Easter Fun

 

Easter is quickly approaching, and we've been having lots of fun with our two little Easter Bunnies.  We dyed eggs this weekend, and both children enjoyed this seasonal event.  We now have dozens of colorful, hard-boiled eggs, and these silly kiddos were all smiles:

 

 

 

 

Luke has become a pro at the annual egg hunt that is a part of the Children's Easter party in our neighborhood:

As he opened his treat-filled eggs, he exclaimed "This is AWESOME!"  and "Oh Yeah!".  How we adore that enthusiastic little man!:

Thankfully, my big boy has come a long way since the days when he wouldn't smile for the camera:

 

And look who else has made enormous progress with smiles since her disastrous sobbing picture with the Easter Bunny last year:

 

These two adorable friends happily rubbed noses, and apparently I did not traumatize my daughter by placing her in Santa's and the Easter Bunny's laps as an infant:

 

We caught up with the ole' EB at the mall this weekend, too, and Luke pointed out that "it's a different Easter Bunny than the one Leah saw last week".  Mark and I mumbled something about how maybe it looked funny because the Easter Bunny was wearing clothes and glasses, but we were unprepared to delve further into the conversation than that with our extremely observant 4 year old: 

 

We've also had a couple of cute Easter Bunny impersonators at our house lately:

 

Hippity Hoppity, Easter's on its way!!

 

Little League Opening Night

 

The opening night of Little League season was on Thursday night, and we all looked forward to the proposed activities on our itinerary.  The plan was to attend a local high school baseball game (and watch the "big kids" play!), have the professional photographer take individual and tee ball team pictures, and march in a parade with all of the other Little League teams in the area.      

Our first sign that the evening was going to be a little different than we anticipated was when we went to our assigned meeting place for pictures.  There were literally hundreds of Little League players wandering around, playing in the dirt, and checking out each other's new uniforms as the poor photographer tried to corral teams and control the chaos.  He was so behind schedule that the kids didn't get to watch any of the baseball game, and parents were frantically trying to keep those white baseball pants clean until after their children were photographed.  Finally it was our turn:

I still think our team has the cutest logo- How I adore that "W" on the banner! 

 

Our spirits weren't dampened by the frost warning for that night and unseasonably low temperatures for this time of year in SC.  We were even optimistic about the fact that directly after pictures, the teams were required to line up for the parade (a full hour before it started).  I knew Coach Daddy would have his hands full trying to keep ten 4 & 5 year olds occupied for that length of time, but was certain that our team was in good hands.  Below is a picture of all of the coaches and players lined up behind the outfield fence.  It is hard to capture in the photo just how long that line was:

And then our teeth started to chatter.  The sun went down and boy, was it chilly!  I thought of our friends in NY, who tell stories about wearing gloves and earmuffs while watching their children at sports activities (Mrs. Davies, that's you!).  Leah sat bundled up in my lap, as we patiently watched about 25 other teams make their way around the stadium.  Peanut was a doll, and she clapped and cheered for many of the players, waving and smiling, and apparently unfazed by the cold.  Eventually we were rewarded as our Nationals marched by, banner in hand.  Look how proud our little man is:

 

 

This is what your tee ball team of preschoolers will look like (after holding it together for over an hour) when they finally get their 5 minutes of fame in the parade: 

At least they were all still in one piece! The poor Wee Ball teams (3 year-olds) marched in very last, which was almost 3 hours into this event.  Absolutely freezing and way past bed time, there was at least one player crying on each team who needed to be carried by a coach or rescued by a parent in the crowd.  Poor little guys! 

All of the teams lined up and I have to confess that Leah and I went to warm up in the car while the first pitch of the season was thrown and the closing remarks were announced:

 

Luke and Mark joined us in later, and Luke announced, "I am SOOO tuckered out!".  He was such a trouper, and was so excited about being in a parade.  His favorite part of parades has always been marching bands (at Wake Forest games, Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on tv, etc).  Apparently, as he waited with his teammates to march into the stadium, he whispered to Mark, "Daddy, where's my instrument?"

 

And Mark smiled to himself and replied, "There aren't instruments in this parade, buddy, just baseball players."

 

Luke nodded thoughtfully and appeared to accept this answer.  When I heard the story, I couldn't stop giggling.  It's just like Luke, to be so literal and expect his parade to have instruments, like all the ones he's watched before.

 

Although the night wasn't exactly what we expected, it was all made worthwhile by the sight of our sweet boy in his uniform.  It was one of those moments as a parent that took my breath away and that I wasn't expecting.  I know that we have years of sports ahead of us, and many, many uniforms in our future, but this first time is a milestone and a preview of life ahead.  This is my baby, and he's growing up: 

 

 

 

Below are some more pictures of our little man in his uniform.  That little bottom in his baseball pants is just too cute for words (and he'll be so embarassed some day that I wrote that).  Enjoy these backyard photos of our lil' slugger:

TLC

 

It has been exactly one month since Winnie's surgery to repair her torn left ACL and meniscus.  We have 8 more weeks to go, but so far, our furry girl is making a good recovery thanks to some special TLC from her siblings.  As you can see in the above picture, Dr. Leah has made some special house calls to check on her furry sister, and reports that all is well! 

 

Sweet Winnie was not thrilled about the bag of frozen peas that she had to endure right after her surgery, but was even more embarrassed about her shaved leg.  We keep telling her how "pretty" her new haircut is, and luckily she seems to be buying it! 

 

 

During the first few weeks of recovery, Winnie was confined to crate rest, and we missed having her underfoot and following us around the house.  Leah would often bring toys right to the edge of the crate to "play" with Winnie, and this just about turned me into a puddle every time:

 

 

One of the kids' favorite games is to put on fire hats, transform into "firemen", and pretend that Winnie is their firehouse dog.  Luke seems to be telling Leah that something is missing in this picture (and it's not just their pet): 

 

Of course Mommy took the opportunity to take a close up of those irresistible chunky thighs while Leah's pants were MIA: 

 

We are thrilled to report that Fire Dog Winnie is back in action after taking some medical leave, and thanks to the TLC from her brother and sister, she's on the road to a full recovery (and hopes to be running by beach time this summer)!

Day at the Zoo

 

 

Luke received his tee ball uniform this weekend, and hasn't taken off his baseball cap since: 

 

Our lil' slugger even wanted to wear his new hat when we visited our zoo on Sunday.  As Luke stood beside Leah (who donned a precious, girly, floral sunhat) I couldn't resist photographing this cute pair at the monkey exhibit:

 

The above picture of my children pulls at my heartstrings a little. They look like such big kids, and it was one of those perfect, beautiful days where I wanted to freeze time and remember how delicious and full life is.  Both Luke and Leah are at such wonderful ages, and we are having so much fun as a family together.  Here's another one of my loves in their adorable hats: 

 

Speaking of adorable, we also were able to see the zoo's baby giraffe, Kiko, with his mom and dad:

 

 

Another cutie, Baby Bob (the zoo's 5 year-old orangutan), came right up to the glass to visit with L&L, which was a special treat:

 

 

Although we go to our zoo often, there's something magical about that first visit each spring, full of  promise of the season ahead and remembrance of past fun.  We pose with this bear statue at the zoo frequently, and it's amazing to see what a difference two years makes:

St. Patrick's Day 2013.

 

Spring 2011- Leah's first visit to the Greenville Zoo.

 

Another cute tidbit:  I finally got a close-up of Nutty's St. Patrick's Day shirt!

 

We had a great day at the zoo, and are ready to officially welcome spring tomorrow!

Daddy's Lucky Charms

 

Mark ran his first race today, and participated in Greenville's St. Patty's Day 5K Dash.  He had the coolest bib number: 1234, and accomplished his goal of completing the race in under 25 minutes.  He finished in the top 10% of over 1200 participants, which is amazing for a first time runner!   

 

 

The children had coordinating shamrock shirts to celebrate St. Patty's Day weekend, and I particularly loved Leah's shirt, which read, "Daddy's Lucky Charm".  However, despite bribes, pleading, and lots of attempts, these were the best pictures I got of my two little leprechauns.  Sometimes the photography gods just aren't in your favor....

In fact, the kids and I barely made it to the race in time.  Literally, the announcer was counting down on the loudspeaker, "10, 9, 8, 7,...." as we unbuckled car seats, bolted out of our car, and ran to the starting line, just in time to wave and cheer for Mark.  Ironically, the reason we were late was that we were stuck in line at Dunkin' Donuts for 35 minutes.  At 7:30 a.m, the place was packed, and we ended up behind an entire traveling karate team.  (Once you promise my kids a munchkin, there is no leaving the store until said donuts are safely in hand).  So as heart-healthy Daddy was stretching and preparing to exercise, we were buying donuts and Mommy's blood pressure was through the roof thinking that we were going to miss the race.  All's well that ends well, and we even saw Daddy a second time as he approached the finish line. 

After the race, there were fun kids' activities as part of the St. Patrick's Weekend festivities:


Our little golfer takes a swing.

 

Luke was also signed up for the Kids Fun Run this morning, but couldn't participate since it conflicted with tee ball, so he made up his own course and ran up and down Main Street in downtown Greenville instead:

He even challenged Leah and Daddy to a race, and beat his worthy opponents:

 It's a gorgeous spring day here, 76 degrees and sunny, and we are loving this St. Patty's Day weekend weather.  Congratulations, Daddy, on a great first race! 

Spring Weekend in Williamsburg

 

 We just returned from a wonderful spring weekend at Bean & Poppy's house in Williamsburg, VA.  We look forward to our annual March visit every year, which coincides with the church's Kids Consignment Sale.  This sale was a record for me, as I had bags and bags of "stuff" to sell, but only spent $9 buying items.  Mark was thrilled that we are finally getting rid of more than we are acquiring! 

 

Our weekend was full of special activities and the children loved all of Bean & Poppy's toys and games.  Luke learned how to play "War" and challenged Bean to daily games: 

Leah learned how to play some "big kid" games, too, including Whack a Mole:

 

 

Luke had a special outing at the bowling alley with his grandparents on Friday afternoon, and showed off his bowling skills:

 

 

We also had a great visit with Great Grammy and the children loved playing with her musical dancing stuffed animals: 

On Saturday, Uncle Brian, Lauren, & Gabe came to visit, and these cousins were so excited to play together:

 

 

We enjoyed a beautiful day outside, and even had a bocce ball tournament in the front yard:

We couldn't resist another cute picture of these cousins together.  Thank you to Bean and Poppy for a terrific weekend of fun!

 

 

Below is a slideshow of more of our Williamsburg weekend pictures: