san diego

I had the pleasure of spending Memorial Day weekend in San Diego with my wonderful friend Jen. We have been friends since our first day of college in 1995, when we were assigned to be freshman year roommates. And after all this time, we had never taken a trip together! It was something we’d been talking about now for like…oh, probably six years since our oldest children were born.  Thus, we were very happy to be setting off on a little (much needed) vacation together!

We flew out Thursday morning, and given the two hour time difference on the west coast, had an extra two hours in our initial afternoon in San Diego. After getting our rental car (a beautiful snow white Impala!) and checking into our hotel (the W downtown- thanks to Jen’s husband for letting us use his points to stay there gratis), our first most necessary stop was for pedicures.

(at some unknown point on the trip I lost these dumb flip-flops that I had just purchased. How one loses flip-flops is a mystery).

We walked around the Gaslamp quarter a bit afterwards, relaxed in our room, and then headed out rather early for dinner as we hadn’t eaten anything since the MSP airport. We came with a few restaurant recommendations, and decided to try one out for our first night. The place we chose ended up being a wine bar with minimal food options, which would have been fine except we were starved.

Also, the flight of sangria sucked, 1/3 of my wine flight sucked, and the bartender told us we were ordering WAY too much food when we placed a food order. We finished all of it, natch. Even the cheese that tasted like coconut. Anyway, this place was pretty lame for what we were hoping for our first night on the town, but we took it in stride and were back in our hotel room by like 9pm reading our respective books:) And loving it!

Friday: We had breakfast on the sunny outdoor patio at the hotel and then made our way to Coronado Island. Most well known for the famous Hotel del Coronado, the island is a quaint little destination with lots of cute shops and a relaxed mood. Perfect for us. We did a little shopping, and then had lunch on the patio of the del, overlooking the ocean in front of us and the pool behind us. It was lovely. After that we hit the beach for the rest of the afternoon, until it was time for a little more shopping and some malts.

(this one below was me testing out my camera and comparing the images to the ones made on Jen’s camera, and me proving that my camera is CRAP. and I need a new one. And that Jen looks terrific no matter what camera is used!)

Just look at the beach here!

We bought matching nautical BFF necklaces…

Did I mention we finished up the day with malts? Man I love traveling with people who like to eat.

That night we had dinner in Little Italy. And then back to the hotel we went to read our books and fall asleep early.

Saturday: Substantial breakfast at hotel, which we regretted once we arrived at the SD farmer’s market in Little Italy and wanted to try some of everything at the food stands. The produce was amazing, and grown year round. Still can’t wrap my head around a place where you can grow produce year round. I bought carrots, some flavored salts, and a glass of raspberry lime juice.

After the market, we drove north to Torrey Pines Park Reserve where we did some hiking amidst spectacular views.

On the trail. We were on red alert for rattlesnakes the entire time. Right when we parked to start hiking a family had just finished a hike, and had JUST SEEN a rattlesnake.

The rocky, sandy trails led us down to the beach.

The same beach where I learned that Jen’s goal for this trip was to take lots of jumping pictures!

I do love me some ocean. Didn’t she capture my emotions accurately?

the Torry Pine tree

Later that evening after some down time in the hotel, we enjoyed the most excellent dining experience of the trip at Cucina Urbana. Our MN-grown bartender treated us well with the cocktails, and then we dined on suckling pig and chopped salad and pizza and pasta and doughnuts….oh my! I’d return to this restaurant in a heartbeat.

Sunday: Our last full day. We had set this day aside to spend in La Jolla. It was another gorgeous sunny day with puffy clouds and a nice cool sea breeze. We walked along by the ocean and saw lots of seals and more splendid California views.

We strolled through the town and perused a few shops, and then ate lunch at another farmer’s market. Followed by a piece of key lime cake the size of my head. We hung out for much of the afternoon, reading in the sun and relaxing. We decided to drive back south through Mission and Pacific Beaches, and since it was Sunday of a holiday weekend could not find one single place to park. So we never hung out in this area, just did a quick drive-thru.

This was the view of the beaches and San Diego, as we were heading out of La Jolla.

We didn’t want to call it a day quite yet, so we continued driving onto Point Loma, famous for its sunset cliffs and Cabrillo National Monument. We walked around in a few different areas watching surfers from above. On our way to the monument we came across a military cemetery that was all decorated for Memorial Day (we missed the monument anyway- it had closed hours earlier.) 

In addition to jumping, Jen was really excited to photograph lots of migratory birds!

We had accomplished lots of sightseeing this day, and sought out some fish tacos to end the day at Point Loma Seafoods. We got there JUST in time…mine was the last order they took for the night. After eating, we walked down the little dock area where all sorts of fishing boats were docked for the night. We were surprised by a giant seal that appeared out of nowhere right next to us as we were walking along (a blind seal, nonetheless). Sadly, I don’t have a picture of the seal. I did steal these few from Jen though…

Monday: Our last morning we walked down to Seaport Village and along the marina. We thought we deserved one last treat before heading to the airport, so we strolled back to Little Italy for some iced coffee, a canoli, and gelato. That’s how we roll.

And then it was time to leave the land of sun, breeze, surf, sand, SUN, to return to the overcast rainy midwest. The San Diego weather is just about perfect if you ask me. And I could easily turn myself into a Californian, no problemo.

There’s the Grand Canyon! We flew right over.

This trip was AWESOME in every respect. Jen, so glad we made it happen, and it definitely needs to become a tradition! (Also…I think you fell asleep before I did three out of four nights. WHAT?!?!?)

last day of kindergarten

Its come and gone already; Ry’s kindergarten year. It was a great year for him in many, many ways: a most excellent teacher, lots of new friends, great memories and experiences, fun field trips, and LOTS of new learning. He’s become a reader since that first day, which never ceases to amaze me. As we were heading into the last few days of school, Ryan told me that he was excited and sad that kindergarten was ending. I know he’s happy to not have to get up so early every day and be on any type of rushed schedule to get out of the house in the morning. (As am I!!) It will be hard, though, for him to transition away from this class of friends into the greater beyond of 1st grade, where he’ll probably only be with 2 or 3 of the kids he already knows. And his lovely teacher…he wishes he could have her again next year.

He told me he’s not a kindergartener anymore, but he’s not a 1st grader yet either. It’s summer, so “I’m just a kid, mommy.”

Here he is on the last day, June 4, 2013.

First day of K:

Last day of K:

Ryan- age 6

Here we are almost at the end of Kindergarten already, and Ry turned six a month back, and wow, time sure does fly! I don’t know when I last did an update on him- I feel like I recently did one but it probably wasn’t since age five. So here are some updates on the life and times of Ry Guy.

Ryan likes kindergarten, likes his teacher, likes (most of) his classmates. School is still very anxiety-producing for him at times, but I know he likes it and feels proud to be a member of his class. He has saved every single piece of work, homework, art, projects that have come home this year. (I’ve thrown away some stuff here and there, but not much.) Every now and then I’ll ask if I can recycle some crumpled up unidentifiable piece of construction paper creation, and he will adamantly answer with a big NO! Valentines? Still has them all. Coloring sheet from the first day of school? Still has it. He’s gotten to be quite the reader but has no interest in reading out loud to me. Reads signage when we’re driving around and the weather report in the newspaper:) [eta: every now and then he'll surprise me with an offer to read me a story. Tonight it was a Curious George one about lost puppies!]

He’s still really into Lightening McQueen and Cars stuff. Will set up races and scenarios with his Cars characters a lot. (And always wants to watch the movies.) Has gotten into super heroes somewhat, and Star Wars a bit too. The light saber he got for his birthday was a HUGE hit. (Literally:) When they’re both in good moods Ry and Sam play great together, inventing scenarios and imaginary scenes about races and worker guys and job sites and trains. Ryan is definitely the ring leader, deciding what they should play and how the playing should proceed.

He’s a sensitive soul, that Ryan. He loves babies and toddlers and littler kids. He loves to play with little ones, and if he spots a baby from afar he’ll point it out to me right away and will say “awww, look how cute that baby is mommy!” Same with pictures of puppies or little cute animals- he’ll ooh and aah over cute pictures of stuff too. Before I left on my trip he and Sam carried around their ‘babies’ for a few days and were very careful about taking care of them. We even took them both on a lengthy walk one day, Ryan pulling his in the wagon and Sam pushing his in the grocery cart.

Ryan’s been doing swimming lessons since winter, and has finally been able to swim a few strokes on his own these last few weeks. Both boys were in a tball skills class this spring, and while Ryan has liked it and done fine, he doesn’t seem overly eager to continue at this point. He’s looking forward to some down time this summer I think, to hang out and play at his leisure. He’s a homebody, more of an introvert, likes having a few closer friends and playing one on one.

He’s growing taller, long and lean. He seemed much bigger, older and wiser to me just now when I returned from 5 days away from home. He initiated cleaning up the basement (with Sam), and cleaned the living room to please me for my return. He was completely understanding about the chocolate eggs that I brought back from my trip getting smooshed in my bag. He let me deal with Sam’s 3yo tantrum tonight in peace, without getting involved. He calmly joined us in Sam’s bed for stories, and didn’t even bust in with a suggestion for which story Sam should choose. When it was time for Ryan’s stories, he said to me “mommy, I’ll give you a break because you just had to do all that reading to Sam. I’ll read this Curious story and daddy will read the Zoomer story.” He also went on and on, with true sincerity, about how much he loves me and how much he wanted me to be his mommy (“even when I was in your tummy I loved you!”) and that I’m the BEST BEST BEST mommy in the world! Right before bedtime tonight he squeezed me and said “I love you so much I just don’t know what to DO with you!!” What a wise old soul you are Ry, forever a mystery to me. (I certainly don’t know what to do with you, little buddy!) The sweetness of this boy melts my heart, and the intensity…well, yes, the intensity still remains.

Favorite foods at age 6? Hamburgers, spicy (salt & vinegar) chips, tacos, pizza. Will eat carrots, cucumber, bell peppers (except green), and peas (frozen only). The other day asked me why I never buy lima beans anymore???????? (I bought them that very day and immediately cooked them for dinner!) Isn’t so into eating much fruit, except for flavored applesauces and berries. Loves craisins, cheese, wheat thins…and has eaten a peanut butter sandwich for after school snack most days this whole school year. Loves candy, cake, cupcakes, ice cream, and all things sugary.

And still has cute funny sayings, thank goodness. A few from recently…

-I think he’s finally figured these out, but awhile back when his interest in Star Wars was beginning to dawn, he was saying Dark Vader and life savers.

-(about a neighbor girl who was playing outside with Ry and some other kids): She is just so SERIOUS mommy. She didn’t want us to be having any fun when we were playing light sabers. She kept telling us to stop b/c they would break.

-What if you were going poop, and you felt it come out, and then you got up to look, but it wasn’t poop, it was a RAINBOW???

-(on the topic of same-sex marriage) Can boys still marry girls? I hope so, because Amelia says she wants to marry me, and I want to.

-can’t you get some good colors of nail polish mommy? Like turquoise, or blue?

-I wish I was a grown-up right now. Then I could join the worker crew and do some work on Penn Ave.

-I really do not want to be an astronaut when I grow up. That sounds way too scary. I would be way too scared.

mother’s day ’13

On Mother’s Day this year, I received two of the most thoughtful gifts ever. Ryan woke me at 7:00 to say that he had a surprise for me for Mother’s Day. He took me to his room and said “I cleaned my room!” Hurrah!

Sam’s gift to me was that he agreed (grudgingly) to wear jeans over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for dinner! That dude hates jeans, but all it took was for mommy to bring out the pouty lip and say “but Sammy it’s Mother’s Day!” to get him to oblige. Then he said “and with it I wear mommy’s tiger shirt!”

Back to the morning…everyone got up and made me a pancake breakfast while I read in bed. We hung out, and later I spent some time shopping/erranding (alone:) The boys brought back a late lunch from World Street Kitchen, and since Ryan refused to like anything on the menu there, the boys had McD’s. I was also gifted a new grill pan from Pat:) Oh and lest I forget, on the Friday before mom’s day Ryan came home with a decorated paper cup filled with dirt and a very wilty marigold sprout, AND a compilation of recipes written by everyone in his class. Super adorable mom’s day gift idea, and the recipes are hilarious. Ryan wrote his about mac ‘n cheese.

In the late afternoon of Mother’s Day we went over to my in-laws’ house for dinner. Ryan also dressed up for the occasion in jeans and a button down fancy shirt.

He wanted to use my camera before I did…

…then I got a couple with my boys.

Such sweetnesses, those two. The boys that call me mom. {Incessantly.}

Sam’s first twins game!

Tuesday night Pat realized he had tickets for Wednesday’s Twins game against the White Sox. He couldn’t go in the middle of the day, so I decided to ponder taking Sam myself. I mean, the day was going to be sunny and 80 and the game was at noon, and Sam and I had no plans, so…why not? Well, #1 Sam is three. That speaks for itself. #2 Pat admitted his jealousy of not being able to take his son to his first Twins game. #3 I am not historically much of a sport fanatic, so for ME to take a kid to his first Twins game could be considered slightly laughable:)

But we went anyway!!! When I told him we were going he said “are we gonna play??”

He refused to wear a Twins shirt, but I couldn’t complain because he had instead chosen a shirt with a COLLAR how fancy and did agree to the Twins cap. Sam enjoyed the tall buildings of downtown, wondered why we were NOT MOVING during the traffic jam, and then was in love with the parking ramp’s elevator. We had some traffic issues downtown so we got to our seats sometime during the first inning. He was a bit overwhelmed with the colorfulness of the environs surrounding Target field, and then was SO impressed by the green handled toilet flushers in the bathrooms (our first stop upon entering the stadium.)

Once in our seats he was immediately hungry. I had actually packed him some food because I did not want to deal with his messy self eating a hotdog. He munched on his cheese stick and veggies, and kept wanting to get in and out of his seat to retrieve his water bottle from the cup holder. Watching the seat bottom boing back up into place was fun in itself. He was amazed by the loud music, and said “I hear a piano!” and did a lot of “what’s that? what’s that?” when the announcer shouted something or they did ‘charge!’ We got to see one Twins home run and one hit by Joe Mauer. Then TC Bear was on the field shooting off t-shirts and whoa boy, that was exciting. After that Sam wouldn’t stop asking where TC Bear went, what he was doing, why he wasn’t out on the field, etc.

Oh and also, starting approximately five minutes after we got there, Sam repeatedly asked “are they done playing yet?”

Sam was sitting next to two ladies who he kept charming the socks off. He was initiating conversations with them and doing goofy things- they found him adorable. Somewhere in the third inning I decided it was probably time for helmet sundaes.

Which were a huge mess but obvs a necessity for your first game. The day didn’t end up quite as warm as predicted and we were in the shade, so by the time Sam was nearly done with his sundae he was shivering and his lips were purple! (One of the kind ladies offered him her sweater:)

By mid 4th inning he was ready to go so we headed out. Took the handicap accessible ramp all the way down to the ground floor, which Sam loved and raced me down every level. It was a fun time- I was honored to take my little beeper to his first game! What a great memory to have of you Sammy boy!

fire station birthday

Ryan had his 6th birthday party at the Hopkins Fire Department, thanks to the generosity of a friend who agreed to come in on his day off to host the party for us. Ryan chose three friends from his class to invite, along with the grandparents, cousins, and a few other good pals (Luke & Jack, Sophia & Emily) and our neighbor friend Owen.

The fire station was an awesome place to have a party. We set up in the large kitchen/dining/living room area, and after everyone arrived the whole crowd enjoyed a tour of the station. The birthday boy (and his daddy!) got to try on the fire fighting garb, and then everyone got rides in two different fire trucks, which was by far the highlight of the party. We had pizza delivered and noshed on a fire station themed cake. The kiddos had fun being goofy, playing with the fire station toys and air hockey table, and sorting through their goodie bags.

Ryan had a great time celebrating with all the important people in his life. It was a really fun party– lots of wonderful memories to take away from this day.

The adorableness… this is Ry’s friend who says she’s going to marry him.

Cousin Brady, who I was lucky enough to sit next to on a firetruck ride. His excitement was infectious.

“that was so heavy I almost fell over!”

Grandma Karen and Max, getting ready for their ride.

Sam and Pat were lucky enough to sit up front for a ride.

And then Sam immediately hopped back in for a ride with Grandpa Bob.

That’s Grandma Mary.

 

listening to fire safety

These here were kids doing math problems while eating pizza. Many of us were incredulous.

this was a near-meltdown when he learned we’d be opening the presents at home and not at the party

Ry’s ladies really represented at this birthday:)

the meltdown was unwarranted, as Ry and Max had a ton of fun going through all the presents alone back at home.

owing some updates

I owe this blog a number of posts: a Sam at age 3 post, a Ryan at age SIX post, a Ryan fire station birthday party post, a Ryan volcano cake post… For now though, all it’s getting is this: a random familial update for what will forever be remembered as the Interminable Winter of 2013.

-So, it was summer here over the weekend. I raked some crusty leaves. Kids rode bikes and played outside a ton. We filled the sandbox with sand. Sam got a SUNBURN. Summer lasted three days and now we are back to 40s and snowflakes in the air. I’ve put away and taken back out again our winter stuff about five different times. This is it though- I refuse to don winter coats ever again until next November.

-Ryan and Sam are doing a tball class this “spring”. It’s a 3-5 year old class, and I was able to squeeze Ryan in since it started the week before he turned six. He never wants to join anything, so having Sam there with him is a real self-confidence booster for Ry. The first class was cancelled due to a blizzard, last week’s was the first, and tonight’s class we just about froze our limbs off. Oh yeah, did I mention this is a parent participation class? And tonight I was there alone with both kids? Not sure if anyone knows this equation, but Anne + Athletics= HAHAHAHAHA. Sam spent most of his time throwing his glove in the air and running to the wrong base and trying to field the ball when he was on first. Ryan is a decent thrower/catcher, but spent a lot of his time whining about how cold it was. During the long walk across the field Sam flung himself upon the dirt refusing to move, at which time I had no choice but to bribe him with the stale half piece of gum I found in my pocket.

-One year ago at this precise moment I was vacationing in Spain with Jen. I’m the nostalgic live-in-the-past type, so I’ve been mooning over photos from our trip and texting daily year-ago trip updates to Jen.

-Thankfully I have not one but two upcoming trips to California to look forward to. My friend Jen (this is a different BFF Jen- not the Spain one) and I are going to San Diego over Memorial Day weekend. We don’t meet up nearly as often as I would like, so having an entire long weekend together is going to be awesome! Then in July Pat and I and his siblings and parents are traveling to Santa Barbara wine country for his cousin’s wedding. Ah sun. Ah wine. Ah a few days to breathe and relax. Aaaaah.

-Pat started a new job this week! I encouraged him to take a job as a tour guide with Nice Ride, but alas, he remains in the world of IT.

-My sweet little Ryan. On Tuesday he brought home a “surprise” from school that I was not supposed to see. I was NOT to go anywhere near his backpack. He and Sam sneaked the mystery item into his room to safely store it in the bottom drawer of his dresser, and I was NOT to look in the bottom drawer of the dresser. Yesterday afternoon as I was folding laundry Ryan told me he was going to do something with the surprise now, so of he went with Sam, and then the doorbell rang! I went to answer it and there on the handle was an adorable kindergartener-made May Day basket with a colorful tissue paper flower inside. The May Day delivery boys were hiding halfway around the house, and after a long wait finally jumped out and said happy May Day! It was so cute and sweet. And was re-enacted again when Pat got home. I was touched that Ryan’s teacher would have them do this and then tell them how to create the surprise at home for family.

-Oh and really quick, reading. (One year ago tomorrow I was on a flight from mainland Spain to the island of Mallorca and did not even know that our flight landed because I was immersed in Fifty Shades of You Know What.) Tonight I am finishing up ‘Run’ by Ann Patchett. I was meant to host April’s book club, but our meeting was cancelled due to- you guessed it- a blizzard. So now I’m hosting May’s book club, and I decided to do a little author study and combine the two months with books by the same author. So, for April we read ‘State of Wonder’ by Ann Patchett, and now ‘Run.’ I loved LOVED loved State of Wonder, am withholding a review of Run until I’ve finished it, and HATED ‘Bel Canto’ by the same author (which I read many years ago, also for book club).

Time for bed now. Here’s another picture of Spain.

Ryan’s 6th birthday

Ryan’s birthday was on a Thursday this year. We had celebrated with the fire station birthday the weekend prior, so weren’t going to be doing much on his actual day. Lucky for him, his birthday fell on the same day that all the kindergarten teachers were serving a pancake breakfast to their students. So he got to wear pajamas to school, bring his blankie with him, and eat a feast of yummy pancakes. Sam and I decided to crash the party last minute so I could get some pictures of the fun he was having at school on his 6th birthday.

the kids (mine especially) were really excited to have chocolate chips on their pancakes. I think Ryan went back through the pancake line about four times.

Sam completely made himself at home- he’s all ready for kindergarten:)

After school Ryan and I put together and decorated his volcano cake. He had decided months before his birthday that he wanted a volcano cake with actual erupting lava. Since I didn’t think my first pass at a homemade volcano cake would be a good idea for his fire station kid party, I told him we could make it for his 4/25 birthday. After a combo of different recipes garnered from various google searches and you tube videos, this is what we came up with.

(I used two boxed cake mixes and baked them into two different sized mixing bowls. Flipped them upside down and stacked them in the cone shape, with a layer of frosting in between. The top I cut away with the open end of a glass, to be filled with raspberry jelly as the lava. The cake was frosted, and then Ry used a fork to scrape texture into the sides. We dyed coconut green and used green sugar as grass around the base. Also stuck in plastic dinosaurs and pretzels dipped in frosting and green coconut as trees.)

Ryan LOVED this project:

We ordered pizza for an early dinner that night because we were also had the boys’ first tball class at 6:00pm. Birthday tball:

above: swing and a miss? below: fielding. or something.

We dashed home quickly after tball to open a few presents and finally (finally!) eat that erupting volcano.

The gift was: spiderman shirt, new pack of socks, matchbox mater, and a captain underpants book.

Six. Six? Six candles? Can hardly believe it.

Sam’s 3rd birthday

Sam’s birthday fell on a Saturday this year so we were able to do all his celebrating in one day. I hung some balloons in his room during the night, and then for breakfast we had pancakes, complete with happy birthday singing and a candle. He was so excited!

I had every intention of baking Sam’s cake that morning (with green frosting and sprinkles per his request), but at the last minute I decided I didn’t feel much like baking so Sam and Pat had a little morning outing to pick out a cake at the grocery store. He chose this one, “because it has green.” I added the cars. He had chosen Hot Wheels plates at the party store, so I thought a little cake topper was appropriate.

We were happy to have Gma Karen and Gpa Bob staying with us for the weekend. In addition, the other guests included Gma Mary, Gpa Jer, the cousins Max, Brady, and Brynn (and accompanying aunties/uncles), and Sam’s neighbor friend Adelaide.

Both of my boys are simply enamored with their cousin Baby Max.

Sam enjoyed opening his gifts, but seemed to have the most fun ripping everything open and then not paying much attention to what was inside. Big brother Ryan directed the present opening and offered his help for each and every gift.

Sam got some fun stuff. We went low-key with presents this year and got him a starry night pillow pet and spiderman sunglasses. He also got some take-apart vehicles with power screwdrivers, swim trunks, Twister, books, and a monster truck track thing. (And a generous playhouse from Pat’s uncle; playhouse remains in box in garage awaiting normal spring weather so it can be assembled).

Aunt Annie was very skeptical about my idea to get Sam tennis balls. But as you can see…

he loved them.

We ordered pizza for dinner, and the kids crammed into the kitchen for a fine dining experience.

They all had a ton of fun playing together. And then it was the moment we’d all been waiting for…CAKE.

1. Cheesy pose to appease mom before lights are dimmed.

2. Ooooooh, this is so cool and fun! Everyone’s watching me!

3. Getting ready to blow.

4. In action- 2 outta 3.

Have you noticed that kids get super fired up about cake, but then they never finish it?? [I had a proud moment later that day when Ryan told me that cakes we make at home are much yummier than cakes from the store, because the "frosting is just too sugary and fakey" on the store cakes.][Sorry Ry, you're getting a cake from Target.]

That’s about all I have for photos from Sam’s Big 3 Birthday. The combo of the late afternoon, a dreary dark day, poor lighting, and a camera with a max ISO of 1600 created these unimpressive images. If this winter EVER ENDS and the sun EVER SHINES again, I will have to get some 3yo pictures of Sam.

Can hardly even believe my youngest is a three year old! He’s the exact age now that Ryan was when he was born…crazy!

easter

The boys and I traveled to Duluth for Easter and a few additional days of our spring break. (Pat remained home and ‘worked.’)

Lucky for me Grandma was enthusiastic about taking charge of this year’s egg dyeing.

Lucky for Ryan, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy crossed paths in the hallway that night, and our toothless boy awoke to an Easter egg under his pillow with a dollar bill stuffed inside. Both Ry and Sam were excited to wake up and search for their eggs and baskets.

I managed to get them to dress up a bit since it was a ‘fancy occasion’ (and we were going to church).

(they didn’t manage to get haircuts in time for Easter though)

the Easter bunny brought super hero capes…

I turned the self-timer on us a couple times too, to capture the very rare mommy shot!

We had a lovely meal, and later in the afternoon went to the aquarium. A perfect day to go apparently, there was almost no one there.