Ellie channels Ernst the Swiss Mountain Climber*

Ellie, now that she has mastered walking, is climbing up everything - the toy piano, the step stools to the bathroom sinks, the Little People dollhouse, and, as Daddy caught on the iPhone today, her Fisher Price mirror band toy.  We don't quite know where she's going from here, but found it pretty hilarious (as soon as Mommy gets over her initial heart attack and starts spotting her).  She seems to laugh too when she's caught in these places where she knows she shouldn't be.  What a character!
Sorry for the lack of posts, lately.  We have been enjoying just taking it easy over the last couple of weekends and there hasn't been a lot of time for photo opps.  Maybe next week we'll get motivated!
*Ernst is a character in Richard Scarry's "Busy, Busy World" - a pretty awesome book.

Bend it Like Evie

Evie had her first soccer practice on Saturday and she had a blast. Before class started, she did a lap or two with Daddy to warm up in her coolio retro Nike track suit.
Ellie enjoyed watching her sister run after the soccer ball. It looks as she has plans of her own - this is (one of) her mischievous looks.

Evie was all ears to Coach's instructions.

Evie gets ready to kick the ball into the net. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!

Opening Day at Nationals Park

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The family bundled up and headed over to Nationals Park for the opening day game against the Cincinnati Reds (I think... not much watching of the game was taking place). Despite the chill, Evie insisted on having a big chocolate ice cream cone and proceeded to get it over her face, jacket, and even her Yankees hat.


Ellie seemed happy to watch her sister make a mess instead of wanting to get into a mess for a change!



She loves being dipped by Mommy - and showing off all her teeth! Whee!


At the playground, Ellie got a ribbon tied to her hair so somewhat resembles Alfalfa the Little Rascal. Which rascal does Daddy most resemble? Spanky? Hmmm... tough call.


Evie really enjoyed the special Animal Kingdom moon bounce. She was very proud of how she played with the "rough" kids. We tell her she is very brave.


As you can see, she too was put in ribbons by the Nationals staff - pigtails are a new look but she's making it work.

We actually made it to the seven-inning stretch! Evie takes a break from her big cone of popcorn to sing "Take me out to the Ballgame!" Hooray Nationals! Welcome to a brand new season of possibilities!

We say goodbye to another eggs-cellent Easter...

Bebe sent over some great pictures from the McDonald hunt - look at these girls hamming it up for the camera while I imagine Stanny is rolling his eyes: "Girls!"

Big smiles from these princesses with their giant Easter bunnies by their side.


Mommy holds Ellie as she watches all the eggs-citement of the kid's hunt.

After the festivities, Molly and Evie get dressed in their play clothes and have a grand ol' time blowing bubbles in the backyard.

Easter Sunday with Ba and Opa

Upon returning home from New Jersey, and getting dressed up in our Easter finest, we took a couple of minutes to take some pictures by the pink dogwood tree in our backyard.

We may have missed the cherry blossoms, but at least our backyard can provide a nice backdrop!
Daddy, Ellie, and Evie take a closer look at Virginia's state flower, coincidentally also Virginia's state tree.

Upon arriving at Ba and Opa's house, Evie takes some time to water the azaleas, ever the little gardener. Evie, what grows in your garden - Easter eggs?

Ellie seemed to know how cute she looked in her dress. Here she is doing a little can-can!

The family pauses for a picture - next time Marc and I will have to wear our matching outfits so we look as good as the girls!

And then the Easter egg hunt began! Along with eggs, Evie found some neat toys the Easter Bunny had left behind like a bird whistle.
Ellie, after having her milk, was excited to get in the action!

The first egg found!

Ellie likes being in Ba's arms so she can get a good birds-eye view of the possible hiding spots.

Evie has some good giggles for Mommy's attempts to juggle some eggs, although Ellie is not impressed.

Opa gets into the picture too with his mind-blowing science kit, which he and Evie played with after dinner. She learned all about bases and acids.

Now, Ellie finds a blue egg hidden in the pansies.

She looks a little suspicious of the egg in the azaleas.

So serious, our little one!

Out of their dressy clothes, the kids let loose. Mommy practices her Dancing with the Stars moves with Ellie.

While Evie paints, Ellie puts her legs up and enjoys the ride! What a great Easter - thanks Ba and Opa!

Annual McDonald Easter Egg Hunt

What a fun weekend up in New Jersey! Ellie is particularly very excited about showing off her walking skills as she trots to check out the dying of the eggs.


Evie has a look of pure concentration as she focuses on dying the eggs to perfection.


Ellie checked it out and has some green fingertips to prove it, but she decided egg-dying wasn't her thing.


Her new fascination this weekend has been climbing up on chairs. She set to work moving all the boiled eggs from the chair to the ground - out of my way, eggs!


Then she liked climbing up all by herself, with Mommy nervously watching behind her. This time, she didn't quite get it right and tried lounging on the chair.

...then she would slide down and start all over.


Hurrah! Cousins Julianna and Stan arrive, and everyone looks dapper in their Easter finest!


Then it is time for the big hunt. Evie dons her diva faux fur coat and Easter necklaces. "Wait a second," she says, "this is empty!"

Aunty Karen, Bryn, Mommy and Ellie watch the big kids run around.

Molly shares an egg with Stanny, who held his own despite being surrounded by girls.

Daddy looks a little tired from the adult Easter Egg Hunt - he managed to come in second place this year after Uncle Dave.

Ellie enjoys sampling the goodies from her sister's basket.

Then we had to get all the cousins on the stairs for a group pictures. JJ leans over to give Ellie a kiss.

Here's probably the best one we could get of all the kids, although you can tell Ellie and Stan look ready to run for the hills!


Evie was told to keep her hands on little baby Bryn just in case she would fall over, and she took her job very seriously!

She wouldn't let go even after all kids were let loose - it was pretty funny!

Thank you Bebe and Popi for a delightful weekend!

Our Annual Backyard Egg Hunt

Today the family celebrated our second (I guess now annual!) Easter Egg Hunt at our place in Old Town. We had a full house of friends join us for the fun. First step, dying the eggs with good ol' Paas.
Then, Daddy played Easter Bunny and hid all the eggs. Evie has a big grin on her face as everyone is let loose in the backyard. She found her seven eggs superfast!

Evie checks out her bounty and counts her eggs.

Ah, there's nothing like the surprise of seeing what's in the plastic eggs - chocolate, jelly beans, sweet tarts? The possibilities are endless! Isabel found the silver egg that had $5 surprise inside!


Look at these angels all grown up! We've got Izzy, Ava, Greta, Evie, Levi, Connor, Charlotte, and Carson! It was a little difficult to get the kids to sit down and look at the camera for a picture, but we tried it any way. In this one, Evie was the culprit when she got up and ran around.

Ava, Greta (who liked the tulips), and Evie, who is drawing on one of her colored eggs with a crayon.

Izzy and Evie dig into their treasures - Evie's cheeks are filled with jellybeans!

Ellie slept through the whole Hunt! Oh, well, she will have more fun next year anyway. After waking up, she had a little milk in her bunny ears!

I think Ellie likes being a bunny!

The girls in their bunny ears. Evie is not gagging, but instead about to put her fingers in her mouth to make a silly face.

Ellie liked chasing around the cheeping chickies as they clucked around the room.

Evie is all smiles - what a great morning!