Hunting for eggs

Today was the annual egg hunt at Mark's work. The event itself is over so quickly. We arrived about 15 minutes before the hunt, stood in line for pictures with the bunny, rushed over to the 2-4 year-old field and in about 30 seconds Nora had her allotted 3 eggs. Henry's hunt took closer to 90 seconds since he is bewildered by all the commotion.
Henry still does not like that rabbit. He refused to approach without Mark.We went out for a second breakfast afterward at a local diner-themed restaurant. This makes the outing more of a celebration. We had breakfast last year too and Nora fondly recalled the tiny packets of jam that were at the restaurant as we were getting ready this morning. While we were eating a little girl walked by with an ice cream cone and the kids watched with wonder. Even Helena.
And we caught the very last minutes of a show at the small art gallery. The artist was there ready to remove his work. After the hunt.

Who needs to tour Europe?

Lion at local garden center. We paid for a maple tree to be picked up this weekend.

It is so.

"I have no doubt that you will wish to know what the Princess lived on during the long years when the dragon did the cooking. My dear, she lived on her income: and that is a thing which a great many people would like to be able to do."

E. Nesbit
The Complete Book of Dragons

8 Good Years

Barbershop

He always looks good, but I especially like him freshly shorn.

At dinner

The children all like their vegetables and always have. This still sounded a little odd coming from a two-year-old, so I made Henry repeat his request for the camera.

"Daddy, can I have more of the Brussels sprouts?"

Traffic jam

This is Henry's post-nap bed arrangement. Cars have always been his preferred security object. When he was about 18 months old he used to fall asleep on his back, clutching a small car in each hand. Now he will request specific cars to accompany him to dreamland, like the police Hummer (second from right, bottom row).

Sidewalk Superintendents

The sink in the guest bath cracked when the soap dispenser was dropped in it, so Mark had to replace it today. I wonder if he works faster and better when someone is watching?

Road trip

We headed over to visit the family last week. The kids did well in the car, though Helena struggled with her straps for many miles. She can't be convinced that it doesn't do any good to strain against them. We had a nice time visiting and catching up with everyone and the children had a fabulous time playing with their cousins.
We stopped and had dinner with Grandma Irene on the way there. The lasagna was great and it was good to be out of the car for a while.Thursday is story time at the library so we joined Emily and Rachel on their outing. The theme this week was "Cars, planes, and trains," perfect for Henry.We stopped to see the fishes on our way in. Here are the two sets of cousins.
Grandma's toys are always a highlight, Helena developed a hugging game with this big bear.
Getting a jump start for the van. After two mornings of this we decided to get a new battery.
Lowe's puts on kid workshops on Saturdays so everyone met there for some car building. The recommended age is 6-13, so it was good that we had lots of adults on hand to help. It was fun to pound nails with the child-size hammers.
After we finished our cars we went to get our battery tested and replaced. We met friends for lunch. Next time we hope Leah will be able to join us!We ended Saturday with a big dinner and more playing with cousins. Cindy and Elijah and two of Mark's cousins, Alex and Fallon, joined us. There were two kinds of cake for Mark's birthday celebration, but most of the kids didn't have any difficulty choosing. Here everyone watches the candle lighting. Our rendition of "Happy Birthday" was pretty weak, we could have used the voices of Ben and Maryann.