Easter Sunday

We had a wonderful Easter Sabbath. This is our little family after church, so Mika is asleep and Ethan was a mess, but it was now or never.
While we had the kids in the bath, Travis was the sneaky Easter Bunny and hid their baskets with a toy and then all the eggs and candy around the backyard. The kids were so excited when we told them the Easter Bunny left things outside for them! Here are the two kiddos waiting for dad to cue up the Video Camera.

Kaylin with all her treasures. She found an egg that a squirrel had gotten into. She thought maybe the Easter Bunny shouldn't come at night and let the animals get her candy. (we didn't tell her it was only out there for 15minutes!

Handsome Ethan Chase. Instead of his normal spikey hair, we combed it to the side. He looked SO grown up to me, I couldn't get over it. He ran so fast around the backyard he tripped twice, but I don't know if he even noticed!
Mika got a soft puzzle. She loves it. It's a multi-purpose toy, it's a biting toy, a puzzle that can be pushed around like a car while crawling, and can be made into a block and she reaches her hands inside the missing puzzle pieces and I think it just might be the cutest thing I've ever seen. I'll have to video it. Oh yeah and she's taken 6 steps all by herself!!!!

Saturday Easter Egg Hunt!

We went to our church for an brunch and Easter Egg Hunt. The kids were so excited. It was a little chilly, but they didn't care at all.
Afterwards we went to an outdoor shopping Center to see the Easter Bunny. I'm only in this shot because Ethan was deathly afraid of the big bad bunny. Doesn't he look scary to you?? I love this pic because of Ethan's face....
Mika the flying baby. She LOVES being tossed in the air--at all heights. :) Notice she kept the egg in her clutch!

3 cute kiddos.

Had to get a picture with Travs. The day before we had just gotten back from our trip and we missed him soooo much! It's good to be home.
And with my cute Kaylin. She's such a cheeser. I love it. Did you notice, there's something new and different about my hair????

Dad's Birthday Celebration!

After our church Easter Egg Hunt, we went up to Mom and Dad's for Grandpa's Birthday Celebration! We had a great time!!!
Mika warmed up quickly to Grandpa and his kisses. :)
We had yummy cheesecake after our fabulous meal, always a favorite!
All of the kids chipped in to get our Dad a digital frame. Tami and Angie bought it and it was awesome! Dad loved it! Angie put on 40 pictures so when he opened it and plugged it in, it was perfect. He'll bring it to his office.

A 4yr old VS a 7yr old BOY

So during our Spring Break trip down to the beach, Ethan 4 and Blaine 7 were inseperable. It wasn't like Ethan was Blaine's shadow, they were equals. I don't know if it was for the fact that Ethan was their cool Uncle Travis' son, or if Ethan just held his own. But the funniest times were when Blaine remembered Ethan was in fact only 4.

One time in the car Ethan touched Blaine's face.
Blaine: Ew, Ethan your hands are wet!
Ethan: I know they were in my mouth! ha ha ha ha
Blaine: Ew that's disgusting!!!!
Ethan: ah ha ha ha

Another conversation

Ethan: I like bergers
Blaine: Yeah, I like hamburgers too.
Ethan: No, I like bergers from my nose!
Blaine: Ew Ethan that's so gross!!!
Ethan: aha ha ha ha
(so much for my theory of peer pressure telling him eating his boogers was gross and impolite!)

Spring Break at St Simon's!

My mom had a brilliant idea for Spring Break this year! We went to Angie's for a sleepover and then headed down to St. Simon's for some R&R at the beach!!!

Now you know I'm not kidding when I say I have a million pictures!!!! So I'll break up posts with each event. First day was just a half day, but we headed over to the beach to get wiggles out. It was pretty cold, so we didn't last long. I think mom and I were the coldest. I only got a few pictures because it was so windy.
The next morning we went over to the Pier and playground. It was still chilly, we all had jackets and long sleeves, but it was definitely warming up and MUCH warmer than home. (where they had snow flurries!!!!)

Everywhere we went we took Auntie Christina's 3 youngest kids. Cason 10, Blaine 7 and Emma 5. It was so much fun, the kids all played so good together and they all kept each other very entertained.

Fort Frederica

We spent one morning at Fort Frederica, that was an old fort in the 1700s run by Oglethorpe. They made the walls with tabby, a mixture of clay, sand and shells. The people built a little colony there. It was pretty cool. But a fire ruined a lot of the homes and Fort unfortunately. It was still fun to walk around, see where the homes were (as there were still foundations) and parts of the Fort, like the armory and barracks. Above is a picture of the trees that surrounded the area, along with palm trees. The ghostly hanging stuff on the tree is called Spanish Moss. So cool! Below is Ethan on the back wall of the armory.

Walking along "Broad Street" to the armory where the pictures above were taken.
I loved these trees, so mom took a shot of Mika and I.
Kaylin at the barracks. She found white wild flowers and could not resist picking a handful--maybe two. ;)
I don't think this was any original structure....the boys said some scouting group did it. Ethan thought it was so cool, he tried to climb it. Instead we coaxed him to sit beside it for a picture.
The kids in the Welcome Center. Here we saw artifacts they found, tried on clothes from that time, and watched a movie about the Fort and colony. Ethan refused to dress up and Mika was asleep at that time.
Kaylin and Ethan at the armory near the waters edge. Austin (15) told us that part of the fort was in the water.

Me and Kaylin, same place.

Jekyll Island

It's about a 10 minute drive, over 2 bridges, to get to Jekyll Island. You have to pay by car to even enter the park. But it's a really cool island. They had golfing for bigs and littles, playgrounds, camping, picnic areas, beach, sand dunes and huge driftwood trees. Below Mika is enjoying the ocean for the first time. She loved it. She wanted to walk everywhere, but always circled back to the water. (and it was freeeeezing!)
They had puddles by the smaller driftwood that the kids had a blast in. Ethan mostly jumped in them (see that air?) and Kaylin sat in them.
Here's Mika walking with Grandma, still unsure of the puddles. I think it was because ethan always came behind her, jumped and splashed her face with water. ;)

Aidrian meeting the ocean.

My mom thinks she's horrible and taking pictures, but I LOVE this one! Yes, it's crooked, but that's why I love it!
Kaylin and Emma, having a blast jumping the TINY waves. But hey, whatever works. ;)

Driftwood Beach

I have no idea why I don't have any single pictures of Ethan, but this is down the island on a beach called Driftwood Beach. These trees were massive. I guess it shows the deterioration of the beach...
My little fam sitting on a branch we all could reach. :)
Mika was such a good sport through everything. She got very little sleep and bombarded by little hands and fingers the whole time. So she stayed pretty close to mama's arms.
Here's a cool pic of Kaylin climbing. Blaine and Ethan were way off climbing some huge tree....

SMACK!

Well here bubby is again with another owie on his head. My friend Maddie and I were at the park yesterday and he climbed on a fence, but all of the sudden he leaned forward and SMACK! His head went face first on the cement. I was worried he had a concussion, but thankfully just a bubbly red bruise and a little blood. On the couch he said to me: Mom I need something for my owie. I replied, "You want an ice pack?" He says, "No, I think I need a cookie."
This pic was taken today and the swelling has gone down.
Ethan just looked at the picture and said, "Oh yeah, that's my boo boo."

This pic he was being so funny that day and I never posted this. He has a serving spoon pretending to be a pirate. I love his expression.

A part of it all

Mika loves giving kisses. Granted they are open mouth slobbery kisses, they are adorable anyway. If you say, "Ow Mika that hurt!' she'll come to you with an open mouth and say "ahhhhh" or if you request a kiss, she'll either sit there looking at you with no pucker or she'll dive into your face.

This was the week I taught Ethan's playschool class. If you look on the left, there is Aidrian being a part of it all. While the other kids did their work, she was throwing crayons everywhere and having a blast.
Here, she's wearing a bow my friend Britt Butler made. It's so darling, although she doesn't keep it in. I loved her hair out of her face and those big blue eyes.