I am so, so lucky to have a wee one that loves being outdoors as much as I do. We spent our morning at Granville Island playing on playgrounds, watching birds and boats, strolling the seawall, and taking in live performances, then came home just long enough for a nap, and headed right back out the door. Our afternoon adventure took us down to Jericho Beach, where we played in the sand, dipped our toes in the ocean, and collected ocean treasures.
Captain Grae.
Water collection.
Cruisin’ around the water park (can’t wait ’til it opens!)
Running with the birds.
Paddle boarders passing by.
Unicycle excitement. (Grae was more interested in the rocks.)
Tuckered out.
First visit to Jericho Beach.
Sand scooping.
Collecting.
“Gifts” for Mama.
And at the end of the day, after a healthy dose of vitamin D, we reluctantly headed home, hoping for another sunshiny day outdoors again tomorrow.
♥
Sliding.
Trying to balance like Papa.
Swinging froggy-style.
Wheee!
Mama’s turn.
Just chillin’.
Little climber.
‘I’d be much happier if I had some company on this cool merry-go-round’…
Somehow I got convinced. Barf.
Our favourite – a saucer swing!
Riding on her “bell buh” (bellybutton), as she calls it.
Her favourite way to ride… While someone sang Rock a Bye Baby of course.
I think we nearly put her to sleep! Time for dinner, a bath, and bedtime.
Learning what a piggy bank is for and begging Mama for more and more and MORE! coins.
A trip to our 
Gracen taking a rock from her pocket, placing it carefully on each piece of equipment at the playground, and giving it “rides”.
Off to see the cherry blossoms.
Papa and his little lady.
Strolling.
Perched in a tree.
Exploring.
Covered by blossoms.
Mama and her girl.
Sniff sniff.
Merry-go-round.
Spinning cup.
On top of the world.
Mini marathon runner?
Climbing.
First time on a big kid swing alone.
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.
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!
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.
Strapped in and ready to go.
Ball balancing.
Flower fiend.
Mini shopper.
Play and picnic break at the Tot Lot.
Chillin’ in a tree.
Enamoured with the horses. I think she would have stayed here all morning if I hadn’t convinced her to move on.
Papa getting off work early + picking him up at the Canada Line station + stopping at a new park on the way home = Pretty much the best thing ever in Miss G’s books
When we originally walked out the door, Gracen had bent over, tapped her pointer on the sidewalk and said, “Star. Star!” I asked if she wanted to draw stars on the sidewalk with chalk (she’s all about stars and hearts right now) and she enthusiastically nodded ‘yes’. I told her that we would do just that upon our return, and she certainly didn’t forget. The second we stepped up on our walk, she reminded me of my promise. We worked on our sidewalk art for a while, and then Grae focused her attention on expanding the size of her ever-growing rock collection.
We headed inside for a few minutes, but Gracen wasn’t done with being outdoors. As I tidied the kitchen and got started on lunch, she decided she’d have a tea party in the solarium. She played for a long while as I secretly snuck peeks of her pouring cups of tea and nibbling on plastic sweets. I got away with it several times, but eventually got caught. It turned out that being caught was a huge treat, because when I did, I got showered with ‘through the screen kisses’ and then got to enjoy this little show of funny faces.
