What do you do when you’ve gotten your munchkin all excited about going out and playing in the newly-filled long jump pit across the street, only to walk out the door to realize it’s pouring rain (the diagonal wind-powered rain that gets you straight in the face over and over again)? You put on your big girl panties, tuck your camera into your jacket, pull on your hood, and go make some sand castles.
Yay for Brad’s first sunshiny day off in a long time! We soaked up every minute we could and filled our day with a morning trip to Granville island, seawall walking, cherry blossoms, and an afternoon trip to the park. Of course I celebrated by taking way too many photos {as usual}. Here are some of my favourites…
The usual Granville Island treat (a Terra Breads cheese flute), a mosaic bench, and a view of the river.
There’s something wonderful about downtown Vancouver on a sunshiny day. The crowds seem more laid-back, the people are friendlier, and the sidewalks are lined with performers, artists, and vendors, making it perfectly okay to saunter along leisurely. So, with yet another gorgeous Vancouver day upon us, Gracen and I packed up our stroller, jumped on the Canada Line, and made our way downtown. Despite Grae’s surprisely long 3 hour nap, we were lucky enough to make it in time to spend most of Bradley’s lunch hour with him. We walked along the sidewalks, sat on the art gallery steps, watched an amazing percussion group, and visited Grae’s favourite place – the kids’ section of Chapters.
Gracen enjoyed every minute and was such a little gem all afternoon that we ended up pushing it a little late, eating dinner on the train, skipping bath time, and arriving home to read a couple of stories and crawl into bed. ♥
Oh. my. god. My heart is exploding from the cuteness overload. Not only are my plaid-clad loves all matchy matchy with their button-ups, jeans, and sneaks, but Miss G has got Bradley’s silly poses and serious expressions down to a tee.
This morning we visited an adorable little playground at our local YMCA and I’m not sure who enjoyed themselves more… Gracen or Bradley! The highlight was definitely when Brad toppled off his tiny perch on the digger into the bark mulch. Thanks to my cat-like reflexes and stealthy camera skills, it was caught on film – enjoy!
I don’t think we could have asked for a better Easter Sunday. For starters, Bradley had the day off work and the weatherman was wrong in the way you always hope he’ll be wrong… Despite the forecast for clouds and rain, the day was sun-filled and warm, which meant a healthy dose of fresh air and vitamin D for our little family.
Our day started with Gracen waking up to all sorts of goodies from the Easter Bunny. She carefully went through her basket, spending a little time with each item before moving on to the next…
Inside, she found several books…
An egg shaker…
A new sunhat to fit that ever-growing Kossowan head of hers…
A beautiful new dress…
A button-up perfect for spring… (Plus new stamps and ink pads, stickers, cookie cutters, bunny ears, a baseball cap, a summer dress, and more!)
After enjoying all of the Easter Bunny’s treats, it was onto opening her gifts sent down by Grandma Charlotte and Grandpa Dave.
Again, she opened each item carefully, pausing to investigate them before moving on. She especially loved her new wooden caterpillar puzzle.
Grae kept busy by strategically placing her new stickers all over herself (and the house) while we prepared Easter brunch.
Soon after, Uncle Brett arrived and we all sat down to eat.
With brunch cleaned up, it was time to pull out some of her new goodies! This little lady is all about stamping right now.
When she’d had plenty of stamping, we put on her pretty new dress, got her egg collecting basket, and headed into the back yard.
Some spots were a little tricky…
And some were not.
Either way, she collected those eggs like it was her job!
And when she had found most of the ones out back, we headed out to the front yard to see if there were more there…
Team Ogasawara was there to give pointers, just in case.
And then it was off to find the really tricky ones. Sometimes you just have to throw your hands up into the air!
Problem solved with the help of a shoulder ride!
When we sat down to take a closer look at Grae’s findings, we realized she had collected a new little friend in addition to her eggs.
A little wet slug!
Grae patiently opened each egg and placed the treats into her bucket.
Opening eggs is tough work.
Inside, she found all of her favourite treats – all sorts of nuts, raisins, freeze-dried berries, banana chips, and fruit leather strips. She was thrilled.
{Yup, this one’s especially for you, Gar and Mikey. Go on and make fun. At this point, I may as well participate in the daily ‘make fun of Jen and her parenting choices’ sessions… It’s more fun that way, right?}
Out front, she picked out her first treat and sat down to enjoy it.
Of course she shared a little with Unky Brett.
And then it was off to do a little exploring…
One of the other things Grae found in some of her eggs were these very weird little mystery Easter pills. We brought out a bowl of warm water, popped them in, and waited…
Some waited more patiently than others… Uncle Brett just couldn’t stand the suspense any longer, and helped the surprise arrive in a more timely fashion.
Easter-shaped sponges – woooooooooow!
We spent the rest of the morning outside and only went in when it was time for Miss G’s nap.
When Grae woke, the three of us headed down to Stanley Park to partake in more Easter festivities.
And guess who was there! The Easter Bunny himself, that’s who!
It’s a good thing our little doodlebug is a collecting machine, because she participated in yet another egg hunt.
The only problem was that the baskets were so small that her eggs kept spilling out when she’d bend down to retrieve more.
Not sure what it is about these things, but I just can’t seem to pass them up.
And with that, we boarded the Stanley Park miniature train.
We rode around, watching closely for animals and Easter eggs – both of which, Miss G pointed out plenty of.
On the way into the park, I had spied a little organic popcorn station hosted by Whole Foods, so after our train tour, we stopped in a grabbed a bag as a treat.
Gracen was all over it and kept saying, “Moore. Moore!” the way she does in her little accent.
We stopped and played at this crowded playground for a bit before heading down the hill.
Grae found herself a flower patch that kept her entertained for a while…
And when she had exhausted herself with flower picking, she bounced on Papa’s tummy instead.
With it nearing dinnertime, we headed back up to the hill to our car.
The best ending to a busy, fun-filled day? Deciding that stopping at Cactus Club for dinner is the way to go. Yay for a night off from cooking!
For a little trip down memory lane, you can see how we celebrated Gracen’s first real Easter here and see how we spent last year’s Easter Sunday here.
We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful Easter Saturday. The weather was gorgeous and Grae and I took full advantage of it by spending the majority of the day outside. We spent the morning at a really fun Easter egg hunt and carnival, and the afternoon at our favourite outdoor spot – Kits Beach. Here’s our day in photos…
Getting ready for the ‘3 and under’ egg hunt.
Basket in hand and ready to search!
Waiting patiently…
Go!
Like an old pro…
Found another one!
Checking out the loot.
Grae’s first ever face painting experience.
Gracen, the bunny.
Ring “tossing”.
Bouncy castle!
Playground time.
Bunny-eared baby.
Admiring her findings once again after a nap.
Beach time!
Sand box fun.
Collecting.
Beach-loving baby.
‘Can we collect seaweed too, Mama?’
Telling me that she wants to kiss the dog passing by.
So lucky to live where we do.
On a side note, can you believe that the little dress Grae wore today is last year’s Easter dress?! When I originally found it, I thought KD 15 (nearly $60 at the time) was a little pricey, but I ended up going back to get it a few weeks later after not being able to stop thinking about how beautiful it was. I’m so glad I did because she’s been wearing it for a full year now and will probably be able to wear it several more times this spring. Also, you can check out Grae’s first ever Easter egg hunt at seven months old here.
I chickened out. I bought styrofoam eggs for decorating rather than real ones. *cringe*
But here’s the thing… Poking holes in shells and blowing the contents out of eggs is difficult and time-consuming work. Then giving those fragile egg shells to an excitable toddler? Well that’s just asking for them (and all your hard work) to be crushed. …And hard boiling eggs and then leaving them out at room temperature for the weekend so that they become smelly little balls of bacteria? Yuck. So fake eggs it is this year. Ugh. Note to self: Must come up with a better plan for next year.
Of course, Gracen didn’t mind in the least. She was just as pleased with styrofoam craft eggs as she would have been with the real thing.
Instead of my usual wax resist dyed eggs, this year I opted to try something different {and slightly risqué when your partner in crime is an enthusiastic one year old}… Glittered eggs! Grae was up for the challenge and applied glue to the eggs like an old pro.
Shaking on the glitter was fun, but at least half of it got on the blanket and Grae rather than the egg… Not to mention that it took f.o.r.e.v.e.r.
So we opted to try out a different method! We started by dumping out our glittered into bowls…
Then plopped the gluey eggs into the glitter bath and gently rolled them around. This was definitely the way to go. Quick and efficient. Just the way I like things.
The eggs definitely didn’t turn out perfectly and we had a bit of a glittery, gluey disaster on our hands afterwards, but it was fun.
I spent my day out in surrey teaching the most lovely group of Grade Four students and came home to my two loves playing outside in the sunshine… Ahhh… Nothing like sunshine, green grass, cherry blossoms, and a little monkey climbing on your back.
This afternoon was GORGEOUS, so as soon as Miss G woke up from her nap, we jumped in the car and headed down to the beach. We soaked up some vitamin D while puppy watching, and left with sand-filled shoes and daisy-filled pockets. Doesn’t get much better than this. ♥
This afternoon we put the finishing touches on our garden beds… We’ve got zucchini, spaghetti squash, peas, beets, spinach, lettuce, beans, edamame, carrots, strawberries, dill, rosemary, chives, cilantro, basil, citronella, sunflowers, nasturtiums and a black thumb to man the show after Grandma Charlotte departs tomorrow morning (wish me luck). But the best part? This little outdoor-loving munchkin has her very own pumpkin patch along our fence. Today she planted the seeds and throughout the spring and summer, she’ll shower them with water and love in hopes of a bright orange pumpkin come Halloween…
If anyone can make it happen, it’s definitely this magical little girl. ♥
With our gardening nearly complete and the forecast calling for rain, we decided to spend our last day with Gma Char down in the States. It looked a little something like this…
With the help of Grandma Charlotte and Uncle Brett, we got started on our garden this morning…
Gracen was designated the official worm collector of the team.
Of course Miss G wasn’t scared in the least. In fact, each was declared a ‘mama’, ‘papa’, or ‘bubba’ and she was quite distraught when we released them back into the soil.