Easter Fun

The Easter Bunny came last Sunday while the girls were playing outside. Apparently, he/she needs to be more obvious because they didn't notice the eggs leading the way down the steps for quite a while. After a quick search of the downstairs they found all of their eggs and baskets. The Easter Bunny must know about the over the top extravaganza that is our neighborhood Egg Hunt, so he smartly brings toys and dresses instead of lots of candy.


Soon after we went across the street to the big event. Here is the annual photo where antsy kids wait patiently for lots of group photos. Notice everybody has large shopping bags because cute little baskets will just not suffice!

And they're off!
You really don't need to "hunt" for the eggs as they litter 4 consecutive backyards...

And the best part - sorting and organizing the haul! (This isn't even everything!)

We joke about how many over the top this event is, but our neighbor loves it and you can see how it brings her joy. And it is definitely something the girls will always remember.

Getting Ready for Easter

This morning we started getting ready for Easter by dyeing Easter eggs. I think this was officially the first year I wasn't super afraid that there was going to be a dye-disaster. They are getting so big and responsible (tear)...

Then, they went across the street to help the neighbors fill the thousands of eggs for tomorrow's big Easter egg hunt. (I am not exaggerating when I say thousands!) They, of course, came home with a preview of the treats to come. Jr. Princess enjoyed the fake-gummy Dracula teeth...

Later they were both excited to find Easter packages from both sets of Grandparents in the mail. Grandm/pa M - they love the dresses. And Grandm/pa L - we all got a kick out of the gross book tonight. Thank you!

The apple doesn't fall far from the bird-filled tree...

M&M Dad is a bird watcher. In fact, this year he is even keeping a list of all the birds he sees. So, it gives me great delight to point out cool birds I've seen when he wasn't around. Well, his love of birds is rubbing off on the girls.

Thursday when we were leaving school, Jr. Princess said, "What's that bird in the tree. Has Dad seen it?" Starshine replied, "Well it looks like a crow, but doesn't sound like one." This then turned into ten minutes of us craning our necks to see a small black bird high in a tree. The girls were commenting on color, and size compared to a crow, and also studying it's call. We then rushed home to the birding software, and narrowed it down to our new friend, the Rusty Blackbird!

They were so proud to tell M&M Dad about it when he got home. And the best part - he hasn't seen one yet!

Grandmaster Starshine

Starshine joined chess club this year, and has been playing in the beginner room on Friday mornings. Needless to say, M&M Dad and I had to brush up on our moves because I don't think I've played since I was in elementary school either (and I'm pretty sure it involved Auntie having a temper tantrum about losing :) ) She seemed to be enjoying it, and definitely has the moves down.

For the last 2 months, each room level has been having their tournament, and Starshine came running up to me after school last Friday to show me she came in 5th place in the beginner room! She was so excited, because this is her first official trophy. Some of the kids ahead of her were in 3rd and 4th grade, too.

Needless to say, she has already declared she will be in Chess Club again next year. She can get some good practice in this summer, because the neighbor boy across the street won the tournament in the intermediate room.

Awesome job Starshine!

Star of The Week

OK - I'm a little behind on my blogging, but trying to catch up...

Last week Starshine was "Star of the Week" in her class. Unfortunately for us, this meant she got to bring her poster home to work on while we were on Spring Break. (This is part 1 of my frustration with this whole process.) But she powered through decorating it right before we left. Here are some highlights:

Favorite color : turquoise

Favorite animal: dolphin

Favorite Food: Hamburger Helper (sigh....)

Favorite Book: Baby Sitters Club

Favorite Sport: Ice skating

3 Super cool facts about yourself:

1. I got to run part of a marathon
2. I can swim the whole length of the pool by myself
3. I went to Disney World for spring break

But the best part...

When I grow up I would like to be: working at General Mills (teary Mom moment!)

The other highlight of the week was she got to have a guest reader for the week. (2nd frustration, we didn't find out the details about this until Tuesday, and the the 3 suggested times were all in the middle of the day. Now come on, I have a flexible work schedule, but throw me a bone with beginning or end of the day, or more than a days notice or something...) Luckily, one of the times worked for M&M Dad, and he came in to read her Hawaiian Gecko book from Grandma and Grandpa L.

In advance of the big event, Starshine gave him some advice (show everyone the pictures, don't yawn, etc), but she was then mortified when he told the class the advice she had given them! Apparently being embarrassed by your parents starts around 7 (she'll be embarrassed by me in a post soon to come...)

It was a fun week, and she loves to be the center of attention.

Day #6 - The End

Saturday was our last day at Disney, and we ended where we started - at Magic Kingdom. We let everybody pick what they wanted to make sure to do.

Jr. Princess: everything! Though with prodding this was narrowed down to Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion. She picked Haunted Mansion because M&M Dad didn't go on the first time because he was off getting us fast passes to Space Mountain. So, he sat with both girls and appropriately shrieked and acted scared throughout.

For Starshine, this day was all about redemption. She was determined to go on Space Mountain! Apparently, she thought there was a big drop, but when we said there really wasn't, she was determined to ride. Here she is in line looking positive, though nervous...

And here is photo proof that she did it! (Though, she doesn't really feel like she needs to do it again)

Everybody loves a good stocks photo opportunity...

And this is what day 6 looks like...

Overall we had a wonderful time, and I predict it won't be long before I start getting questions about "when are we going again!" Spring break was crowded, but it was definitely good that it wasn't summer, because we all did a lot better on our cool days, then the two warm ones.

Of course, next time I will schedule myself a vacation day when we get back. This has been a rough week!

Disney Day #5

On Day #5 we all went to Epcot together. The girls got to show us some of their favorite things, as well as try out some new things. Starshine got to run in front of a green screen videotaping the actions for her own video game. It's pretty cool because you can send yourself a link to play at home.

Grandma scored big when she noticed in the Japan shop that they would dress up the little girls all the kimono finery. This was a precious princess moment...

And here are the girls fitting right in with their Viking homeland...

Of course, the heat (and the fact that it was the 5th day of fun) meant we were shot by mid afternoon, but at least it was finally warm enough to go use the pool.

Disney Day #4

Day #4 was off to Hollywood Studios. This was the one that Starshine was looking forward to the most because she loves High School Musical, and she has seen the Indiana Jones show is an episode of Full House. Well, we had a nice time, but it definitely wasn't anybody's favorite because there aren't many rides (especially for the short, less adventurous types), and it seemed way less able to handle crowds.

Jr. Princess, however, did discover her love of Kermit the Frog here... and Grandpa L bought me a lovely Beaker t-shirt Meemer!



There was a Star Wars ride...



And then, after seeing the HSM dance show in the street, Starshine was off to find her souvenir. Can you believe that there wasn't a single HSM trinket in the entire place??? (And Grandma L asked multiple places). Odd that Disney doesn't incorporate more of their Disney Channel stars into Disney world...

Well, she settled on cute Mickey Mouse earrings. She was very clear that she didn't want a stuffed animal, or princess t-shirt. She wanted something more grown up!

Disney Day #3

Day #3 was a break from the big group.

M&M Dad and I went out to see an Astros/Nationals spring training game. Who cares about the Astros/Nationals you may say? Exactly M&M Dad's point. He wanted a small, spring training like atmosphere. On the way there I was struggling to name an Astro or a National...

It was actually pretty busy because they had a pretty good ticket/soda/hot dog promotion to make sure the place wasn't empty. We also got cool, free green caps for St. Patrick's day. Overall, though, we just enjoyed being kid free for a day!

The kids and grandparents went to Epcot without us. I'll include some pictures, but I don't have a whole lot to add. I hear they enjoyed Chinese acrobats...

And the girls loved the Piggy Bank game...

And apparently they found some nice person to take their picture :)...

Disney Day #2

Day#2 was off to Animal Kingdom.

We started the day on the safari ride because the animals are supposed to be on the move early, and they were! This was so cool...

There was a petting zoo, which was pretty lame by Disney standards...

We were excited to find some characters we didn't have to stand in line for (We totally passed on characters the entire rest of the visit because standing in line for them is a lot less fun than going on rides!)

Jr. Princess daredevil was gung ho to go on the Everest roller coaster, too. This is her in the back row... (Starshine and Grandma L passed again). She was MAD later in the day when we finally found a roller coaster she wasn't tall enough for.

The girls could not believe I let them each have a gigantic ice cream cone for a snack...

Starshine, our more thoughtful shopper, is still trying to decide what to buy with her money. She is now holding out until we get to Hollywood Studios in case they have High School Musical stuff, but she wanted to show Uncle some cool souvenirs he might like!

Our last ride of the day was DINOSAUR, which has the dubious distinction of being the only ride Jr. Princess didn't like. I don't blame her, I thought it was loud and scary, too!