttonous King Herod, danced at a Jewish wedding ceremony, were beckoned by a myriad of shopkeepers, were refused rooms at the too-full inns, and witnessed the angels bringing good tidings of great joy along with shepherds in their fields.

It was extremely well done.  I didn't know how the kids would react, especially at getting yelled at by the Roman Soldiers, but they loved it.  Aubree begged, "when Grandma and Grandpa come, can we go back and take them too?!"

Of course, it didn't hurt that they got hot apple cider and cookies at the end.

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Another nativity-related tradition we started last year is going to the LDS Christmas Creche Display.  Once again, we were in awe at the myriad nativity sets, from all cultures and circumstances, all showing the same pivotal moment in time.

I asked the kids to find their favorite creche.

Bryce liked the silhouettes on clear blocks.

Aubree had a hard time narrowing it down, but finally decided on a couple African sets.

We have a few more Nativity activities still planned, including a live nativity performance with friends and our annual Christmas Eve nativity scavenger hunt.  Love it!  Tis' the reason for the season.

PS All this Nativity reflection, reminds me of a time earlier this year (April, maybe?) when Aubree and Bryce spent weeks re-enacting scenes from Christ's early life.  That may sound well and good, but it didn't begin quite so well...
One day Bryce says to Aubree, "let's play Baby Jesus.  I'm King Herod and you're Mary." He then proceeded to chase Aubree around the house yelling, 'I'm going to kill baby Jesus!'"
After a few moments of shock (and a few more moments of laughter), I gently re-directed their play.  For the next few weeks they pretended they were Mary and Joseph running away from King Herod. "Quick, here comes King Herod! Let's flee to Egypt!"...

Birthday Pilgrimage - Part 4

Tuesday we had ambitious plans to spend the whole day up in Salt Lake City.  Turns out, it's hard to get a huge crowd of people up and out of the house at a reasonable hour.  Still, we had a fabulous afternoon at Temple Square.

We started our adventure with a personal tour of the Conference Center.

Granted, everyone who visits the Conference Center gets a personal tour, but not everyone who visits gets to play with a phone app that can change the colors behind the organ.  That's a very rare treat, indeed.

The Conference Center is amazing.  Adults and kids alike marveled at the phenomenal architecture and displayed artwork.

Everyone's favorite stop, however, was the 4-acre park that doubles as the roof.  Check out the view!

After the Conference Center we swept through Temple Square and proved that the world is indeed a small place by running into an old friend from Florida (hi Charlene!).

Our final stop on our Temple Square tour was the Church History Museum.  I'd hoped they might have some displays and exhibits that were kid-friendly, but what we found far exceeded my greatest expectations.  They had a whole wing filled with activities, games, and toys for kids.  We spent two hours and our little ones could've stayed for twice that time.  In fact, we didn't get to see anything else in the museum because there was so much to do in the Children's Area.  

On the way home to Kira's we stopped at Colleen's for a yummy dinner.  Despite the fact that Colleen and Andrew live in a relatively small apartment, Bryce declared that it was "the very best house ever!"  Why?  Because they live right next to the Light Rail tracks, and since we were visiting during rush-hour, a train came barreling by about every 10-15 minutes.  Bryce couldn't peel himself away from the window.

Birthday Pilgrimage - Part 3

On Monday we hit up one of our old favorite Utah restaurants - Cafe Rio.  Mmmmm...Cafe Rio!

Then we headed up to Thanksgiving Point to their corn maze.  I was expecting a corn maze and maybe a tractor ride.  What we found was the Disneyland of corn mazes.  There was so much to do we never even ventured into the actual maze.

We did enjoy a hay ride,

and pig races.

The kids scaled a hay hill,

jumped on the hay trampoline,

and pretended to be spiders on a giant web.

They loved sliding,

and swinging,

and, most especially, jumping.

We listened to the Pumpkin Princess tell stories and took pictures in a life-sized coach.

Thane would've been happy to run around in the pumpkins all night, but we were cold so we gathered around a campfire to listen to stories and songs.

When the rain came in earnest, we were ready to head home, but not before one last try for a cousin picture.