Easter

The Saturday before Easter, our Primary did an Easter egg hunt and a celebration at the park. The weather turned out to be perfect and we had a great time. We started out by decorating bags for the egg hunt at the end of the day.

Even thought the Primary did an excellent job of planning fun games, once Ethan saw this cat roaming around the park he was fixated on it!

He did eventually get into the parachute games...
But really preferred to just sit and play on it when everyone was done!On the hunt for eggs! He wasn't all that into it, but I did manage to help him find one or two before he got too distracted.
Checking out what the egg holds inside

Tristan had to work on Easter Sunday, so we decided to have our Easter dinner a week early. I spent Sunday morning prepping dinner so that it was mostly ready when we got home from church on Sunday afternoon.

I made a carrot cake (Tristan's favorite) and Ethan really wanted to be in the kitchen with me. So, instead of fighting it, we rolled with it. I got him his own bowl, put a little water in it and let him mix away! The funny part was when he started pulling the carrot peelings out of the sink and adding them to his bowl...smart kid! He already knows that in order to make a great cake you've got to have more than water!

Ethan helping me on Sunday morning while I prepare the food for our Easter dinner

Ethan, all dressed up for Easter Sunday

Here I am, cooking our Easter dinner!

So for some reason, we decided that dying Easter eggs with a 1 1/2 year was a good idea. The Monday before Easter, we set out on our mission. Needless to say, Ethan didn't quite understand the concept and just put all the eggs in all at once. I don't even think Tristan and I got to do one! He just liked dumping them in...whatever makes him happy!

After all the dumping was done, he decided to get comfortable and wait for the outcome
As expected, we dyed the toddler and not just the eggs!

The inevitable spill! I'm just glad we only had one and that it was at the end!

For some reason that night he decided to build a fort under his high chair. He kept pulling blanket after blanket and even newspapers under the high chair and would hide out under it! What a silly kid!
The end result!!! You can see how Ethan's technique worked out on a few of those eggs!

Tristan wasn't home on the actual day of Easter, but Ethan still had lots of surprises waiting for him that day!

The Easter Bunny came!

I love how his hands are folded as he discovers his basket and walks over to it!
Checking out his puzzle

Peeking into his Easter basket to see what's inside...

Trying out the jelly beans...he enjoyed them a lot!!
After practicing putting coins in his piggy bank from his Grandpa and Grandma, he decided to put jellybeans into his truck!
He had lots of fun before church playing with his surprises. We did do an egg hunt later that afternoon, but I was too busy helping him open eggs to take any pictures. Overall, he still wasn't that into it. Maybe next year! I am grateful to have the opportunity to make memories as a family surrounding holidays, but even more grateful for the atonement and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Happy Easter!!

Grandma and Grandpa Walker's Visit--Part I

My parents planned a trip to come down the last week of March. Well, they were part of all the Alaska airlines mess, so their flight that was supposed to arrive Saturday afternoon didn't get in until Sunday morning! I felt so bad for the because they had spent 15 hours at SeaTac airport and then flew all night. Needless to say, we didn't do much on Sunday! Everyone rested and we just spent time relaxing!

Monday morning we woke up ready for some adventure! We decided to head out to the zoo that morning because the forecast called for rain the next couple of days. Even though we had just gone the week before I decided to take advantage of our membership and the good weather!

Ethan loved using his zoo key again and grandma was the perfect helper!

Doing it all by himself!
Ethan was fascinated by the coin funnel and grandpa just happened to have a pocket full of change!

We made a stop by the petting zoo to see the goats. I thought it was so funny how he just crouched down and got on their level! He loves animals!

Ethan loved to walk around holding his grandma and grandpa's hand. Here he's saying, "C'mon grandma!!! There's more to see!"
That's better...one on each side!

Tristan was working in Lafayette in the radio room that week, so we drove over on Monday night to meet him for dinner and to visit. We got there a little early, so we spent some time hanging out in the parking lot and exploring.

We joked that my dad was going to be walking lopsided once he returned home since he had to lean to the side to hold his hand all the time!
On Tuesday we went by the library to return and check out some books. We normally do it on Mondays during story time, but Ethan had had a cold that wouldn't go away and I was trying to keep him and his germs away from other little kids! Afterwards, we stopped by a nearby park for some playtime.

The first of many slide encounters!

A stop by to visit the dog

So many slides, so little time!
Taking on the twirly slide

Grandpa decided to be a trooper and take Ethan down the slide that was too big for him to do on his own!

That night grandpa decided to introduce Ethan to one of his favorites--popsicles!
Look at that popsicle grin!

I had a bunch of errands to run on Wednesday to get ready for a bachelorette party I was hosting the next day, so we decided to stop by the mall play area for some fun.

Grandma helping Ethan out on yet another slide!

Ethan went down this slide over and over and over again. Whoever invented mall play areas was a genius!
Grandpa helped Ethan learn some new "tricks" on the slide...
Lots of fun and their visit was only half over!

We stayed busy in March with things around the apartment, church responsibilities and, of course, finding time to meet up with friends for fun adventures! Ethan loves to play with his cars on his window sill and some mornings in March were cool enough that we opened our window to let the cool air into the apartment. Apparently, on this morning I didn't move stuff out of the way fast enough for him, so he decided to take matters into his own hands!

At the beginning of March we met some friends to go to the zoo. We actually ended up getting a membership, so many more trip to the zoo are in our future, I'm sure! The first stop was the tiger enclosure. I thought it was so cute how they were cuddling!

We made a stop by the aquariums to see, fish, turtles, sting rays, snakes and spiders. Here are the two buddies checking out some fish!
As you can see, he loves the aquariums!

They were both very interested in the leaves floating in the moat at the monkey enclosure!

I truly think the highlight for Ethan this day was running up and down the little hill on a bridge. No animals in sight, just a hill! We managed to make it out alive, even though I had visions of skinned knees and foreheads. He and Drew just kept running up and down, up and down. The things that entertain toddlers!
Last week, we went to Miss Heather's strawberry patch with a group of friends. It's about a 30 minute drive and I thought Ethan would like being outside since he's an outdoors junkie. It turned out to be a little bit of a warmer, humid morning, so we were definitely feeling it while we were out there picking berries!

At the beginning (before he was melting) he was very interested in what all these people were doing. You are allowed to eat while you pick, which is a nice perk! He kept picking one, taking a bite and throwing the rest on the ground. He did it over and over again, so I know it wasn't that he didn't like the flavor--silly boy!

Ethan getting in on the action. Looks like he found a good one!

By the end of the picking he was worn out and hot! Here he is taking a sit-down break with his juice. Poor guy! Sweat was dripping down his cheeks! I tried to go as fast as I could, but it takes a while to pick a half-flat!
After the strawberry picking, we headed over to their play area for some fun. They had lots of playground type toys and these little tractors that my car and truck lover loved to push around. I just wished he would stay in the shade with me for just a minute, but he insisted on playing more!

They had a bunch of the ride-on tractors. He had fun just sitting on them since he couldn't reach the pedals and it was a little too heavy for me to push! Look at that pink face!! I promise I put sunblock on and he didn't get a sunburn...he just gets super flushed when he's hot!

He liked watching the kids on the big trampoline, but when I tried putting him up on it, he wasn't having it! Maybe by pumpkin time!
This was Ethan on the way home from the strawberry patch...wiped out!
Unfortunately, he slept just long enough that he didn't go back down for a nap once we returned home...so our day was very, very long! But the strawberries were so worth it!! Once again, another fun day with friends!