easter

The girls on Easter morning.  

A doctor once asked Isabela, "Is this binky-face your sister?"  We thought that was a cute name for a pacifier addict.

She loved her bunny ears...but only for a split second at a time.

We headed to Maymont after church, along with everyone else in Richmond.  I had no idea 100 acres could get crowded.

Diego spontaneously started holding Isabela's hand on the way there.  It's so relieving to see your kids getting along well.

I really should plant some tulips.

Here's a wacky tree. 

Diego was quite the handful in the Japanese garden.  There was a wedding couple taking pictures with a photographer, and I'm pretty sure he's in the background of every one of them.  

I know we just had spring break, but I feel like we still need to slow down and linger more.   I need more simple life.  Front porch sitting.  Flower planting.  Kool-aid drinking.  Spring will do that do you.  

So, we'll be here.

chicks

Here is a happy chick family all ready for Easter.  

Diego made these with me.  Paper plates, clothes pins, chalk pastels, markers, scissors, glue and construction paper.  One for each of the kids...and he even gave Isabela's eyelashes.

How about this grown up boy already registered for Kindergarten?  I'd REALLY like to homeschool him and he likes the idea, but no one else is going for it. I also know he'll love school...all the friends, all the activities, being on his own.  I asked him if he liked the teacher that gave him his K test.  He said, "She's okay, but I like you better."  

Carmen had her first Easter egg hunt last weekend at daddy's work.  A little harder when you can't walk yet, but she was happy with the ones we put in her basket.  Nothing like putting things in and out of a basket to keep a baby occupied.

She's a mini-me, although somedays she looks EXACTLY like great-grandpa Mike.  It's so cool how all the kids are just so different.

And look at this chick in her bikini!  Our outdoor pool is open.  We tried it out on one of the hot days...but it's not heated enough for me.  

Carmen liked it for a bit.  I thought she'd wail, but she didn't make a peep.

And another picture just for fun...spaghetti face Carmen.  Hope everyone's enjoying their spring break!!

maymont scavenger hunt

We're in the middle of spring break right now.  We wrote up a quick calendar for the week to keep us busy and anticipating.  Before it even started, Joaquin said, "This is going to be the best spring break ever!"  Oooo.... the pressure's on.

Monday, we had signed up for the Maymont scavenger hunt.  The kids were thinking easter egg hunt the whole time (remembering back to the day before Carmen was born).  No, a scavenger hunt you solve clues and have to find stuff.  There were three levels and without hesitating, Juan Pablo chose 'hard'.  That's typical.

We probably could have played at this creek the whole day and everyone would have been happy.  It was bubbling and trickling and everything else that creeks do.

While we were hearing the rules, Diego wandered off and started climbing this tree.  It turns out it's the largest Darlington Oak in the entire United States! And they didn't want him climbing on it...just in case a limb broke off and then it wasn't the largest one.  I asked why they didn't put a sign up and she said they thought it might just encourage people to climb it.  She's probably right.

Snack time as soon as we start.  That's typical, too.

I asked JP to snap a picture of those white trees.  It looked so magical.  Nothing compares to the trees at Maymont.

Right, Diego?

The three girls.  This almost looks like it was taken by a professional, Juan Pablo!  

Hiking up the hill to the mansion and we're still smiling.  This scavenger hunt took us to the Children's Farm, the Raptor exhibit, the Dooley mansion and the Herb garden.  That's a lot of hilly walking.  The only place we didn't go was the Japanese garden...which is the only place my kids ever WANT to go.  I told them we'd have to come back another day for that.

Along the way, the kids kept wondering what the prize would be.  I suggested that maybe the prize was having fun doing a scavenger hunt, but I'm was glad I was wrong.  Every family got a frisbee...just one... because you have to play frisbee with others.  They did argue over what color to get though.  AND they gave us tickets to a baseball game this week!  

We tossed the frisbee around a little bit as soon as we got it.

Ours seemed to be broken because it kept heading for the creek each time.  Actually, I was watching other families throw them around, too, and I think all the frisbees kept heading for the creek.

One last shot of the beautiful scenery on our way out of the park.   We love you, Maymont...(named for Mrs. Dooley's middle name, May, and the French word 'mont'--a little trivia we learned on our trip.)

teddy bear party

If you saw this girl with a teddy bear, you'd know why there was no other choice for her first birthday.      She hugs them tight to her neck and loves each one like it's the only one.

The saddest thing is I've yet to get a picture of her doing it.  I'll run and grab the camera, but it's too late.  The tight bear hug is upon first sight only.

The one year old party is a catch 22.  How can you not celebrate the first year?  But how can you be sure the birthday girl will even be awake for the big event?

At first, I told the kids they could each invite one friend.  Actually, I was cajoled into it.  I wanted a simple family party the whole time...that way we could do it when Carmen would be at her best and could have the most fun.  

I called it just in time.  

We un-invited all friends (there was only one that knew about it and they were understanding) and instead I gave each of Carmen's siblings one of the invitations.  This was going to be a family party.

Next step, gather all participating stuffed animals.  We had wanted to make party hats for all the animals, but it was a little harder than it looked.... so after three, we called it quits.

We did have fun making these paper flower decorations from brown bags.  The idea came from Martha Stewart, of course, and I was sure they would not turn out because my stuff never turns out as good as hers.  I think I was wrong.  I had a hard time throwing them away after the party.

And it's not a party without food.

The extent of my cooking was the bear claw brownies made from scratch.  Isabela placed them around the table like the bears had been walking through all the food.

We had lots of berries, melons, nuts and teddy grahams, which bears all love to eat; plus chex mix, cheez-its and ham sandwiches which people do.

It's also not a party without pin the tail on something, right?  I fell in love with this bear's cute expression...I made him out of grocery bags and added some fur scraps to his ears.

We made it pin the bow on the bear. 

OK, so I still haven't taken this down yet.

Another cute game was called 'feed the baby bear'.  Carmen was the baby bear.  We used our play fish and a magnet fishing pole to hook one, then dangled it in front of Carmen and she would grab it off the line.  We did a trial run before the party to see if she'd do it which was good because she ended up taking a nap half-way through the party and missed this game.  Instead, Joaquin tried to catch all the fish at once, then whiz them through the air at me as I tried to grab them.  He thought it was hilarious that I kept missing them.

The idea of the bear hunt came by chance.  

Someone on pinterest had pinned this video of the author of We're Going on a Bear Hunt retelling the story.  We watched it.... and at first, we were really creeped out by it.  You must watch it to understand.  Go now.  You'll have a great laugh.  We sat there unable to turn it off but with odd expressions on our faces the entire time.  I should say we later watched other videos he's made and they're quite addictive.  Not as scary and the bear hunt one.  

So we made a bear hunt obstacle course in our house for the party.  Here's Isabela getting the cave ready.

Green streamers for grass, blue for water.  There was a brown blanket for mud.  They even had to go up the tree fort for the forest part.

In the book, there's a snow storm...so we hung a lacy table cloth and put a white comforter on the floor to crawl over.  The bear paw prints led the way.

That rabbit better watch out!

We also made a beehive piñata.  It was filled with swedish fish (bears love fish) and chocolate (I think they love that, too).  We didn't whack it until several days later when we had more time...benefits of a family only party.

It was interesting going all out on a party just for us.  There were moments of 'why bother?' and others of 'this is what is important...we're what is special'.   I think I got the idea from reading blogs like Katherine Marie Photography or The Orange Rhino. I want my family to know they are worth it. 

Carmen had a great day.  It wasn't too much, and it was just her pace.

And that strawberry cupcake was just as delicious as it looked.  I know.  I had three.

ONE

How fast does a year pass?

One minute old.

One year old.