Month: March 2013

Amazingly Alex had forgotten all about the Easter Bunny until he got to the living room and saw the basket. Then he got excited! He and Teague wanted to check out both baskets before opening either.

Then Wade, Teague, and I had to rush to the airport for our flight to Boston. We have an appointment tomorrow at Boston’s Children’s Hospital for Teague’s eyes. (Alex is excited to have two days alone with Gram.) Teague did great on our two flights. He carried Mumby through both airports, slept through one flight, and quietly entertained himself through the other.

We did our yearly neighborhood brunch and Easter egg hunt this morning. The brunch part is obviously more for the adults, but the kids humored us and even ate a little bit. Here is a typical moment with the older kids (and Grant thrown in for good measure – eyeing a strawberry on Alex’s plate).

Then we got down to the business of finding those eggs. The Dads (who are responsible for the hiding) were smart and devised a way to make sure the younger kids got eggs too. All of the eggs on the ground were only for the little kids and any eggs hidden off the ground (such as on a railing or in a tree branch) were for the big kids. Everyone was happy with the arrangement and everyone got a lot of eggs. The big kids were really cute about helping the little ones find eggs. They loved pointing them out or even helping them fill their baskets after they had found all the “high” eggs.

Now for a comparison through the years. Our first Easter egg hunt was in 2011. Starting from left to right..

This picture is from a little earlier in the week. We got these masks when we visited the Easter bunny. Teague loved the mask. He loved it on everyone else. He would have nothing to do with it on his eyes. He tolerated it on his head.

It was too nice to stay inside so outside we went. Teague loves his bike and would much rather ride than shovel. Alex spends most of his time shoveling snow. In the end, both boys ended up jumping in the puddles.

The weather was warmer today so we headed outside to play. There was still snow on the ground so we shoveled the snow to the sidewalk/driveway in hopes that it would melt faster! Damian, Bo, and Jack even came out to play too.

One of my good college friends, Jamie, is getting married in a few weeks and I am unable to attend the wedding. I wanted to do something special and my mom told me about a gift box my sister has done in the past. It was the perfect thing! She chose seven small gifts, each with a specific theme. They were wrapped and then numbered. On the back of each numbered tag is a quote linking the item to love. The last present is meant to be opened on the wedding day.

I was curious to introduce Teague to the Easter Bunny. I got out a picture of Alex visiting from 2011 and showed both boys. Then we headed off to the mall. Alex was pretty excited. Teague did fine until I put him on the bench. Then he held out his hands and started calling, “Mama Mama Mama” I thought that was the end of that. I did kneel down and talk to him a few minutes. He realized Alex was sitting on the bunny’s other side and I pointed out the camera. You can see he was quickly smiling and almost pitched a fit when we had to leave – thankfully lunch was next on the agenda..

Today’s big activity was dyeing Easter eggs. A little messy, but lots of fun!

Wade said Alex was begging for a way to earn a star this morning. (He was just one short of a TV show.) Wade finally agreed to let Alex help him clean. This is at the end of the cleaning when Alex decided to scrub the car. Then of course Teague wanted to scrub the car too.

Alex was overdue for a haircut weeks ago. (Our favorite barber/stylist is MIA and we haven’t found a new one we like.) We decided to have some fun with his crazy long hair today.

Before long Teague wanted to join in the fun too. (or maybe he just wanted the cars in the shower and tolerated Alex playing with his hair…)

I think Wade has given up on ever using the couch again. The animals used to wait for me to get there before taking a nap. Now I have to join them…

Just to show how stubborn a four year old can be….
Alex got his two shots on March 12. Imagine my surprise when we got home from Asheville and he still had one of his band-aids on his arm. He had refused to let Granny and Pop take it off. Thankfully he didn’t seem to have any issue with Wade taking it off at bath time.

Wade and I were supposed to fly out at 9 AM and be home by 2 PM so that Judy and Jerry could catch their flight out at 6 PM (Yes we knew this meant everything would have to go perfectly). Of course we had numerous issues at the airport with our flight and ended up on a different airline landing in Milwaukee around 4 PM. Judy and Jerry met us at the airport with their bags in the car. They literally hopped out with their bags and we got in with ours.
Alex rarely talks about school at home. I almost never hear the name of other kids or the things that he has learned. The exception has been about St. Patrick’s day. He has told me all about shamrocks and leprechauns and gold. Imagine my surprise when we found a basket of goodies in our sunroom left by the leprechaun (thanks Granny!).

It’s a good thing we did our hiking yesterday! We woke up to 40 degree weather and rain. We spent the morning exploring the shops in downtown Asheville and then Wade took me to an antique barn. Now if only I could get this on the plane tomorrow…

We tried 12 Bones (bbq) for lunch and were sadly disappointed. It was a little fatty for me and Wade had been to a place on a previous trip he liked much better. We did stumble upon a wonderful place for an afternoon chocolate treat – French Broad Chocolates. Wade went with a plain vanilla milkshake – which he assured me was increcible. I had a liquid truffle – which was almost too rich for me (which is saying quite a bit!)

Wade picked a couple of places for dinner options and let me make the final decision. I finally picked the Corner Kitchen. It was amazing! If you are ever in the area then I highly, highly recommend it! Then we headed back to our B&B for my take-out cake from the Chocolate Lounge (French Broad Chocolates) and a couple hours of Storage Wars (got to love access to cable TV).

Wade and I added a few days to our vacation and drove to Asheville, North Carolina. We checked into our bed and breakfast (Louisa’s Porch) and then decided to enjoy the warm weather with a little hiking. Wade loves waterfalls and there happened to be quite a few nearby.

Strategically placed rock outcroppings and Wade’s backpack worked nicely as a tripod for a picture of Wade and I.

Wade and I have been staying with Melissa and Chris (sans kids for both of us) and thoroughly enjoying ourselves! If only we lived a little closer.. A 10 hour drive makes play dates and shopping days a little hard to plan (not to mention date nights and spade games).

And that is the only time I will get to cheer for the Cats this tournament – what a sad tournament this year is! I knew things were looking bad when there was a 20 point difference in the score…

To prove we were true UK fans – here we are in our blue and white.

Melissa and I spent a little time bonding over a pedicure this morning. Then we swung back by the house to pick up the guys before heading downtown for some basketball.