Easter 2023

We kicked off the Easter season this year with our annual Easter Egg Hunt down at the park.  As the kids get older, it changes more and more for us.  This year, the girls headed down early and helped to distribute all of the eggs and to hide the sacred "golden eggs," which are worth bigger prizes.

Then we met up with them for a quick picture in front of the lake before the boys took off in search of eggs to fill their baskets.

With Easter a tad bit later this year, the kids were not bundled up in their winter coats, hats and gloves (like they were in past).  It also helped that the time of the event was moved to early afternoon instead of the morning.

Afterwards, we came back to our house to color Easter eggs.

The girls were very meticulous with their designs ...

... while the boys aimed for simplicity.

I say this every year: I hope that the kids come home from college to partake in some of these traditions that I love so much.

Even our neighbor joined in on the fun!

Such a fun afternoon!

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That evening, the boys worked on a plate of veggies for the Bunny to snack on upon his anticipated arrival.  Steve supervised the cutting of the radishes.

All set up and ready to go!

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The next morning, the kids awoke to a note on the table and missing Easter baskets.

The Easter Bunny likes to 'mix things up' each year and this Easter was no exception.  

The (stuffed) plastic eggs -- a designated color for each kid -- were hidden outside.  Not only was there a piece of candy (or money) in each of their hidden eggs, but there was also a paper egg with a scratch-off yolk in each egg.

This picture was taken the night before during the stuffing process:

All ready to search for their designated color of eggs.  They know the rules: if they see an egg that belongs to someone else, do not tell!

It was a tad bit chilly, but this boy was ready!

Why does Samantha always seem to have the hardest time finding her eggs?

Sophia's eggs are always pink!  And she grabbed a matching bag this year.

Can you ever have too much camo?  Apparently not.

The kids were instructed to bring their hunted eggs back inside and use the provided quarters left on the table to scratch off the eggs.  One of the eggs told them where their Easter basket was hidden.  It was pure luck if the first egg that they scratched told them where their basket was hidden ... or the last egg.  Spoiler alert: it was the very last egg that Samantha scratched off that told her where her basked was located.  

Jack's scratch-off egg told him that his basket was in the "hall closet."

Jimmy's basket was in in the" dining room cabinet."

A Buffalo Bills hat and a deck of Mandalorian playing cards were among Jack's favorite things.

This girl loves a her bath bombs.  The bigger, the better.

Sam has a couple of these t-shirts but this one is my favorite: "Whatever floats your goat."

I predict that we will have a lot of football games being this season in our front yard.  Flag Football season is almost here!

Later, we had family over to eat, hang out and take advantage of the nicer weather.  I put out some snacks to enjoy ahead of time and while this picture is missing some of the items, I turned my famous cheeseball into a carrot for the holiday and made a bunny out of bread.  Later, I put a bowl of veggie dip inside the carved-out belly and we enjoyed those items along with Stan's world-class deviled eggs.

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Beginning of the Week Randoms

Just two crazy boys that love the snow but missing riding their bikes:

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We had family over to celebrate the February birthday kids and because it is hard to combine the "basketball" and "Mardi Gras" themes, I opted to serve basketball cupcakes and a Mardi Gras (yellow, green, purple) cake.

Nailed it!

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On Sophia's "real" birthday, we celebrated at home with pizza and breadsticks and lots of gifts:

And of course, our traditional cinnamon rolls in the morning:

She is one loved (and lucky!) 12-year old:

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When your sister has all of her friends over, you find a quiet place to sit and enjoy the popcorn:

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Just a random day when I decided to make a quick chocolate pudding pie for dessert and the kids were SO excited about it:

Note to self: I need to do this more often.

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Celebrating Steve's birthday (the BIG 49!) with some angel food cake, strawberries and a candle:

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Middle School Science Fair where Sophia studied which vitamin was most effective at preventing oxidation (the turning brown) of apples:

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Have you ever seen a bigger Connect Four game?  Steve was inspired to purchase this online and surprised the kids with it.  We have plans to set it up in the yard (as an outside game) when the weather gets a little warmer.

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This has become one of my most favorite things ever ... When Jimmy was in preschool, every once in a while, I would draw an animal on a sheet of paper and he would set to work painting it.  We would name each of the animals after they were painted and then hang them on the wall in his room.  He now has about 20 hanging up -- and we just added Skippy the Squirrel.

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Sam just got her braces off!  This picture was taken before we headed out the door to get them taken off:

And this is the after:

She has such a beautiful smile and has promised me that she will wear her retainer regularly ... until she is 30.

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Kalamazoo Air Zoo

When we bought the annual family pass for the Field Museum, we noticed that our pass would also get us in for FREE to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.  We had chosen a hotel (with a pool!) that was located just a few miles from the Air Zoo and we stayed there both the night before going to the Field Museum and again after. It made our drive to the Field Museum shorter and was so convenient to leave there and head to the Air Zoo.  

The Air Zoo was incredible!  It was much smaller than the Field Museum, obviously, and there were so many interactive exhibits for the kids.  Also, I loved how there were several retired military gentlemen that were volunteering and helping.  

I was fascinated by this wedding dress.  The woman that was married in it had it made from the parachute that he husband used when he ejected from a plane before their wedding.  

They had real amusement part rides inside like their hot air balloon ride:

There were several displays about astronauts and landing on the moon, but inside the museum and outside near the gift shop.

I am certain, without a doubt, that everyone's FAVORITE part of the Air Zoo was the simulation center.  The girls rode together, the boys rode together and then Steve even talked me into participating.  Steve did all of the steering, while I just tried not to throw up inside.

A display of circuits:

Again, the size of these crafts amaze me.

There was a section of the Air Zoo dedicated to when the United States first landed on the moon.  It showed what a typical living room would have been designed like and even had a rotary-dial phone on an end table.  My kids had no idea what it was so I made Jimmy try to use it and snapped a picture.  My, how times have changed!  

The kids were allowed to wander around freely and occasionally they would call out to me to take a picture of them with one of the exhibits.

A futuristic robot:

More amusement park rides:

The boys always partnered up and so did the girls:

Jimmy had a real blast that morning!

The last part of our tour included traveling over to another building where they are restoring several crafts.  This particular one had stairs and the kids took turns (along with Steve) going up into it.

Once we were back on the road (and heading for lunch), all of us talked about what a great time we had there.  It was raining that morning so it was the perfect outing and piqued all of our interests without being too overwhelming.  I would totally recommend visiting here.