Bunnies, Baking and the Beach

As I look back on photos from our recent trip to visit family, some common themes appear: bunnies (because it's so close to Easter, though bunnies are loved year round by our two), baking (a favorite activity with both Grandma and Gigi), garbage trucks and dumpsters (a topic of much conversation among the 2 year old set), and the beach (who doesn't love the beach!).

First, at Grandma and Grandpa's, three themes were combined in a day of bunny cake baking and garbage truck watching. Ryan and Lucie spent an entire morning in eager anticipation of the garbage truck's visit. Since we live in a large complex, we're not afforded this toddler luxury, so it's quite a treat to watch from grandparents' windows. Especially at Grandma and Grandpa's where multiple trucks come to pick up trash and recycling – there was hardly time to decorate their cake, or more accurately, eat frosting straight from the tube, after so much truck watching.

At Gigi and Papa's, more delicious bunny baked goods were made, decorated, and quickly consumed. Lucie loved Gigi's Easter decorations, and managed to put every stuffed bunny in the house in her Pack n' Play to sleep with her at night. L & R loved to assist in all kinds of household chores, including a trip to the curb with Papa to set out the trash.

And finally, the beach! We had a week of beautiful early spring beach weather and enjoyed lots of walks to the ocean and play time in the sand with cousin Tate. My mom checked out a video on sea life from the library which brought up lots of talk about the ocean and its many creatures. Whenever we went by the water we would encourage them to look for fish and dolphins. Lucie corrected me several times – "Mommy, we can't see fish – they're under the water!" She does have a point. This girl is too smart for me sometimes.

By the weekend, the weather didn't look so promising for our annual musseling trip, but fortunately things turned out sunny after all. More on that in our next post.

Our flights went well, though not without some drama. On our way home (when I was flying solo with L & R), we waited an extra hour and a half in a packed airport for our delayed flight. Thankfully, my Dad stayed with us until we boarded the flight – I really appreciated that! As we got on the plane, a little skirmish broke out over where to sit. Lucie wanted to sit on the right side of the plane, while Ryan wanted to sit on the left. Help! There was no way of pleasing both, so I took the left side, throwing Lucie into a short screaming/back arching fit. We had found a row between two other families with young kids so it was hard for other passengers to tell exactly who was crying (my latest travel tip). Thanks to a very friendly flight attendant with a bag of snacks, the rest of the flight went fine.