Egg...stravaganza

We woke up this morning to some drizzle so we put on our rain boots and headed out to the egg hunt. As we were driving, the rain stopped and the sun came out! It turned out to be a perfect day for this fun Easter event.

Dawson and Grace waited patiently for the countdown. The hunt was right in front of the Manor House at Stan Hywet Hall.

As the girls were waiting, Miss Muffet stopped by. The girls kept telling her she had a spider on her head!

Off and running!!! The hunt is on!!!

Look at our eggs.

Next, we looked inside to see what was inside our eggs!

It was so nice outside, we headed over to the greenhouse for some frisbee, beanbag and hula hoop fun. I wonder what Dawson is telling Grace???

Check out this frisbee throw!

In the gardens, we found a giant chess set. The girls played here forever moving pieces and laughing like crazy. They thought this was a lot of fun!

Easter Weekend Starts Off With....

EGGS OF COURSE!

Egg dying the traditional way......

Roller painting..... This was really fun but, really, really messy!

And when we were all done, we had a delicious homemade treat I picked up

at the Westside Market!

A Bubble Kind of Day

Gotta love popping bubbles on a beautiful spring day!

Hula Hoop

I surprised Dawson with a really small hula hoop this afternoon. The sun came out and it warmed up finally, so outside we went to give it a try. The pictures will tell the rest of the story!

Spots and Stripes

Off to the zoo with friends to learn about animals with spots and stripes. Notice our spotted dress! We have attended many of these programs throughout the last few years and they are fabulous learning experiences.

We started out in the classroom hearing a story, singing a song, making a striped craft and eating a striped and spotted snack. Next, came an animal we could learn about and touch!

It was a tortoise from India. Dawson has a love of animals...any kind!

We were exercising the tortoises by rolling balls past them as they sat there. Not a lot of movement from these two but, I guess it stimulates them and thats what they need!

We then headed out as a group to find some animals with spots and stripes. On our way, we passed the vet hospital. Dawson and Mayna stopped by to take a good look in the window.

The whole gang was looking for the Cheetah!

And of course a day at the zoo is not complete without a ride on the carousel!

Sun, Surf and Sand

Sit back, relax and enjoy some sun, surf and sand from our vacation. We spent all of our hours just playing in the sand and spending time together!

Dawson's first steps on the beach....we went straight to the sand when we arrived at the hotel.

The beautiful view from our chairs in the sand.

Our Cabana where we could be when we needed a break from the sun. There was a constant breeze under this hut. In the corner, you can see Dawson playing in the sand by the hammock.

Dawson was always covering her feet in the sand.

Always building a castle...

Loving the water..in the water, out of the water, in the water, out of the water...

Another castle...this time we brought along some princesses to be a part of the royalty.

The air temperature was perfect. It was around 85 each day with a nice breeze that kept us cool. The sun was so strong I had to buy her a hat and a shirt to protect her from the sun. (on top of soaking her all day long with sunscreen!) You just couldn't feel yourself getting all the sun!

Back to the ocean.

Time to make a sand angel!

Where is Dawson???

More waves.....

More water....

Another castle...

Time to crash in the hammock. She was falling asleep as she was swinging with her one foot pushing her back and forth!

Time to go home! A wonderful, relaxing trip was had by all!

An "Ish" Day

We headed off to art first thing this morning followed by a pancake breakfast to welcome the arrival of the Blue Herons to our park.

Today Miss Nancy started off the lesson with a book called "Ish". This is a book about a character named Ramon who loves to draw until his older brother makes fun of him. He then feels like he's not very good at drawing! Ramon then starts to crumple up all his work and throw it on the floor. One day, his younger sister shows him that she has kept all his crumpled work and has hung it on her walls. When he declares that the picture of the vase doesn't look like the real thing, she says that it looks "vase-ISH." Now, Ramon adds the word "ish" to all his work that doesn't look just perfect! A new confidence was acquired!

After the story, Miss Nancy had the girls each draw their own version of the vase and then paint it with some watercolors.

Dawson listened carefully and created her own version of the vase. Looks good to me. Notice the two red ovals on the side of the paper by her arm...those are her favorite pair of red sparkly shoes. She really wanted them in the picture too!

After art we headed over to her school for the Blue Heron pancake breakfast. The Herons are back and have arrived at the park. There were lots of fun activities for the kids and tons of information about these amazing birds.

When we got home we measured her compared to a life sized Blue Heron. Dawson told me the Blue Heron was taller than her because he had really long legs!

After measuring, we colored our picture.

The picture was so large, Dawson got tired of coloring the long legs so she grabbed three crayons at once in hopes of finishing up faster! This girl is always thinking!!!!