Easter, a New Toy, and More

We had a really nice Easter at home this year. We did a scavenger egg hunt for Jill to find her basket, and then went to do an outdoor hunt at Police Academy. She loved it so much that we hid the eggs again after she found them the first time!

reading the first clue (each one was a rhyme and she had to fill in the last word to know where to look for her next egg)

opening a clue

the basket!

bunny Jill

Bunny Henny

the face...and the Easter outfit (we had tights but they were ruined a couple of days before Easter)

found an egg!

Easter game of Candy Land

The day after Easter, this beauty was delivered and constructed in our yard. Jill is in Heaven! It has the slide, a climbing wall, three swings, and a picnic table underneath.
Super fun!

sliding

the climbing wall

a Play-doh cake

princess Crocs!

watching Cinderella

Um who is this big girl coming down the stairs and what did she do with my little Jill???

Oh, there's my Jill! (We don't normally wear our Crocs with socks, but she just wanted to put them on in the house like slippers, fyi.)

The Latest Events

First of all, meet the newest member of our family...Desmond!


He's 3 years old, and we're getting him from Bullseye Rescue. Because Steve and Henny have a trip coming up and we don't want any big changes like that during his early days with us, he'll be coming on May 14th. We can't wait! He loved Jill, followed Steve and me like he's known us all our lives, and as you can see, Jill loves him too.


We'll be sure to update on how he does once he comes home.

Now, on to other things...Jill was able to see her newest favorite children's musician, Caspar Babypants! She was SO EXCITED! We walked up to say hi to him and his daughter, and she turned shy about a foot away. She literally ran up to the table, stopped and ran back to me. He thought she was hilarious! Then she was the only kid dancing for the first few songs, and I got some great video of it. What a great day we had on Wednesday!

We started with donuts...strawberry cruller, anyone?

"Mama, Caspar Babypants is comin' now?"

enthralled

On Friday, we went to the zoo (again), and we had a fabulous time. Jill go to feed the ducks, the cockatiels, pet an Egyptian tortoise (again), and ride Smoky on the carousel twice. We ended the day with a haircut and sparkles in her hair and a trip to a friend's house, followed by bath, pizza, and bed. What a day!

She brought Walla Walla, her sun bear with her to experience life outside the Zoo Store. Here they are on the boulder in ZooMazium.

feeding a cockatiel

"Another one comin', Mama!"

riding the Komodo dragon

More Zoo...and More Museum

We sure like our routines around here, and going to the zoo and Children's Museum are a huge part of our week. So, here you go!

getting warmed up for dance time at the Museum

dancing with G.

joyful

hugs

so happy

making Daddy proud

2nd dance session (G. opted out)

first time pedaling her own bike

playing xylophone in my bed

petting a blue tongued skink

riding Smoky on the carousel

feeding the birds--she was THRILLED that this kind boy held the bird for her while it ate the food she had on her stick. For the rest of the day she kept telling me, "It was so nice of dat boy to hold my bird!"

riding the snow leopard

picnic lunch

piggy pancake

petting the Egyptian tortoises

on the boulder in Zoomazium

riding Smoky once again--four days after the last photo you saw above

one of the new wolves

Jill and her stick

orangutan lunch time

the only glimpse of the baby wallaroo--check out its tail sticking out of the pouch

toucan

red pandas--we got to watch them eat and play!

Jill the tower builder

The End of Soccer...and some other things

Soccer ended at the end of March, and these photos are from Jill's last day there. She loved it, and I know we'll be doing it again soon, though we're taking a break from it right now.

holding the ball

stretching and yawning...soccer is early in the morning

holding the flag

Steve was heading out to feed Henny and Jill said, "Wait Daddy, I want to help." She collected her photo album, helmet, and ladybug maraca before she declared herself ready to go outside.

playing piano with Lucy