The sun was out today

We've had some pretty dark and dreary days lately. Our church playgroup met up at SoZo, which was fun for me (got to chat with a bunch of my mom friends) but not so fun for Jasper. He doesn't do well in these noisy, indoor gym environments. He gets very stressed out about the amount of chaos (I think?) and other kids taking things from him, which happened a couple of times. I tried taking him there over a year ago and he didn't like it then, but I thought perhaps he'd do better now. Nope. No, he had about 10 meltdowns. So I think we won't be going there again.

The reason we had planned to have playgroup there was because the forecast said it was going to be hailing, freezing, windy, etc. But it actually ended up being really nice today. So we left SoZO a little early and play outside where Jasper just seems to thrive. We found an enormous puddle that was actually quite deep for a puddle. The boys got really, really soaked. We we got home I realized their boots were filled with water! What fun! I stomped around too and remembered how fun it was to be a kid.




Gideon, of course, kept sitting down in the puddle and trying to drink the yucky, murky water. Maybe he'll grow up to be a soil scientist (because you get to taste dirt), a chef (because you get to eat lots of good food), or postmaster (because you get to lick stamps and envelopes).

Easter!

We had an Easter Egg hunt with some friends from church and our neighbors on Saturday. It was SO much fun! It's the second year in a row we've had an Easter egg hunt at Lower Woodland Park. This park is perfect for an Easter egg hunt because it is partially wooded and enchanting for the kids. To me, it seems like what a good old fashioned egg hunt should be like.

So, what we did was have all the kids sit on the picnic table facing away from the park, had about 10 parents hide the eggs and the rest of us try to distract them. I tried to tell them a story about the Easter Bunny which ended up being pretty lame :) The best was the story Milo Sherman told the kids about Dinosaurs that lived on the earth a long time ago, and then Adam and Eve destroying them. Oh dear! I really hope that none of the kids remember that one for too long. After all the eggs were hid, the kids were told to find 15 eggs each. Very cute to see some of the older kids helping the younger kids. My only wish is that it could have been a bit warmer.

Cara Leopard, a friend from church, took some amazing pictures! She's got a whole bunch of pictures from the Easter Egg hunt up on her blog- http://www.caraleopardphotography.blogspot.com/

Finger painting

We had a rainy afternoon a few days ago, so I busted out the paints for the boys so they could explore their creative side (and make a mess :) They had a great time. Any suggestions on how to keep a one year old from eating the paint? I know paint is not the best thing to be eating, but Gid is so curious and needs to taste EVERYTHING! I don't remember this being such a huge issue with Jasper. I figure letting him taste things around him is a good thing, but probably not eating paint! We had to call it quits with the art project when his mouth was oozing with red and purple paint. Nonetheless, they made a beautiful mural and had fun cleaning up in the bathtub afterward.

Making the most of a puddle of mud

This is what Jasper, Gid and our friend Max did today:











Woodland Park is great for mud puddles, that's for sure! My friend Sarah and I just cut the kids loose and let them go for it. Sticks were flying, mud was flying. They had such a good time. Came home terribly stinky and dirty, though (it was one of those kind of smelly puddles, anaerobic stinky).