Busy Week!

Last week was insanely busy for us, but we really enjoyed spending time with family and friends.  We got to try some new things and kick off the season for others.

Tuesday: Tadpole

Allison took her first swim class on Tuesday at the YMCA.  She had been in the pool once last year, but at 3 months, it was difficult to get any reaction out of her.  This was going to be the big test to see if she was going to be our little fishy.  Well, it didn't go great since she was exhausted from our hectic schedule over the weekend while MoMo and PaPa moved...  But I'm sure this week will go better.  Here are some tearless pictures that we managed to get in between screaming fits.

Wednesday:  3 years

Wednesday marked our 3 year anniversary and we were blessed with gorgeous weather.  (ironic, isn't it?)  We had talked about paddle-boating in Forest Park some time ago and decided to check it out.  For $15, you get a paddle-boat that can seat up to 4 for an hour.  That's just the perfect amount of time to cruise through the channels of streams that run off the main lake.  It was definitely a work-out for 2 people, so I wouldn't recommend going it alone.

Thursday: Camping

We officially kicked off the season with our first camping trip of the year.  We went to Klondike Park just past Defiance, MO off Hwy 94 with the Talleys and Jennings for an overnight trip.  The campground is really nice, with covered picnic tables (which thankfully shielded us from the unexpected rain shower), fancy bathrooms (with showers nicer than mine at home), and a kitchen with sinks, long counters, and even an electric stove!  We grilled kabobs for dinner and made s'mores before putting the kids to bed.  That didn't go so well.  Sean and Spencer kept waking each other up until Sam and Susan called it a night.  Allison was the opposite.  She went down with minimal crying, but we woke her up when we came to bed.  Then the 2 hour-ish battle ensued.  I'm not exactly sure when she finally fell asleep, but it was after Tracy gave up trying to get Shelby to bed and took her home to sleep.  But despite the struggles we all had a good time and woke up to mostly happy kids and yummy breakfast burritos.

Allison being "so big" in Shelby's camp chair.

Ready to let go?

I am completely amazed by how quickly Allison is growing/changing/learning!  At her birthday party, she was patiently cruising along furniture and look at her now!  She's running behind her walker!  We had to change practice venues because the basement wasn't big enough to hold her.

Strolling down the sidewalk...

 RUNNING!

Easter

We had big plans this Easter as Allison's first "real" Easter.  Last year she was tiny enough to put in her Easter basket, so this year we were looking forward to egg hunts, the Easter bunny, and lots of family fun!

Here she is with the same Easter basket.

 

Not really sure what to think of the Easter bunny, but she definitely didn't like the girl that was trying to get her to smile!

 

Her first egg hunt with Sean, Spencer, and Shelby!  She loves plastic eggs, so she really enjoyed finding them.  And by Easter she really understood that she should collect them in the basket... 

 

EGGS!!

 

After such success with the jungle party cupcakes, I thought I would try my hand at another cupcake craft.  So here are some "bunny butt" cupcakes, recipe courtesy of Hello, Cupcake!  Piping the grass got a little tedious by cupcake #14, but I can definitely tell that my skills are improving as the last 6 piped with another bag looked better than the first 12.  My tip for anyone wanting to try these...  Buy the white circus peanuts online.  By the time you spend all the time and money to coat the regular ones white, it will have been about the same as buying them online...