Easter 2011

We had a busy and fun Easter week and weekend. Our first event of the week was visiting the Easter bunny. My parents met me there to see the kids with the bunny. Taylor was okay until Grandpa set her in the bunny's lap and then she started crying.

The photographer was able to get her to calm down and we got a pretty cute picture of the two of them. (This isn't the actual picture, but it gives you an idea of how it turned out)

Taylor loves spending time with Grandpa!

The next item on the agenda was dying eggs. Dylan dyed the eggs while Taylor was napping and he had a lot of fun dipping the eggs in multiple colors =)

He worked hard!

On Friday night, we participated in the underwater egg hunt at the Issaquah pool. I wasn't sure what to expect and it ended up being really crowded. Since Grandpa and Dylan spend so much time at pool together we thought it was fitting for Grandpa to do this with Dylan.

They spent lots of time collecting eggs around the pool.

Look at all my eggs!

On Saturday morning we went with the Goldberg's to their Church's pancake breakfast and egg hunt.

Taylor loves Payten and they had fun running around. This is how Taylor gives hugs, she leans her head in on people's chests. (The other way she gives hugs is getting them in a head lock and pulling them to the ground)

First, Taylor did the egg hunt with the smaller kids.

Next up was Dylan. He was off and running and found a ton of eggs. He was hoping they were all filled was animals, but he was okay with candy =)

Dylan and Grandma went back and found lots of eggs in the bushes.

Grandma and Grandpa's Easter basket for Dylan. He was SO excited!!

On Easter we went to the Kemppainen's house. Taylor loved chasing Vinnie around the yard.

The poor cat was definitely sick of being chased by the end of the day.

Aunt Lana bought Dylan and Taylor a special Easter dessert. These kids are definitely spoiled!

Taylor loved the treat! I used to eat off these plates when I was little. It makes me think of how fast time goes by. I am just trying to enjoy every moment.

Dylan's First Movie in a Theater

There couldn't have been a more perfect movie to take Dylan to for his first experience at a theater. When I saw the advertisement for African Cats, I knew I had to take Dylan to see it. "Big cats" are his favorite type of animal right now and he is obsessed! He had to earn this movie because we have been having a little problem with the language he is using (he loves to say stupid and shut-up when he gets mad and I was getting sick and tired of it. Luckily he would never say the words to me, but he would just yell them if he was mad). In order to see the movie he had to have 5 days without saying those words. He got a sticker for each day he made good choices with his language. To my surprise, he got all 5 stickers in 6 days and he still isn't using the words. Hopefully this means we've turned a corner =).

When we arrived at the theater Dylan was excited to get to our seat. He looked so small in the seat. His little legs seemed like they barely kept the chair from folding back up. We had a few teenage girls near us and Dylan was enamoured with them. He would laugh when they laughed (even if it was at a totally inappropriate time, like when they would show the male lion's balls). He would look at me and say, "I'm laughing mom". One time he burped really loud and it made everyone around us laugh. He said, "my body needs to do that some times". It was cute. He wasn't great at using an inside voice and he didn't understand why we had to be quiet. He was great at eating all the treats. I was cheap and brought popcorn and candy from home. I let him eat whatever he wanted and he ate an entire package of Red Vines expect for 2 pieces I ate. I should have monitored that a little better, but I didn't notice it until they were gone. Overall, it was a great experience and a fun date night for us!

We got EGGED!!!!

Dylan was SO excited when our house got egged. Here are a few highlights.

You've been EGGED!!!!

I saw this really cute activity on a blog the other day and I thought Dylan would really enjoy it. You take an egg carton and you fill it with plastic eggs that you've filled with fun thing things (we used candy, money and stickers). Dylan enjoying filling the eggs because he could test out all the candy while he was filling them =).

Then you print off these instruction sheets and roll them up.

We decided to "egg" two friends.

Next, we went into their yards and hid the eggs. We had to wait a few days in between filling the eggs and actually "egging" the houses because it has been raining so much. Dylan had a hard time waiting and everyday he would ask me if we could go "egging".

Then we set the empty carton on their doorstep with the notes and we rang the door bell and ran away. Dylan decided to ride his scooter and some how he fell off after our first getaway. His lip was bleeding and he leg was bleeding, but he was tough and we went on to "egg" the next house.

Here is Taylor in the getaway wagon. She was great at being sneaky! I think this is a new tradition we will do every year.

Happy 4th Birthday, Dylan!!!!

I can't believe my little man is 4! He is such a special kid and I'm so glad to be his mom! He is fun, intelligent, tender-hearted, strong willed, witty and humorous. He is maturing so much and it is fun to watch him develop from a toddler to a kid.

Uncle Matt came into town for Dylan's birthday weekend and it was a whirlwind animal filled weekend. On Saturday, Taylor was under the weather so I stayed home with her while the rest of the family went to NW Trek. Dylan had the best time! He is really into pumas right now so he was so excited to see them. Uncle Matt bought him two puma's at the gift shop and they haven't left his side since. On Sunday, Dylan and I went to the zoo with Uncle Matt and Papa. Dylan always runs from animal to animal in record time and it was a fun trip.

While we were at the zoo everyone decorated house in a wild animal theme. This picture is a little blurry, but you can see the animals all around. Dylan thought all the decorations were really cool.

Taylor woke up from her nap and I could tell she was getting pink eye (our friend's kids had it recently so when I saw a goopey eye I knew she was getting it). She was a trooper, but I told everyone to keep there distance, which is almost impossible because everyone wants to snuggle this little cutie!

Dylan wanted a lion cake so I had fun making it for him.

Lion Cake, YUM!!!

Dylan wanted to eat the eyes.

Aunt Lana and Brenna helped Dylan open his huge pile of gifts. In the week leading up to his birthday he was very worried that people wouldn't know he was into animals so they wouldn't get him animal toys. Well, luckily for Dylan everyone got the memo!

Some of the family waiting for Dylan to open his gifts.

Uncle Matt giving Dylan a painting that was done by a Spectacled Bear at the Houston zoo. This was a very cool gift and Dylan has it displayed in his room. Dylan likes to show everyone the paw print on it.

Dylan was checking out his new safari hut. He wanted to open it so badly! Too bad he had about 20 more gifts to open. By the end he started saying, "I'm getting tired".

Nana and Papa gave Dylan a HUGE lion. Taylor loves to ride it!

Gigi sent Dylan a bouncy ball and Dylan was playing a human bowling ball and knocking over all of his inflatable animals. Lauren was a great sport and spent about an hour continually setting up the animals.

Dylan's actually birthday was the day after his family party. I was planning on taking Dylan to the zoo, but he just wanted to stay home to play with his new toys. I talked him into going out to Red Robin for lunch because he LOVES their corn dogs. Daddy met us and as you can see in the photo the pumas came with us too.

Dylan enjoying his birthday sundae.

The following Saturday was Dylan's party with his friends. I let him pick who he wanted to come to his birthday and he only wanted Sawyer and Chloe. (Actually, he wanted our other neighbors Joel and Jared to come too, but I knew they wouldn't want to come to his party - they are 10 and 12). It was a fun, intimate party.

Once again it was an animal theme, but I didn't want to make another big lion cake so I made lion cupcakes.

When the kids arrived they decorated their goodie bags and binoculars for the safari with animal stamps and stickers.

The kiddos were ready for the safari. I told the kids facts about each animal and gave them a clue about where they were hiding.

They were excited to find the giraffe hiding by the TV. I was surprised how much they enjoyed the safari. They loved finding the animals. It was so cute!!!

Next up was pin the tail on the lion. I was afraid that the kids wouldn't like to be blind-folded so I found this doctors hat from an old halloween costume and it worked so well. It covered their eyes but it wasn't tight so they didn't feel scared.

I loved the end result! The kids really enjoyed it and it was fun to watch them stumbling over the lion to put on the tail.

Next up, the lion pinata!

Before we even got the video camera rolling, Dylan decapitated the lion. I definitely learned that you should buy a pinata in the shape of a sphere if you don't want it to instantly break. We ended up hanging it by the body and the kids were able to whack away at it.

Sawyer taking a big swing.

This picture sums up our daughter. She grabbed the bat and was ready to attack that lion! This is definitely one of my favorite pictures!

Inside the pinata were animals and candy. Dylan was so excited about the animals. He was collecting them as quickly as he could.

Everyone enjoying their mini corn dog lunch.

Whenever Dylan shows people how old he is on his fingers, he always bends down the pinky. I don't know why he chooses to do it this way because it is so hard, but it is cute.

Blowing out his candles.

Grandma and Grandpa gave this fire truck chair to Dylan and Taylor is definitely enjoying it. It was a great birthday week!