Easter Bunny Basket Hunt and Discover

Easter morning is so fun in our house. The girls love to get up and look for where the Easter Bunny has hidden their Easter baskets. It is so fortunate that Charlie's favorite color is purple and Ryan's is pink because it makes it very easy for the Easter Bunny to make things "equal" around here. The girls were so cute. When Ryan would find a purple egg around the house or the purple Easter basket, she would say, "That's for Charlie not for me!" No arguments ever broke out! What a clever Easter Bunny :-)

Charlie found her Easter basket first. The Easter Bunny had hidden it under the dining room chair. It surprisingly took quite a while to find it!

Ryan found her basket inside the shower downstairs. Godmommy Katie told her that she thought she heard the Easter Bunny taking a shower and shaving. Ryan repeated that story all day!

Both girls checking out the contents of their baskets... making sure that everything is "evie-stevies"

Along with lots of fun loot, both girls got some new swimsuits that they loved.

And a new beach towel. Hmmm... how did that Easter Bunny know that was exactly what they needed? Again, what a smart bunny!!

Our Own Kind of Easter Bunny

On the Saturday night before Easter, Ryan's Godmother Katie came down from San Francisco to stay the night with us. She arrived in the afternoon and we made the most out of our afternoon and night.

The girls showed Katie their playhouse and tricked her to go inside by taunting her and saying that she'd be too tall to fit! Katie showed them that she fit just fine but the girls were the real winner but they got a new playmate inside their playhouse.

Katie was a trooper... she sure loves those girls! Got down on hands and knees to draw, and draw, and draw every kind of purple fairy that Charlie wanted!

We took Katie to one of my favorite restaurants as a "bachelorette" back in the day. It was just 2 blocks from my apartment in Belmont Shore and was fan-tastic for happy hour! I reminded Steve (probably 7 times) that we should go there more often! I even found out that they rent out the back patio for private parties- Hmmmmm... ???? Always loving the idea of a new party on the horizon... now I just need one to plan!
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Katie and her girlies

Ryan and her Daddy

Me and Steve

The girls loved to wave and yell hello at the passersby.

Katie and the girls on the pier in front of the restaurant.

Later that night, after the munchkins fell asleep, Katie helped put the finishing touches on the needs for Easter morning (if you know what I mean)! But if you ask me, having Katie come was better than any ol' stinkin' Easter Bunny! The girls thought so too!
Thanks Katie!

Celeste's Berry Special Birthday Party

I was so behind in my updates with the blog that I totally skipped over big girl Celeste's birthday party! Whoops! What a great party too! It was a huge turn out and the strawberry theme was a sweet success! The Traver's backyard is absolutely perfect and accommodates everyone with plenty of room left over! I was so envious! I so wish we had that kind of room at our house! My favorite dish was the empenadas (sp?)! I could have had 20 of those! And the strawberry salad was delicious!

All the kids are getting so big! Here we have Bridgette Carroll, Sydney Smith, and Brennan Sullivan

The older girls... Ryan, Carson, and Charlie

Michelle and Erin

With me too...

Syds looks sad :-(

The grown up table - no kids allowed! LOL

Shawna Traver and Mrs. Traver

Everyone is ready to sing to Celeste. She is so excited!

Can you believe that Claudia made this cake?? Yes, I said MADE it!!!
Now that's talent!

Blowing out the candle!

The Ladies!

A BERRY HAPPY BIRTHDAY CELESTE!!

Other Pics from the Weekend

Having Jeff and Julie come to town and stay with us was so much fun!! From the moment they got into town on Friday, we kept pretty busy up until the wedding the next day! Here's a little play-by-play of the action...

Julie brought the girls Easter gifts! They loved their new bunnies and coloring books and crayons! What a hit! Julie won them over from the get-go!!

Friday night, Claudia, Joe, and Celeste and Liz and Steve came over for a little Mexican fiesta! We made sure to keep a beer in Julie's hands at all times... it must be a little crazy to meet the "in laws" for the first time! Oo... was that a little presumptuous to call them in-laws??? Whoops! Hee-hee!!

All the March birthday girls pose for a picture! Yes, of course I turned this into yet another reason for a birthday celebration!
(P.S. I couldn't get the picture to upload in the right direction, sorry!)

Typical... big guy didn't make it through the party awake! Oh well, better for Julie to know the real deal now, right? To Steve's defense, he'd been awake since midnight the night before so poor guy was beat!

Charlie and Celeste modeled their jammies!

Saturday morning we took Jeff and Julie to one of our favorite breakfast spots, Schooner or Later in Alamitos Bay. The girls love to go there to see the boats. Mommy loves to go there for the a.m. cocktails (oh ya, I don't get to do that anymore... bummer!!)

Our little lifeguards!
(Mommy is thinking this might make a good spot for the Christmas card photo! Hmmmm...)

After breakfast we headed home to rest up before having to get ready for the wedding! After reading my last post, you all know how that went so I don't need to elaborate! Haha!!
THANKS FOR STAYING WITH US JEFF & JULIE! WE LOVED HAVING YOU!

Robyn & Don's Wedding

Last Saturday was Robyn Coleman's wedding down on Balboa Island in Newport Beach. It was the girls' first wedding and they LOVED it! They loved seeing the bride in her white dress. They loved running around with the other kids. They loved the "dance party." And they loved stealing the candies off the table. I wish I could say the day was uneventful but we got through some traumatic events to make it to this wedding (pretty much on time!) Julie and I share a birthday (which means we also share a horoscope) and it said that the first part of April was going to be bad luck... we had a bit of that on this day but made it through with smiles!!

Julie was a huge help with the girls all day. Aubrey didn't show up to babysit so we were frantically trying to get everyone ready and out the door on time. Poor Julie's dress zipper broke as we all tried to get it on her. She had to wear one of my dresses! And in that process, she walked in on Steve in his skivvies and socks! What a trooper Julie! We are REALLY close now!!

The handsome boys on the ferry!

While we were waiting in the bar for the reception to begin, Steve's work partner came cruising up in his boat! Steve went out to say hello! What a coincidence!

All of the family congregated in the bar! No surprise there... we tend to like to get the party started as soon as possible!!

Godmommy Katie was a great help with girls too! Actually... everyone was! Mommy got a nice break :-)

Charlie is being reminded of the need for manners at the dinner table! Haha

Ahhhh... happy sisters are loving the experience!

Toasting their glasses for the toast! Start 'em young and get 'em used to it... we have a lot of long-winded "toast makers" in our group!!

Ginny, Debbie (mother of the bride), Steve, and Ryan

A family photo!

Kindergarten Shots

Last week Ryan had her 5 year old annual check up at the doctor. I had been preparing her for this visit for a long time but it didn't make the inevitable any easier! In preparation for kindergarten, she had to get 4 shots plus a TB test (which is a needle that she watched go into her forearm)! OUCH!!! Poor thing cried her little heart out! She kept telling me that she was going to be so brave but then couldn't hold back the tears. I told her that she was still brave and that even brave girls need to cry! Shots hurt... no bones about it!!! And then I said that all brave girls that are getting ready for kindergarten need an ice cream to make them feel better!

And feel better she did after that bubble gum ice cream with M&M's (yuck!)

Ryan showing off one of her shot band-aids!

Swim Season Begins

The beginning of the swim season is upon us! We enrolled the girls in swim lessons this month to get their skills up to par before summer begins! We have switched to a new swim school this year after multiple recommendations. We had heard about it before but they don't take kids under 3 yrs old so last year, it was not an option for us (unless we were going to drive them to different places). So far we really like it (it's so quiet without all the babies... Whew, What a change!). These pictures are from last week's first lesson.

Ryan learning some strokes from Natalie. Ironically Natalie used to be an instructor at the old school but she has converted too!

Charlie patiently waiting her turn on the "kicky bar"

Shy Charlie quickly found some friends to hang out with while Ryan was having her lesson. No surprise there!

This school uses a surfboard to help the kids learn to use their arms properly in the water! Ryan loved it!

Look at our little surfer girl!

Charlie practicing her skills and loving every moment!