Easter 2011

We are having a joyous Easter season here in Michigan, especially now that the snow has melted. The Wednesday prior to Easter it was questionable as we awoke to almost a foot of snow in the driveway. The kiddos and I got a surprise snow day out of the deal. Part of our "work" for the day was decorating eggs and making bunny tails which Ty is sporting here.

Snow days are such a treat for me. I can understand how for the rest of the working world they are a source of anxiety and frustration but for me I get a surprise gift of a day home with my kiddos. We went to the park and made snowmen with some neighbors and then Marie went home with them for a play time. Ty and I headed home for a nap. Snow days can be exhausting, you know. I actually do try and accomplish one thing extra those days but also try to really enjoy the gift of unexpected time with my kids.

The night before Easter we had to make an executive decision on egg placement: main floor, outside??? Ahhhh...basement. Marie and Ty are so young that the whole egg hunt is still a surprise for them. We hid the eggs in the basement so we could lounge around in the morning till Jim and I felt ready to have the egg hunt. I think that was a one-shot deal and that next year they will call us on it but, hey, take it while you can.

They could NOT believe that they got candy. And that they could eat more than one piece.

Then it was time to go to church. We have not been taking Ty to church recently because it always resulted in one of us not being able to pay attention, rather spending a lot of time herding him in the lobby. We decided on Palm Sunday it was time to re-introduce him. Well, if your first experience of church is Palm Sunday mass, that is a pretty good one to start with. You get a palm frond, you are expected to wave it all around, there are dancers down the aisle and lots of music as Jesus's entrance into Jerusalem is remembered. Ty loved it. Needless to say, he was quite excited to return on Easter. Until we got there and had to sit in the overflow seating and watch the service over the monitor. "I NO WANT WATCH TV! I WANT TO GO TO CHURCH!" he announced. Major bummer but he dealt with it by falling asleep on Jim halfway through the service. Then as we left, the Easter Bunny had left a balloon tied to a bag of candy for each child to pick up on their way out. Ty slept through that too but Marie got him a bag and balloon. Sadly, Ty learned (likely not for the last time) the story of the helium balloon and what happens when you let go. But Marie shared hers so all was well in balloon-world.

You can see that it was a far cry from the snow day 5 days beforehand. Just a gorgeous day!!! Happy Easter to all of you!

Vay Cay

How is that for an unusual mermaid photo? Marie loved the mermaids at the park in Weeki Wachee! They were fascinating, breathing underwater and swimming with the turtles in the natural spring. I wanted to jump in too!

But, we were sick during our visit. So, there were lots of tears, grumpies, and out-of-sorts kiddos. Grampa and Aunty were great about trying to help out the sick kiddos with golf cart rides and popsicles. We realized how very sick Marie was when we went out for ice cream and she barely ate it...she was s-i-c-k.



The highlight of the trip was indeed the trip to see the mermaids and the river boat ride at Weeki Wachee State Park. I really want to swim in those gorgeous natural springs someday!

The two of them were great together. They played and for the most part, shared things. I was so touched by how they were patient with each other and overall, waiting for turns while the other was getting attention. One parent and two sick kids made for some waiting. They did great.



They indeed have fun and really enjoyed spending time together. I didn't lay on the beach, didn't read a ton of books and didn't stay up late partying. Yet, I loved it. I got to spend lots of time with my kids and that is truly a gift and vacation. And you can see, they enjoyed it too.

Dinosaur Robots and Brains

Nah...he really wasn't scared. After a while...

The Detroit Science Center has a great dinosaur exhibit for a few more weeks. But, to try and explain how these now-extinct creatures are massive moving display, we told the kids that they were dinosaur robots. Marie, of course, wanted the more technical explanation (someone dug up the dino bones, put them back together and figured out what the body looked like. From that, they made a robot that looks like what they think the dinosaur may have looked like). Ty was gloriously happy with just the phrase "dinosaur robots." Until the triceratops next to the oh-so-long ticket line started snorting, moving and acting all predator on us. Then, he clung to me and lost some of his enthusiasm. "Dinosaur robots are scary," he proclaimed. So we explored the rest of the science center while that churned around in his toddler brain for a while.

Fortuntately, there were lots of other things to see! Some Wayne State University med students were doing a nice presentation on the nervous system. Marie made a spinal column and a neuron out of beads and pipecleaners; Momma got a brain tattoo on her face. But then...the most exciting part...BRAINS!!!! We donned the gloves and I promise I didn't push any kids out of the way to play with the brains. Yes, actual brains. Again, Marie wanted to know how they got there so out came the sanitized explanation: sometimes when people die they agree to let others learn about human bodies by studying their body. The brains came from someone who wanted to do that. "So they cut open their head and took the brain out?" "Pretty much." After messing around with other's heads, we checked out the many other exhibits. Robots, space ships, gears, a pretend factory line and steel plant and a scale Mackinac Bridge to walk over...we did it all. We had the company of Nana Whall and her friend Mr. Sullivan to help keep us going. A great first day of Spring Break as we hung out in the D!