Here comes Peter Cottontail...

The family traveled up to New Jersey this weekend for the annual McDonald Egg Hunt and had a lovely couple of days. The girls are eggs-perts these days at dying and decorating. 

Ellie carefully keeps her egg balanced as she transfers it to the drying rack. 

 

Meanwhile, Evie practiced spelling everyone's names on the eggs before they went into the cups. 

After all the eggs had dried, Daddy helped Ellie add some glue for a sprinkling of pixie dust, er... glitter. 

The girls happily delivered their Easter flowers to Grandma Bebe before the party got started.  Then, the cousins have arrived!  The girls could not be more excited!

The kids line up for our annual picture on the stairs, all smiles on a sunny day. Everyone is getting so big!  Stan (5), Julianna (6), Bryn (3), Molly (6), Ellie (3), and Evie (6).  But, luckily in this family, no one is ever too old for Easter egg hunts!

And they're off!  Evie pauses to show off her bounty so far but Ellie in the background is on the move!

Everyone is a winner today!  Popi hands out an extra treat for all the kids as a reward for some great hunting! After the kids' hunt it was time for the grown-ups, and this year Mom came in first! Daddy was close behind - better luck next year, Daddy. 

Evie and Ellie hold up mom's special craft this year - decoupage eggs that had all the kid's faces on them (and even Popi, Bebe's and Dolly's faces as well!)...although Ellie seems more interested in her jelly beans in her plastic egg. 

We also celebrated Ms. Molly turning 6 with some delicious cupcakes. 

After a delicious lunch, all the kids joined Bebe for some games outside.  This was Ellie's first time playing "Mother May I" and she looks a little confused. 

The girls were partners in crime during hide n' seek - looks like someone got caught by Daddy's camera here! 

Mommy and her lovely girls. 

Look at those delightful smiles!  I guess everyone was getting a kick of Mommy waving her scarf and jumping up and down (as you can see in the reflection).

Thanks to Bebe, Popi and Dolly for hosting another wonderful Easter! 

Peter Rabbit hosts the McDonald Annual Egg Hunt...

Ellie's been a fan of Peter Rabbit these days, so it was quite fitting that he hosted our annual Easter Egg Hunt this weekend.  Evie was a big help in the kitchen- helping put the finishing touches on the cupcakes and helping dad with the cookie dough. We had a great time putting together some bunny-themed delicacies, like carrot cake cupcakes, carrot-shaped crescent rolls stuffed with chicken salad, and chocolate-covered strawberries that looked like carrots.  

But the best part was Daddy's watermelon carved in the shape of a bunny - ADORABLE as the kids said!  (I guess Mom's chocolate strawberries were pretty cool too). 

 Evie and Ellie are ready to be the hostesses with the most-est.  

There was a super cute moment when Ellie introduce her friend Mary Manning to her best friend Peter. 

Evie walked her friends Ella and Cole through making an Easter chickie... 

... while Ellie and Ava went to town on the designing some cool cookies with stamps and rollers. 

Evie also did a great job of making sure every egg got dyed, with the help of her compatriot Sam.  Unfortunately, we found out the next day that she may have been a little too enthusiastic when we learned that she had commandeered a pack of (raw) eggs from the basement fridge and those were colored and hidden with the other eggs for the hunt - unbeknownst to her parents. Cole sure ended up getting a surprise when learning how to crack what he *thought* was going to be a hard-boiled eggs.  Whoopsie!

The kids line up on the stairs to hear the rules of the Hunt - Rule #1, give your friends bunny ears for a classic picture! 

I love how Lara is trying to give herself bunny ears in this picture! 

Sam found the golden egg - awesome work given it was hidden quite deeply in a bush. 

Ellie took a break on the porch rocking chair to rest her legs after quite the hunt.  Another day for the record books! 

Let's Go Fly a Kite...

Brrrrr... it was a very chilly day at the Kite Festival this year but the girls were troopers!  They bundled up and lasted through a nice walk down the mall to the Washington Monument, where Dad helped their mini kite take flight! Ellie looked like a little Eskimo under her blanket.

Evie was fantastic at helping Daddy untangle the string and fly the kite.  The kite kept trying to fly down and kiss her when Dad was controlling it though. 

Wahoo, look at it soar!  Once we learned to get a little farther from the trees, it was smooth flying!

Ellie enjoyed it all from her comfortable seat - including spying several Olaf kites take flight! We ended the day with an indoor picnic in the Smithsonian Castle because the chilly weather derailed our picnic plans, alas. 

Color our World Anything but White!

The family took a road trip to PA this week to escape the latest snow (which had conveniently nearly all melted by our return).  We met up with the Sareen family on Saturday at the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA, which was a blast.  Besides naming their own crayons, creating markers, and making cool art with melted wax, the girls (and Sachin) had some fun with model magic as well. 

Little Sachin writes a nice message to his mamma on his clay.

Sachin, Ellie, Evie and Sonali took a break from the crazy indoor playground and doodling in the dark to push some Crayola boats down the river.

Ellie triumphantly makes it through all the canal locks to the end and docks her boat.

The next morning on the way home we got to see Aunty Mel, Uncle Brian, Amelia, Wesley, and Aunty Lillian for a lovely brunch. The kids were very excited to meet Wes for the first time... but Ellie in particular was very attached to Amelia's Frozen dolls. What a lovely visit with all the future Cavaliers! 

March Madness

March started out with a bang with visitors Bebe, Popi and Dolly this past weekend!  Despite the wintery weather, we headed over to the Museum of American History, where we gathered facts about the Star Spangled Banner for Evie's first oral project about patriotic symbols.  The girls also enjoyed the giant dollhouse with at least 20 rooms, Dorothy's ruby slippers, and seeing all the First Ladies inaugural gowns. 

Marc practices his speech - behind every great man is a great lady. 

 

Later that night we headed over to Ba and Opa's to celebrate Opa's birthday.  Pictured behind us is Evie's depiction of "Crazy Opa," complete with green goatee and bows in his hair. Well, if you can't go crazy on your birthday, when can you go crazy. 

Ba made a delicious dinner for us all to enjoy before we enjoyed Schwarzwald Cake for dessert. 

Sidenote: Guess who slept through most of our Oscar party this year? 

The Year of the Goat gets started in a blizzard...

We braved another six-inch snow storm on Saturday to celebrate the Chinese New Year with Ba and Opa.  The girls proudly showed off their ao dai as they cried "Happy New Year!" as we came through the door. 

Earlier that week Evie and Mommy had learned on the Internet that Ellie was born on a lucky day - the 27th - of her zodiac sign, so will have a prosperous and harmonious life. Lucky girl! 

Ellie models her new winter coat as the girls get excited to open their lucky envelopes! 

The two girls ham it up for the camera. 

Strike a pose. 

These are the girl's princess poses of course. 

When it's winter time, we head indoors...

The temperatures have been freezing this past month so the family has done everything possible to stay indoors. We've been enjoying ourselves at the family days at the National Portrait Gallery, where Ellie fashioned some fantastic earrings for mom at a bird-themed event.  

We hosted a winter wonderland playdate where the kids created a bevy of paper snowflakes before digging into some chocolate fondue, with the messy hands and faces as evidence of the delicious Belgian chocolate provided by Yamina.

Ella, Evie and Leena show off their chocolate smiles.

The girls had some fun posing for some winter pictures.

It was back to the Portrait Gallery again for a Chinese New Year celebration to kick off the Year of the Sheep. The girls are very focused on their lanterns.  Evie even got to try painting on a silk paper. 

Meanwhile Ellie bundled up in Mom's down jacket. 

Ba created some beautiful art for Evie and Ellie for Valentine's Day.

Our first "real" snow day of the year was yesterday! The girls got pulled around the yard in the sled by Dad before conquering a "mountain" which made an excellent slide. There was also a lot of tasting of snow going on...

Evie stayed out longer than Ellie - it was admittedly freezing outside!