The Zoo for Grandma's Birthday

We were blessed with sunshine and good weather for today's outing to the zoo to celebrate Grandma's birthday. Auntie Jane joined us too. Jack had a blast showing them both the inns and outs of the zoo, which he now knows quite well. One of the highlights was riding on the carousel, which Jack has never done before. He seemed to enjoy the horses, but wasn't content to ride on just one, so he ended up on several!

The zoo was especially fun today because most of the animals were out. We stopped for a juice in front of the raptors, which is a tradition for Jack and Tom. We did bring Jack's new red wagon with us to the zoo, but how silly was I to think that he'd actually want to ride in it?! Of course he'd rather walk!

Afterwards we went to Tutta Bella for some yummy pizza and finished the night off with a trip to Theo for some chocolate--Grandma's favorite!  We had a very fun day being together. Happy birthday, Grandma!

Easter

We had so much fun celebrating Easter this year at our own home. Jack woke up to a trail of eggs leading to his Easter basket. We weren't sure that he would notice them, but he stopped to pick up each one and put them in his basket along the way. Then my parents and grandmother (or GG as she now wants to be called--GG being short for "great-grandmother") joined us for church. Afterwards, my brother and Joanna, and my aunt, uncle, and cousins, all joined us at our house for a delicious ham meal. Even though the weather was absolutely horrible, we had so much fun being together as a family. Jack was completely amped the entire day, which was most likely a combination of the cookies, cupcakes, and egg hunt.

Jack enjoyed his egg hunt so much that we all took turns hiding eggs for him so that he could search for them over and over again. I especially liked the "hi" he uttered to each egg when he spotted it.  Too cute!

Jack reading his new construction site book with Grandpa. Grandma treats Jack to one of her famous sugar cookies.

Jack checks out his loot. A family picture at church.

Easter Egg Hunt

Last Saturday Jack got to do a pre-Easter egg hunt at one of the local community centers. The weather wasn't so great--in fact it rained while we searched for eggs, but Jack didn't seem to care. While this wasn't his actual first Easter, this is the first one that he has been old enough to understand an egg hunt. And understand it he did. The lawn was covered in plastic eggs and when they said "go" it became a mad frenzy for those eggs. Jack was very deliberate in picking up his eggs and he did quite well, ending up with about 10 eggs in his basket. 

Afterwards we met up with Jack's friends, Caden and Linnea, to check out the Easter bunny. Jack was fascinated by him, but was content to admire him from a distance.

 

 

 

 

 

Jack with his basket full of eggs. Mom and Jack with the Easter bunny (we're admiring from afar).

Dying Easter Eggs

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa dying Easter eggs. Jack was fascinated by the way that the eggs turned colors. He would watch the egg and say, "oooohh". His favorite part was putting the egg on the little wire holder and then using the wire holder to push the egg around in the dye.  He even tasted a little of the dye when he put the wire holder up to his mouth. Funny enough, he seemed to almost like the taste of the vinegar. Go figure!

It should be fun to see if Jack enjoys searching for eggs on Easter. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will get to have a hunt in the backyard. If not, we'll have one in the living room--we are easily adaptable!

Day in MV

On Tuesday Jack and I headed up to the 'Vern to see my parents. No sooner had we arrived and we were busy checking things out. The neighbor across the street had just gotten two new calves, so we spent a good deal of time peering through the fence at the calves and practicing saying, "moo". Perhaps the hit of the trip, though, was the John Deere tractor. This toy was thoroughly loved by both my brother and I as children. It is so fun to watch another generation enjoy it like we did.

For lunch we went to the Chuckwagon, which has been a part of the MV landscape for, well, forever. Jack loves going here because they have two toy trains that run on tracks above the restaurant. He hardly ate a thing because he was so enamored by the trains. Well, he did manage to suck down a good portion of a milkshake while he watched those trains. Boy does Jack like milkshakes!

Sunshine, Shorts, and a Popsicle!

Boy have we been loving the past few days and the beautiful weather! On Monday the weather was so gorgeous that Jack and I pretty much spent the entire day outside. I don't think he knew quite what to think when I put him in shorts and a t-shirt. Much different from the pants, long sleeves, and jackets that have pretty much become his uniform this past winter. We attempted to go to the zoo in the morning, but literally half of Seattle was there. I drove around for nearly a half hour searching for a parking spot. It is a good thing I didn't find one because the lines to get in winded down the sidewalk! We settled for the playground on the edge of the zoo, which was equally as fun. After his nap, we took a big walk and of course stopped by the neighborhood playground to play. On our way home, we cruised into 7-11 to get a popsicle. I couldn't believe it, but the closest thing that they had to a popsicle was a push pop. We went home and Jack enjoyed his push pop--once he figured out how to eat it! We love the sunshine---Can we get another order of it, please?

 

Where Did March Go?

I know that it has been weeks since my last post. It seems like I just blinked my eyes and March was gone. We've managed to keep ourselves pretty busy this past month.  Tom and I spent one weekend painting our living room (the last room in our entire house that we haven't repainted in the past five years). Jack spent the day and night with my parents, so that we were able to complete the project. Good thing, too, because our first color attempt was a complete and total disaster. We were going for a taupy color to give the walls a little more punch. Problem was, when we got the color up on the walls, it looked totally purple next to our green couch!

So we headed back to Ace (which thankfully is just up the street from us) to pick out a new color. The people there are so friendly and one woman patiently helped us sift through colors to find something that would suit our room. Once we had the new paint, we had to prime over what had already been painted. Needless to say, this was the longest and most excruciating paint job we've ever done. The good news is, we love the new color!

 

We also spent some time at the hospital visiting my father-in-law. Jack loved running up and down the halls of the main lobby and picking up rocks in the courtyard. He also enjoyed getting rides in the wheelchair. Jack was good therapy for all of us during this time. We are so thankful that John is now home and on the road to recovery.

New discoveries for Jack include that he has discovered that he can both walk backwards and turn around in circles. Both are hillarious to watch! He's not saying a whole lot, but his newest word is "go". He especially likes to watch himself say it in the mirror.

Since the weather has been so dreadful this past week, Jack and I have been checking out toddler story time at the public library.  It's great!  Jack gets to listen to the children's librarian read books, he dances and sings during the song time, and it's a great way for him to get to be around other kiddos.

While I've been able to find enough activities for us to do indoors, I am very excited for the sunshine to arrive. Jack loves the playground, taking walks, and going to the zoo. We need the rain to stop so that we can do these things again!

Well, I hope to begin blogging more regularly again. So stay tuned for more adventures of Jack!