Easter recap

Instead of blabbering on about how wonderful our Easter weekend was...I am going to challenge myself to leave you with just some of the pictures I captured.   And of course I know I won't be able to leave you completely without some of my ramblings.  Enjoy!

Sydney hadn't been back to Grandma Charlie and Grandpa Ed's since Christmas so she had a lot of exploring to do.  She took off and enjoyed all the dogs that were in the house all weekend. 

When daddy arrived the hoop was lowered and Grandma showed everyone her smooth moves!

I loved that we had time for shooting hoops.

Many of our holidays are so packed with celebration or travel and this Easter we had moments for this.

And this.

Walks where Sydney was determined to keep up.

Lake Superior always peeking in on us in the background.

If you have a new walker that isn't quite ready to go it alone...

tennis courts are great places to let them go with their walker. 

Miss Sydney lapped it and didn't want to leave.

It was a little chillier up north this weekend so we had to balance the fresh air with some inside relaxing.  Henry asked for Grandma's laptop and went to town at whatever .com he could think up. 

Grandpa was there-- busy with packaging up his goodies from hunting season.

And then Aunt Sara stopped in and we got our Easter on!

The boys pretty much did the egg dying thing all on their own. 

Kinda cool to sit back and watch them go.

We kept it simple, no big crazy Pinterest crafting with the egg deal this year. 

Aunt Sara did demo how to tye dye the egg.

Simple meant a relaxed egg dying experience for all.

And the next morning they hunted and found their basket goods.

This year the Easter bunny tested the limits and brought suction cup bow and arrows and cap guns...(the wrong caps though.) 

New sunglasses are always a great basket find.

And Miss Sydney got a few little things to shake and nibble up.

oh!  Can't forget this Easter basket find.

Balloon boats.  As you can see from the picture you blow them up and then supposedly, let them go in the water...we'll have to wait and see later in the spring and summer season.

When all was said and done,

it was the perfect mix of holiday and just plain good old Grandma Charlie time.

Hanging in the woods or in the warm front room.

Sleeping hard at night from all the Northwoods air.

A game of canasta, a late night slice of cherry cream cheese pie, and  a couple extra cups of coffee all fed the soul until next time we visit.

I hope your Easter holiday was filled with moments as sugary and wonderful, as the red jelly beans that found their way into my mouth, finally, on Saturday evening. 

A Crafty Valentine dream is squashed.

Pinterest is addicting and inspiring.  And I have been seeing such cute Valentine ideas.  So before we went shopping for our supplies/Valentines etc.  I showed the boys these cute ideas.  I didn't use the word cute though...  I had high hopes that they would be excited to do something crafty and unique.  I said,    

"cereal-sly, aren't these cool!"

Source: bestfriendsforfrosting.com via Sarah on Pinterest

or, "Check these out.  We could totally do this!"

Source: Uploaded by user via Sarah on Pinterest

And, "These are SUPER awesome."

Source: zakkalife.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

And the boys smiled and giggled.  But they still insisted they wanted to go to the store and pick out a box of the darn cartoon ones.  So that's what we did.  BUT LOOK!  For a whooping $5.00 each boy got to pick their dream box.  And they both sat down and didn't complain a bit about writing them out.  Henry got lots of practice writing his name.  LOVE THIS.  And Charley finally was able to write his friend's names and his names fast enough that he didn't get bored with it and small enough that he could do it himself to his satisfaction.  We went back today to buy an extra box so they could just have fun doing the sticker puzzles but all of them were sold out (the kind they picked).  Glad I had my act together in time. 

**While shopping for their Valentine cards we ran into a mom from Charley's class.  She told me that her son was the same way.  He wanted the store bought.  But she said that her kindergarten daughter is making her own with doilies and sparkles and all that jazz.  She tipped her head at Sydney and reminded me that I still have a chance at a crafty homemade Valentine. 

****The boys did sound interested in doing these cute ones for their teachers!  We won't buy the rolos until this weekend though...because if we bought them today...well let's just say, they wouldn't be here by Tuesday.

Source: make-it-do.com via Sarah on Pinterest

This morning as we were packing up for school Charley said, "Remember mom, next Halloween I want to go to Tar*get to get my costume."  Ugh.  Already they are insisting on store bought instead of creatively put together by us. 

north in pictures.

but again.

my favorite.

Gingerbread house moaning turned into CHEERING!

While doing my last minute shopping before heading to my mom and dads I came across a good sale on gingerbread houses.  I bought three and then called my mom to tell her I was bringing them.  EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. moaned when they heard I was bringing these. 

But I was jazzed. 

Bonding time with Aunts and nephews.

(Soon to be) Aunt Liz was pumped.

Aunt Raina is always up for a little competition.

Grandma Barb narrated the showdown.

And the Uncles/dads judged.

We did it on Sunday morning in our PJ's.  So excuse the lack of makeup, hair do-s, etc.

It ended up being a blast. 

I think it might be a new tradition. 

 

Team 1:  Aunt Liz and Henry

Their house below won most sturdy...but I LOVED the use of holiday symbols.

Team 2:  Aunt Raina and Charley

Their house won for most classic gingerbread house.  There were lots of similarities to the picture on the box.  It was a very clean look.  AWESOME!

Team 3:  Aunt Sarah and Eli

We won for the yummiest house.  We used every single piece of candy...well, minus the pieces we nibbled.  Eli worked so serious and hard on it.  So. much. fun.