Easter Egging Season

It's here again, and Pyper was quick to ask if she would be able to look for eggs this year. We hit up three egg hunts, yup I do spoil her. The first one, was the city's biggest the weekend before Easter. Anticipating the traffic, we tried to come early and still barely made it to the count down. Pyper is in the three and under category, which is nice because she actually understands the general idea behind the egg hunts. I'm not exactly sure why it's part of the Easter tradition, but the kids love it and there are always creepily large bunnies around.

For the first hunt we were arrived to heavy sideline, already six adults deep, so I told Pyper to sneak her little self up to the front. After a minute I realized that that was going to be a trampling disaster.  I called her back to me and we made a game plan. I told her to pick a spot in the outfield to run to before she started to pick up eggs. There was a camera guy out there she picked about 150 feet away, perfect. She wiggled herself back up to the front and we waited. Next thing I know there is almost chaos as I see Pyper running towards the cameraman, and no one really knowing what to do with her since she is not picking up any eggs. They are looking for the adult responsible, unfortunately I'm six adults deep. I  manage to get by and claim my renegade. Everyone has a good laugh, and a couple other kids attempt a Pyper run with little success. During our game plan we forgot to discuss the minor detail of waiting for the folks in charge to say "go." Oops on my part, though it got us to the front of the pack and we were able to get into the outfield to collect our share before we were overtaken by the masses. 

Upon exiting the field we noticed a little boy who made it in time to see all the eggs disappear. Pyper had no problem parting with a third of her stash so he could particiapte. It was really cool. That actually happened to us last year, someone sharing their eggs because Pyper didn't quite get the idea of what she was doing. 

Then comes the tricky part, doing to content swap. I wouldn't eat the candy, so I'm not going to let her. She knows that the candy will have chemicals and colors I don't approve of, but she also knows she'll get good fair trade dark chocolate, and yogurt pretzels. It's a win for all.  

Waiting patiently, getting her fill, and enjoying mama's version of treats. 

A little Home Depot building in between hunting sessions today. She was actually able to hammer the nails in herself, which was a first. She's presenting her Spring planter project.

The next one we did was a little neighborhood hunt the day before Easter Sunday, small, no pressure and fun. 

After perfecting her egg hunting skills all week, Pyper was ready for hunt #2 and very excited.  

The last one we did was the Snoqualmie Falls Forest Theatre Easter Egg Hunt. It poured rain all morning and when it was time to hunt, a blue hole opened up over the fields of eggs, it was really cool timing.

This was the first no parents allowed hunt she did. I'm glad the area was small.

Next year Pyper will move up to the 4-6 year olds. She'll be at the bottom of her age group, where parents are definitely not allowed. It will be fun times, can't wait!

Literary Adventures

We have had quite the week of literary adventure. It started off when our favorite children's librarian invited us to meet our favorite local children's musician, Nancy Stewart.

We picked up a copy of "Plant a Little Seed" at our local library a month or two ago. The songs are simple, fun, and easy to sing, basically the perfect kid songs.  We've since obtained a handful more of her CD's, one which has played over a dozen times in the truck already. She loves popping the CDs into her singing machine and performing. 

While checking out the story time schedule, I noticed that Nancy Stewart was singing at Sharon's library. Unfortunately we were already busy with other fun activities. The next week Sharon invited us to a "flash mob" library event hosted by Nancy, so we were able to partake and meet the famed voice we've been singing along to. 

Us with Nancy. As you can see Pyper captured some crazied librarians at the event too. 

Not sure where I came across a blurb about a kid ballet, but the ballet would be based on the book Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet with the set and costumes taken right out of the book. Upon further research, the show was only one weekend and all the performances were sold out. But they added a dress rehearsal show, so we jumped on it. It was so fun seeing all the kiddos in the audience dressed up as their favorite character. During intermission, the dancer "Nancy" came out to meet all her adoring fans, Pyper being one of them. She just really wanted to give her a hug. Then she did and she was beaming the rest of the night. In her seat Pyper was seat dancing with all the performers. 

A hug for Nancy! 

So after this performance, it hit me, why was Nancy a weeping willow? The whole dance was based on sea creatures living underwater, so what's up with the tree? Why wasn't she seaweed or bull kelp? The bird in the nest on her head would not have been able to survive for sure. We put a hold on the book at the library in hopes that further analyzation will help me with this matter.   

Adrenaline Junkie

We got out the kid harness we had bought on sale in Greenville. Pyper had no issue with it other than it riding in her crouch a little, uncomfortably normal for a full body harness intended to keep one safe. 

We first tested it in our neighborhood park where she got the hang of it in no time. Since the weather hasn't been great for climbing we opted for flying lessons in the backyard. She's been having a blast.

I'm sure she'll just take to doing whatever we are doing, so I guess we'd better get her geared up for everything. Maybe she'll get a job at REI to help out with all the expenses down the road, but I guess that's not such a stretch since I worked there when I was younger.

So many things to do...

Anniversary Sacrifices

Sometimes, when you have an anniversary, like your 9th year of marriage, you must celebrate with or without your partner. Happy Anniversary Andy! 

Andy actually happens to be in California for our anniversary, but lacking the romance factor. At least he has In and Out Burger to ease his loneliness, and I have Pyper and a big box of chocolates.  

Typical Seattle

Well, it was raining all day last Sunday. We made it an indoor day by heading to the local children's museum. We had fun and had quite the adventure heading home by public transit. 

It all started at dim sum, then Andy dropped us off at Seattle Center to avoid doing the bus both ways. It worked out great. Not only was it a rainy weekend day that drew the crowds indoors, but it was also Irish Fest in the same building. We were busy with leprechaun songs, tribal dancing, origami in the Kobe House, Irish dancing on the main stage, just a lot of good fun all around. 

I have very specific memories of Seattle Center growing up, I feel like I came here often. There were the stickers we would buy to add to our collections. This is were Garbage Pail Kids began for me too. Then there was the chocolate frozen bananas with nuts. They use to have an amusement park too. I'm sure if I think more about this place, more memories will pop into my mind. But it was always good memories with friends. We also came here for field trips, which was an added bonus.

Pyper has now been here a handful of times and I think she will definitely remember this last time. Though upon coming home and telling Daddy her favorite part of the day she replies, "the bus ride." Go figure.

Trail Running 2.0

So apparently we have created a little trail running demon. She won't slow down unless the trail is unpassable or she's face down in the dirt. If a runner passes, she attempts to catch them too. She'll go go go for about a mile, but will trip at the sight of a cool tree, butterfly, or just to see if Daddy is keeping up. At this pace, I think she will pass me in about a month before I'm gonna have to tell her to wait for me. And unfortunately hills do not slow her down. 

Warming up on the gravel road before hitting the trail. 

Big Girl Class

This little, or should I say big, one has been ready for a big girl gymnastics class for a while. This week she had her first class without me in it, which after completion said, "I want to be in this class forever." She listened well and tried new stuff. You can't ask much more than that.

Pretty stoked on her first class. In the last picture they are making pizza, and Pyper picked pineapple as her topping.  

Spring is in the Air

Well, it seems that winter has come and gone with a blink, maybe even half a blink, of an eye. February was warm and gorgeous, and we are already into March. It's been cold lemonade and shirts off in the yard for a good month, loving it. We even planted a little row of lettuce, which seems to be doing its thing quite nicely.  Little rain this week, but we've been missing it. 

Our best sideways eyes on this sunny day. 

Sprouted lettuce, naked kid, and organic homemade honey lemonade. 

Balancing away and happy being a kid as always. 

Pyper has been riding up a storm on her balance bike. Everyday she requests to ride. Notice her sporting her new big girl helmet in the above picture. We went to a small kid park the other day with a paved loop around it, she did 8 laps straight before requesting to do one on her own. Then she did another. She rode for 45 minutes straight complaining that her butt hurt afterward, no kidding Miss Ridinghood. 

Well we are loving our sunny almost spring days as well as the cloudy ones.

Nutty Squirrel

Like squirrels and nuts, I suppose Pyper is the same with fresh gelato made with locally sourced ingredients. We were introduced to Nutty Squirrel Gelato in Maple Valley by Auntie Sharon. The first time there, Auntie Sharon was presenting story time, and as an added bonus we partook in the gelato. What a great combination. Today, was not story time at the store, but we did do story time at the library, which was excuse enough to have some more yummy goodness. Lucky for us gelato story time is happening next week, can't wait.

Nutty Squirrel is on the loose, watch out!

I feel like I've been slacking on the fun facts in my blog posts. So today's fact will be that squirrels cannot digest cellulose, so they rely on foods rich in protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Thus the reason they go for nuts. I know Wiki shouldn't be my go to reference, but I don't see an encyclopedia laying around anywhere near me. What's more interesting is that depending on where in the world squirrels live, and what food sources are available, they will eat insects, reptiles, and even birds. And in some Yosemite squirrel cases, pizza. That last statement is first hand witnessing by two of the three gypsies in the household and cannot be found in any textbook, so it is, in fact, verifiably true.