Easter "Hop"penings

We hope everyone had an enjoyable time with their families over the Easter holiday.  Ours was really nice and especially fun with Avery being able to run around looking for eggs and take part in some of the other traditional activities. 

Of course, what is an Easter without some egg coloring?  Last year, she was not old enough to help with this, but this year we thought we would try it out.  Avery is in a stage now where she wants to do everything on her own!  Including dying eggs.  Surprisingly, this activity worked out neater than we had thought (hence the towels on the table!)

Helping drop in the color tablet

We, I mean she, was very excited about the eggs turning colors.

Avery wanted to get the eggs out on her own....

Then, the following morning, of course there was the Easter egg hunt.  We had been practicing for over a week, so she was an old pro by this time!  And yes, she is dressed in a fleece sleeper, a windbreaker and winter boots. 



Finding her Easter basket!

 Later that afternoon, we were heading to my Grandma's house, Gigi as she is known to Avery, for Easter dinner.  Since there is a new baby in our family, the cradle had to be returned.  But, not before one last ride in it.  Below is a picture of Avery at 1 month old and then her on Easter morning this year!

We decided to do a potluck dinner for Easter and I brought a sunflower cake....

and some deviled eggs...

and since I am not that creative on my own, I guess I should thank Pinterest.  :)

Easter did not get by us without a few gifts for Avery from her great aunts and aunts and ga and papa and gigi.  It seriously was like a mini Christmas.  We were so appreciative of everything Avery got and all of the chocolate that came home with us.  ;)

But, most of all, it was just fun to spend some time with our favorite people!

Avery's personal jungle gym!

Since the weather has been so nice, we have been spending a lot of time outside.  For Christmas, Auntie Ashley gave Avery a sand and water table.  It hasn't been that nice for the water yet and before we could put the sand in, Avery had begun filling it up with the rocks in our backyard.

Last night we attended a surprise party for a family friend.  Dave's parents were in New Jersey visiting their daughter so Avery had been missing them.  She sure was excited to get Papa back playing with her.... her way.  :)

Then, we couldn't help but stop at the park to play a little!

And I think Avery found her new best friend at Ga and Papa's house!  A giant monkey!

I will leave you with this face!  :)  Love from Bloomington!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail!

'Twas the night before Easter and all through our house was the smell of vinegar and eggs and the sound of a peaceful baby asleep in her bed.  Today and this evening we were busy getting ready for the Easter bunny's visit tomorrow, but that post will come later.  Tonight, I want to share with you all of the pre-Easter activities we have done! 

Last weekend, the weather was perfect for everything outdoors.  We began our weekend introducing bubbles to Avery.  She loved them and found it fun to run after them.  However, we have just started seeing Avery's independence come out, full strength.  Everything is "Avery help" which in the end just means she wants to do it alone!  No one can help her with anything.  So, after about 30 minutes of bubbles, we were out of bubbles and full of tears.  Ah...toddlers. 

Later that day, our friends Clint and Georgia had all of our friends and their families out to their lake for an Easter egg hunt.  Avery was excited to hang out with her friends and run around all afternoon.  One of our friends' little guys, Cole, had a big crush on Avery and kept trying to hug or kiss her.  Avery didn't want anything to do with it, but it was still funny to watch!



Dale, Cole and Clint



Getting a little help from Nellie


 

Once she had a taste of hunting eggs, it was all she wanted to do.  So, we took her plastic eggs home and repeatedly hid her eggs in our backyard. 

Then, she wanted to "hide" them for daddy.  Yes, she is putting them all under a bush.  I didn't say she completely understood the idea behind the Easter egg hunt.  :) 

And of course, a little flying time!

This week, Avery has started really playing with her animals and toys.  She makes them "talk" to each other, run or hop down the halls and completely interact.  Her favorite thing to do is have her toys look at everything she can see.  Including the deck...

Also, this week, Avery got her first "injury" that required a band-aid.  So she went to the store with daddy to pick out which kind.  She also really liked to kiss her owie as much as she could!

Happy Easter to all of our friends and families!  I will post again this week! 

Now That "Winter" is Done....?

If you had asked me a month ago how I felt about the lack of snow this year, I would have told you that I was a bit sad and disappointed.  First, I was really looking forward to Avery being able to play in the snow.  Second, who doesn't love an impromptu snow day in the middle of the winter months?  However, I am so excited with all the nice weather we are having!  It has been really nice to get Avery outside and she is loving it.  From the moment we get home at night until she goes to bed, she is outside.  The weekends are the same thing, except she wants to be outside as soon as she wakes up. 

We have had some visitors during this lovely weather too.  Avery has really been spoiled with all of the attention she has gotten lately.  The first weekend of March brought a visit from Auntie Ashley!  All Avery could talk about the days leading up to her visit, was how excited she was for "Auntie Asslee" to get here.  Yes, that is what she calls her. 

Then, the following weekend, my mom and dad came to visit.  Again, the weather was beautiful, so we spent a lot of time outside including a trip to the park!



Waiting for Ga and Papa to get here



Also, Normal has a great little downtown area that we walked around in on Sunday.  This is also where the video below takes place.


 

Hi Ladybug!



Unfortunately, Avery is quite strong willed and doesn't love taking pictures, or posed pictures anymore, so we didn't get any pictures with my parents....this time.

Avery has recently become very excited about trains and airplanes....do we have an engineer in our future?  ;)  Luckily for us, there is a train station in Normal that we can go and visit.  So, while my parents were here, we took a quick trip up to watch a train come in.  The point at which she yells for my dad, or Papa, just cracks me up!  Enjoy!

Then, only a few days later, Dave's parents came into town to visit.  Of course, we were outside again!

Trying to scare Ga and Papa

 

Playing Peek-A-Boo



Now, I know she appears to be all sweet and adorable.  We see it too, however, we have begun seeing the tantrums.  I am talking, run across the room, lay down on the floor, kick legs, cry and then peek to see if we are looking at her- which we are not because we are too busy laughing in the other room.  This tantrum happened the other night, outside.  She was angry because I wouldn't let her have my camera at that moment.  I sure am glad I didn't because I got to document this instead!  :)

Poor monkey, he never saw it coming.

Avery's new pets...yes, there are 2 of them.

Love from Bloomington!