Happy Easter!

This year I made plans to take Gerritt & Sophia to the Easter Egg Hunt at nearby Vasa Park Resort. We all had a blast at their egg hunt last year. But it was not to be... Due to unexpected road construction & the time required for a detour (unlike my husband, I drive places the same way every time & am totally incapacitated without a GPS), we arrived to the park 20" late. We immediately knew that the egg hunt was finished due to the crowds of happy children running around with baskets full of sweets. I had a strong urge to turn around & go back home, but after looking at my kids' disappointed faces decided to go in, hoping for some small miracle to cheer them up.

It was a good hunch. Although all of the plastic eggs were picked, we were able to play & take a few amazing photos in the large heaps of straw which volunteers were cleaning up from the lawns. The Easter bunny was still there so Gerritt had a chance to sit on his lap (just like year, Sophia was too afraid to come close for even a high five). There was plenty of candy left after the Hunt so one kind gentleman filled my kids' empty baskets with chocolate goodness.

After our visit to the Vasa park, we went out for dim sum at a Chinese restaurant. The kids then spent the rest of the afternoon admiring colorful Easter eggs, eating sweets & playing with toys from the Easter baskets. Sophia was not in the mood, but I was able to take a few memorable photos of Gerritt (he climbed on our cherry tree) & Jacob (he was small enough to fit into the Bumbo seat & be displayed on our kitchen table as part of the Easter decor).

Our cherry tree all in bloom

Another Easter behind us... My Mom was pleasantly surprised with our Easter celebration tradition. We are so blessed she is with us! I will make sure she won't miss the Easter Egg hunt next year. :-)

Pure joy!

Sophia finds the Easter egg lights fascinating!

Spring Bouquet

I got the idea for this fun spring project for Gerritt & Sophia from the High Five magazine subscription to which Gerritt received from grandma Chris. The High Five magazine is designed with preschoolers in mind & includes a variety of stimulating & interesting activities including the Hidden Pictures puzzle, the Adventure of Spot, a mix of read-aloud stories & action rhymes. Since Gerritt & I read the magazine so often, I couldn't help but get inspired by this bouquet idea from the latest issue.
To make the bouquet you will need tissue paper (I chose pastel colors), twist ties, twigs & a vase.

Steps:

1) Cut tissue paper into 2-inch squares.
2) Tie a twist tie around the center of a tissue-paper square.
3) Use the twist tie to attach the flower to a twig.
4) Put the branches in a vase.

We are all ready for Easter!

Eggs, Eggs & More Eggs!

This post should have been written in April right after our Easter celebration, but like so many other things it had to wait until I had time & the right mood to sit down, organize the photos as well as my thoughts. But better late than never, so here it goes...


Our Easter-themed chandelier decorations

Our Easter celebration this year turned out to be more elaborate than the one last year. I've started preparations at least a month in advance (bought the decorative eggs & the bunny ears as well as egg coloring).


Gerritt all dressed up with Easter baskets

Both of the kids were old enough to participate in an outdoor Easter egg hunt, which we did at the Vasa Park Resort.


In anticipation of the Easter egg hunt


Daddy & Sophia


Gerritt hunting for the Easter eggs

We probably enjoyed the egg hunt as much as the kids (not the aggressive parents though - some of them were egg hunting with their kids even though the signs clearly stated no parents were allowed on the fields ;-( ). Gerritt did very well despite the egg hunting field being literally packed with other kids some of whom were pretty pushy.


Sophia barely needed any help from Daddy

Sophia figured out what to do right away & barely needed any help from Daddy.


Sorting the goods

Most of the colorful plastic eggs were filled with chocolates & candy. Some of the eggs had small papers with numbers on them inside. At the end of the day each paper was traded for a toy prize.


Gerritt absolutely loved the Easter Bunny! After posing for photos, he went back to him not once but twice - to hug him, sit on his lap & give him a few high fives. :-)


Gerritt with the Easter Bunny


The kids & I


First tulip of the spring


Gerritt coloring eggs

After all of the morning activities, Sophia took a nap. Gerritt & I used this time as an opportunity to color the Easter eggs. I told him ahead we were going to do the egg coloring in the afternoon & of course, he was way too excited to nap.


Sophia's Easter photo


Gerritt posing for camera


The Easter eggs & Russian Easter bread

In the evening, the kids enjoyed sampling the Easter eggs as well as the traditional Russian Easter bread - "kulich." Kulich is fluffy & light sweet bread with raisins which is usually served side by side with cream cheese like dessert paste - "paskha." Kulich is something I grew up with in Russia. Serving it for Easter was a perfect opportunity to introduce some of the Russian traditions to our Russian-Korean family. At the end the Easter celebration was a bit exhausting, but as usual, I am glad we did it!

Happy Easter!

My lovely assistant


The end product


Yummy!


Gerritt & his friend Anna enjoying eggs for breakfast the next day

We had a quiet, uneventful Easter. The morning was filled with eating breakfast, snuggling, reading new books from the library, playing, & Gerritt's potty-training. In the afternoon, I put Gerritt down for a nap which gave me just enough time to color Easter eggs. Gerritt was pleasantly surprised with the colorful eggs upon waking up & wanted one "opened" right away. He had no interest in eating it once he found out it was just plain & white inside. For the rest of the day he kept opening & closing the fridge & taking various-colored eggs out. He wanted to lick them, play with them, & ended up dropping several. He even went to bed with 2 eggs - one yellow, one green. :-) Once Gerritt was asleep, I quietly returned them into the fridge. I had a 4-day work week (including Saturday nursing shift at the hospital), so no Easter baskets, egg hunts, or Easter bunny photos were in the plans. Perhaps next year...
I lost my camera & haven't taken any photos for over a month. After exhaustive search all around the house, we finally bought another camera. My last few blog entries were without photos & it was great to get back to photoblogging again!