Spring Fest has sprung!

The family headed over to Ba and Opa's for a delightful day at SpringFest at the Lorton Arts Festival and delicious ham lunch at Ba and Opa's. 

Ellie and Evie embraced the coming of spring with arms wide open! 

This is Evie's coy smile.

The girls had a blast on the Polar Express obstacle course - poor Mommy could barely keep up!  

The giant slide at the end was the highlight!

The girls had a lot of fun hula hooping away - Evie puts an extra swish in her hips!

Ellie gives it a try, but much prefers pretending to be a circus tiger jumping through the fiery hoops.  The girls visited many stations to learn about how to better take care of our planet.  When we got home, we planted some herbs and sprinkled some seeds in our garden. 

The Last of the Egg Hunts

On Easter afternoon we ended our holiday with a fantastic egg hunt at our neighbors the Dechoretz's. Ms. Yamina had all sort of fun activities planned, like the egg spoon race where Ellie cheered on her sister.  It was also great to see Jen and Andrew again who were visiting on an East Coast tour.  

  

 The kids were let loose for the hunt - Ellie proudly swings her basket as she searches for the final eggs of the season. 

Evie finds a well-hidden egg buried in a bush. 

The kids plop down to go through their bounties and take a little nibble here and there. 

Andrew proudly displays his colorful eggs in his basket. 

Easter Weekend in NJ!

The family had a lovely trip to New Jersey to celebrate Easter!  First stop on Friday was Jenkin's Aquarium at the Point Pleasant boardwalk, where the kids got up close and personal with piranhas, jellyfish, sharks and penguins. 

Ellie was a big fan of pointing out all the purple fish to Bebe. 

We found an ideal spot where the sharks would come right up to the glass - take a look at those teeth! 

Look at that giant jaw of that shark! 

In the education room, the two girls found that tummy races - pulling themselves on benches - was quite enough to keep them entertained for awhile. Definitely a McDonald thing, Daddy and Bebe agreed.  

The next morning we got busy on dying the eggs a beautiful assortment of colors. 

Look at this munchkin hamming it up for the camera. 

JJ and Stan arrived and joined the girls for some fun outside  Everyone's in their Easter finest! 

Tiger Mom chases the girls around the yard. Hold onto your hats!

The kids are ready to be let loose for the hunt! 

And they're off! 

The girls take a jellybean break to send us some smiles! 

Later after lunch we had a second hunt to help Daddy and Uncle Dave search for the hard-boiled eggs. 

What another wonderful Easter with Popi and Bebe! 

The family takes a picture before hitting the road.  

The Annual Egg-stravaganza at the McDonald Burrow

Get out the PAAS and the many mugs, it's time for the Annual McDonald Easter Egg Hunt!  We had fantastic weather and 40 or so people over to enjoy egg decorating, crafts, and treats before the big Hunt.  Evie proudly holds up her namesake egg to get the festivities started. 

All the kids take turns dunking their eggs into the cups to create some masterpieces.  

Ellie loved the watermelon - she had at least 4 slices!  

Then the big Hunt started! Ellie found her 10 eggs but for some reason kept throwing the hard-boiled eggs away and looking for the plastic ones.  Doesn't she know an egg in the hand is better than two birds in the bush? 

Evie takes a break to assess her bounty -- but doesn't she know she shouldn't count her chickens until they hatch? 

For some reason, Ellie was very suspicious and thought people were going to take her eggs. 

Abigail, Ava, Evie and Izzy put on some aprons to make some serious "concoctions". Apparently when asked they said they were making a potion to turn Ellie into a kitten.  Another event for the history books! 

Easter smiles at Ba and Opa's

We headed to Ba and Opa's on Saturday for a lovely Easter brunch and egg hunt! The girls looked adorable in their matching dresses and bonnets. 

Ellie gives sis a big hug.  She is very big into giving people compliments these days - just today she admired her sister's outfit and told her "You look pretty."  Awwww... 

Ba and Opa with those two little munchkins! 

Family Picture - Say Cheese!

Ellie on the hunt, looking like she just stepped out of a Mary Poppins jolly holiday. 

Evie finds an egg in a bush - success! 

The two team up to find the last eggs in the daffodils. Unfortunately, Ellie likes to throw down hard-boiled eggs in frustration sometimes... 

Ellie doing her Billy Joel imitation... 

... and munching on a Sour Patch Kid.  

Evie trying on her new dress for the Fourth of July.

Ellie was so excited to get the final Sticker Dolly Dressing book. 

She leans over and gives Ba a kiss in appreciation of all her gifts, including a beautiful vase of flowers Ba had painted all by herself! 

It's Snowing... Cherry Blossoms!

The family took advantage of the warm temperatures on Friday to head down to the Tidal Basin and see the cherry blossoms in peak bloom.  

Evie and Mommy pretend to be beavers delivering important messages. 

And Ellie wanted some part of the action. 

Mommy poses with her girls among the beautiful blooms. 

Then, with a gust of wind, we were treated to a shower of cherry blossom petals. Evie tried to catch some on her tongue. 

Ellie loved feeling the wind and petals fly by.