Scenes from Easter

Though I was slightly more prepared for Easter this year than last (i.e. I actually bought candy ahead of time and pre-planned some activities), I still feel like I have a long way to go before I'm pleased with the level of tradition and celebration our family associates with this holiday commemorating the singular most important and marvelous event in the history of mankind.  

I don't mind the "fun" aspects of Easter, but I'm afraid it's all to easy for me and the kids to get so caught up in those that we forget the more meaningful and significant parts.  For example, early in the month I had planned to make resurrection cookies or resurrection rolls with the kids on Saturday evening and continue with the discussion on Easter morning. After making my "plan," I promptly forgot it and didn't remember again until Easter morning. So, if anyone has suggestions on how to find a good balance, while perhaps erring on the spiritual side, please let me know!  Too late, I found a blog with ideas on Countdown to Easter activities.  I think I'll try that next year.

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One long-standing tradition we do have is taking poor Easter outfit pictures.  And you know how I feel about breaking traditions...

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Meanwhile, we did manage to have a lot of fun activities.  

We colored Easter Eggs:

We participated in no less than 3 Easter egg hunts.  One was a neighborhood hunt that started 15 minutes before the advertized time and was finished in about 2 minutes.  Luckily, our kids arrived just as the "GO" signal was shouted and were able to get a few eggs.  As you might imagine, 10 minutes later there were a lot of disappointed kids and disgruntled parents.

The second is our traditional (2nd annual!) home hunt.  Hiding the eggs is so fun!  Mark took great pleasure in hiding them in conspicious, yet camouflaged locations.  

 Our third hunt was at my Aunt Deanna's home.  My cousin Mandy called earlier in the week saying, "Erin, you know you're invited for Easter, right?"

"No!" I answered.  It's been so long since we've lived close to family that I've forgotten to even consider the possibility of celebrating holidays with family.  Such a nice change!

Deanna organized a special egg hunt for the littlest kids (3 and under).  Their eggs were hidden more easily and filled with crackers and fruit snacks.  By this time, Bryce was a hunting pro.  He wasted no time darting around the yard filling up his bag.

 Then came the hunt for the bigger kids.  The three five year-old cousins had a slight head-start on the three oldest cousins, but there were SO MANY eggs, I don't think it mattered much.  

 Aubree's bag was bulging by the time she finished.  When Bryce saw the big kids dart off, he jumped back up and joined the hunt again.  More candy?  Count him in!

Animal Overload

This past week we learned that the sun does in fact shine in Washington.  It was such a beautiful week that we had to take advantage of the weather and get outside.  Thursday the kids and I decided to explore a new zoo - the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.  I was a little hesitant going by myself, but it ended up being a fantastic experience.  First, the zoo is gorgeous and exciting, yet still small and welcoming; probably the best zoo I've ever visited.

Second - we were thrilled and surprised to discover that the featured animals correlated perfectly to the book we rowed last week, The Very Last First Time (which was about an Inuit girl living near the Arctic).  After spending all week talking about polar bears, arctic foxes, walruses, seals, muskoxen, and caribou, you can imagine how fun it was to see them up close (and I do mean CLOSE).

Hello Polar Bear!

 In a dramatic departure from previous zoo encounters, Aubree queried, "do they have a petting zoo?"  Though the petting zoo only consisted of a few goats, Aubree was undeterred and later confirmed that petting the goats was her favorite part of the trip.

The white goat liked to stick his head through the bars and rub back and forth.  Bryce didn't want to touch him, claiming, "he keeps saying 'no, no!'"  

Does this count as a "petting zoo?"

In another surprising twist, Bryce said his favorite part was seeing the sharks.  Bryce has a tendency to be afraid that things are going to eat him.  He doesn't generally get terrified, just concerned.  As in, "I think that dog is going to eat me."

But seeing the sharks? No problem.

 Posing behind fake shark teeth?  No way.

Bryce's other favorite thing was sliding on the "otter slides."  I had to promise that we'd come back (and bring Dad), otherwise he wouldn't stop his sliding circuit.

And, of course, no outing with a newly potty-trained kid is complete without a visit to the public restroom.  This kid-sized toilet was as big a hit as any of the exotic animals.

 We also really liked seeing the tigers, including two cubs.  I was a little unnerved being so close, because just last week I had a nightmare that I was at a zoo and tigers got loose and were chasing people.  But, I guess I wasn't nervous enough to avoid holding up this appealing morsel...

As I mentioned, we LOVED this zoo and hope to go back soon.  But then again, it could be that the zoo is actually really terrible and it's just all that sunshine making my brain happy.

Animal Farm

Most Friday afternoons the kids and I go to a local homeschool co-op (called "Scoop").  There are probably about 20-25 kids who attend, but they're split between the big kids and the little kids.  Aubree and Bryce are both in the little kid (3-6 year olds) group.  Scoop is a perfect fit for Bryce and Aubree also has fun.  

The moms have responsibility for different portions of the program, including: opening circle, story time, music, plan & play, centers, art, and science.  I'm in charge of Plan & Play (which is based on research that suggests that sustained role playing has significant long-term cognitive and academic benefits) and Art (which, since I lack artistic ability, is more "crafts").  

Last week our Scoop theme was "Farms."  For Plan & Play time I brought animal noses out of egg cartons, let the kids choose which animal they wanted to "be," and sat back thoroughly entertained as the kids got into character.  Bryce started out as a little pig, but spent most of his time with a cow nose.  He found himself a cozy pen and practiced rolling around in the mud. 

Aubree tried on a couple noses, but ultimately decided she'd rather be the farmer.  Soon, she and another mom got the idea to open a Farmer's Market where they sold milk, cheese, and eggs.  When the animals inevitably became customers, she also sold animal food. 

 Thane crawled around alternately fascinated and terrified by the protuberances.  He wanted nothing to do with wearing one himself.  

 The other kids were equally hilarious.  One boy, Ryan, chose to wear the sheep nose.  Only he decided it was a mouse nose and he snuck around the room squeaking and trying to steal cheese.

 Overall, it was a lot of fun.

Museum of Flight

Despite my lack of updates, Aubree and I are still going strong with home schooling.  When we got back from Tahoe we really got in a good groove and have been able to be very consistent since them.  In fact, we're almost done with her Kindergarten year!  We have less than 3 weeks left till we finish up what we had planned.  I'll write a wrap-up post then with our thoughts on how it went (what worked and what didn't), our plans for the summer (and why we'll "school" year round), and our tentative plans for the fall.

In the meantime, here's a post I meant to write a month ago!

One week we "rowed" (get it? Five in a "Row"...) the book The Glorious Flight, which was about Louis Bleriot - the first person to fly solo over the English Channel.  I mentioned our plans to a friend and she commented, "Oh! So, are you going to visit the Museum of Flight?"  With that smack upside the head, (why wouldn't we???) we headed out one windy and rainy morning for the perfect culminating field trip after a week learning about the history of airplanes.  I was surprised how much more interesting I found the museum with a little background information.

Mark works literally across the street from the Museum, so he took a long lunch and walked over to meet us there.  Don't they look like they're on a real flight in this picture?

Proof that Thane came too (he's so cute!):

The same friend who gave me the idea of going to the museum graciously agreed to come along to be a tour guide and provide playmates for my kids.  This is Aubree and her new friend, Lauren, flying the helicopter.

Mark trying his hand at para-sailing:

Bryce sitting in the cock-pit of of fighter jet.  He looks like he's enjoying himself, don't you think?

Here's Aubree showing the lapbook she made for our Glorious Flight week:

Lapbooks are so fun!

Fail

Why Mommy multi-tasking isn't always the best choice (I was talking on the phone to my sister and couldn't figure out why I couldn't get his pants to pull up):

Cold Turkey (and other animals too)

We've been warning Bryce for months, "when you turn three, you'll be too big to have a pacifier ("Paci") and we're going to throw it away."  

He consistently replied, "if I don't have my paci I'll cry and cry."

The day after his birthday we said, "b-bye Paci."

And "Hello, sad Bryce."  

I expect it to take about a week for Bryce to get used to falling asleep without his paci.  The first couple nights, true to his word, he did cry, but not as much as I expected and he's not having any problems sleeping through the night.  Naps we'll need to totally relearn.

Part of my post-paci strategy involved trying to tire him out during the day so he'd be too tired to think about needing his paci at night.  So, Monday morning Karen and I bundled up all the kidlets and set off for the Woodland Park Zoo.  Despite being rather chilly, we were able to successfully elude any rain showers - a significant feat in our neck of the woods.  Additionally, the animals were all remarkable active which made our day especially enjoyable.

The whole crew, ready to start exploring:

This peacock was a total show-off:

One of the elephants was practicing his dancing skills:

Aubree refused to get close to this Orangutan, but Ally thought he was fabulous (though it does beg the question, "who's watching who?"):

Thane had the best traveling spot (with a fuzzy blanket to keep him warm), but preferred to be out.  I'd hoped he'd be so warm and cozy he would curl up and take a nap.  I should have known better. 

I think this little boat was the highlight of the trip for Bryce.  He saw it from a distance and suddenly the animals lost all allure.

Our final stop at the zoo was the ZooMasium, where the kids can play indoors.  Karen took the older three to play while I watched over the babes - Cora and Thane.

I think my plan worked - Bryce slept long and hard that night.  So did the rest of us.

Birthday Boy Bryce

Guess who's 3!!  Here are some clues (in case you didn't read the title):

One -

Two -

Three -

 Happy Birthday to my Honey Boy! 

I'm glad Bryce is now officially three.  In my head he's been three for a while.  There's such a dramatic difference in kids from their second birthday to their third, that the term "two" seems inadequate as a descriptive word.  

Our Hoffman cousins (and their mom) made the trek from Eastern Washington to celebrate the occasion with us.  

I think all kid birthdays should fall on Saturdays. Mark was home and (in theory) we could spend the whole day playing and celebrating as a family.  First things first, though - presents!  We got Bryce a train table and Thomas MegaBlocks (Duplos).  Grandma and Grandpa Winters sent a big box full of goodies, including more trains and Duplos.  Bryce was thrilled!

Aubree had a hard time coming to grips with the idea that now that Bryce is three, he no longer needs her "help" unwrapping all his presents.

Then Mark and Karen rounded up the kids and took them to the Children's Museum for a few hours of fun.  

 I stayed home with a sick baby, which, though disappointing, did afford me an opportunity to decorate Bryce's cake.  Bryce had requested a "Thomas birthday."  More specifically, he wanted, "a Thomas cake, Thomas presents, a Thomas balloon, and Thomas plates."  We did our best to comply.

I think he had a good day.  We love our big three-year old!