Blooming Blossom Time!

We had a lovely weekend enjoying the spring blooms. We met up with Kelly and Abigail at Green Spring Gardens for a picnic outside before heading inside for Cherry Blossom crafts, including painting lanterns, origami, creating a Japanese headband, and a cherry blossom silk painting.  Evie was also fantastic at the chopstick challenge, giving Daddy a run for his money.  Speaking of running, the girls had a great time making Dad play tag with the additional twist of having his eyes closed, which he found a tad bit challenging. 

After a scavenger hunt that allowed the girls to race around the park, they posed for some spring pictures.  Ellie has this new thing of doing some vogue poses which can sometimes make for difficult pictures as she is always on the move. 

She has also patented her "Walk like an Egyptian" move. 

At last, a simple smile without any hair blowing in her face! 

The next morning the girls woke up so early, we decided to take our chances with the cherry blossom traffic and go early into the city to experience the beauty around the Tidal Basin.  We amazingly found a parking spot and it was just a short walk to enjoy the beautiful blooms. 

Ellie and her demure look...

The girls and Mommy pose in front of the beautiful view!  We think this is the first time we've seen the blossoms at peak! 

There were a lot of distractions, as Ellie points towards either an airplane or a dog... 

Evie and her model pose with Mommy.  

We always like stopping by the George Mason Memorial on the way out.  Ellie models her relaxing pose as she settles in for a conversation with the man himself. 

Daddy and his girls... everyone is getting hungry for donuts by this point. 

Evie takes hold of the camera to take some shots of the family.  What a lovely morning!

And finally, Easter back home...

On Sunday we hopped over to Ba and Opa's for another Easter celebration. The house and garden looked beautiful with the many daffodils and bunny rabbits here and there. 

There are plenty of great hiding spots for the bunny along Ba's garden. Ellie had an eagle eye. 

She was excited every time she found a new treasure! 

Evie goes in low for the grab!

Ellie is amazed by one of her Easter gifts! 

The girls modeled their new spring hats and special dolls - Ellie has already named her "Violet," of course. 

Picture time with the such sweet princesses. 

Hey, how did Peter Rabbit get in this family picture with Ba and Opa?!? Guard your carrots! 

Then again, who could resist this sweet face?!? 

To end the celebration, Ellie and Evie tested out the backseat of Opa's new toy - his first Mercedes convertible.  Wow, Ba and Opa sure know how to treat the family like royalty! Thanks for a lovely Easter, Ba and Opa. 

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.