As of 3 o’clock on Wednesday afternoon, my brother had officially told my mom that he and his clan would not be making it to the Okanagan this weekend. I had no idea, and when I spoke to him later that night I talked about a big Easter dinner with the whole crew, a big backyard egg hunt for the littles, and the amazing weather that was supposed to be in store for all of those in the Okanagan. The conversation started at 8:07 p.m. and by 8:15, he’d committed to packing up the entire crew and hitting the road by 10 a.m. on Friday. Now that’s the persuasion of a big sister. ☺
We all gathered at my mom’s place tonight and celebrated with a big dinner, the kids running around the backyard barefoot, and Gracen staying up way past her {usually very early} bedtime.
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For some reason, Gracen’s taken to calling her Uncle Brett ‘Huncle Pet’ recently and it’s quickly become one of those weird things you catch yourself saying as though it’s become the norm all of a sudden. I have no idea how or why it came about, but they do make a pretty adorable pair, don’t they?
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Tonight Uncle Gary called and after not so successfully talking to Grae on the phone (he couldn’t hear a thing), he suggested a FaceTime chat. It was so adorable to watch Miss G and her cousin Kins chat, sing songs, and show each other things through the magic of technology. And though it will take some planning with the huge time difference, I’m so thankful we have this with our impending move.
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After naps for the girls and some down time for the boys, we decided to pack up the kiddos and head to a beach / park this afternoon. We packed bathing suits just in case, but given the fact that the weather hasn’t been that warm, I figured that the water would be freezing and the kids wouldn’t want to go in. I was wrong. While the girls stayed on the safe side and stayed pretty dry, the boys went full on swimming. Brrrr!
Our crew. Minus the mommies of course. Typical situation – mamas behind the cameras.
Splish splash!
Gracen “offering” almonds to Kinslee by shoving them in her mouth.
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.
Okay, so not actually from Mexico, but Gracen’s Auntie Roz and Uncle Gary just recently got back from a trip to Mexico and sent her a sweet little package of things they had picked up for her while on their trip.
The parcel arrived bright and early this morning, and of course, Gracen was excited to open it up.
Inside, she found a colourful little Mexican doll…
Bradley had the day off today and since I didn’t get a call to sub until it was too late to actually make it out to Surrey on time, we got to have an unexpected family day… Yay for that. We’ve been kind of missing living on the westside of the city lately, so we decided to head down to Broadway to browse the shops and grab some coffee.
Uncle Brett works on Broadway, so we were hoping we’d see him when we stopped to peek in the window of his store. Sure enough, he was there! We popped in for a little visit, and lucky for us, he was able to escape for a bit and join us for an afternoon snack at the sushi restaurant next door.
Afterwards, we visited Kidsbooks (which was amazing as always) and a few other shops before stopping at Caffeé Artigiano for a hot drink. Even Baby G got a little steamed milk with cinnamon. She was beyond excited about it and slurped up her last bit before I had even had three sips of my coffee. That’s our little milk-loving monster. :)
Gracen got the sweetest little Valentine’s package ever today! Her cousins, Auntie, and Uncle sent her a Dr. Seuss board book and this adorable ‘5 little thumb buddies ♥ you’ valentine. Melt my heart! Thanks for making our little lady’s day, Kossowan Clan. Grae loooooooves mail!
Gracen adores the little family and friends photo book she got in her stocking while we were up in the Okanagan.
I’m fairly certain we’ve “read” it at least 5 times a day each day since she got it. She carefully points to each person’s face and either tells me the person’s name or waits for me to tell it to her.
“Manmaw” (Grandma) and “Ee-Doh” (Gido) are easy peasy.
Grandpa Dave still gets called “Ee-Doh” most of the time, but we’re working on fixing that.
Inevitably, someone in the book is always “pretty, pretty, pretty”. Today Grae ran her little finger over Auntie Rozi’s hair several times and announced, “pretty, pretty, pretty”. I asked her, “Grae, do you think Auntie Rozi is pretty?” and with big eyes, she gave me the biggest, most serious nod ever. Aw, Auntie Rozi – Grae thinks you’re pretty!
Here are a few of the other pages in Miss G’s book:
Making the book was super easy. All I did was round up some photos, add the text using Pixelmator (the photo editing program I use), and printed them out. I picked up the little album while grocery shopping, and it cost next to nothing.
We’re still waiting on a couple of photos of great grandparents, but Gracen loves this little book anyways. The best part is that Little G always has her loved ones close by. :)