Hoppy Easter!

This year we spent Easter weekend at my parent's house in the desert! It was a very relaxing all around. Steve and my dad played two rounds of golf and my mom, the girls and I spent both days at the pool. Friday was also my dad's birthday (68 years kickin') so we got to celebrate that too! We arrived before 11 am on Friday so we had the whole day to play! After everyone got home and showered, we had our "Easter/birthday" dinner at the clubhouse. My mom and dad loved introducing the girls to their buddies.

While we waited for Steve to finish up getting ready, we snapped some pictures...
Charlie insisted on getting her "stuffty" in some of the pictures.
The Grace Girls pose

Nonna and Grandpa with the girls...

After dinner, Charlie crawled right into the master bedroom bed because well... this is just what she is used to! LOL... so spoiled that girl!

But daddy was having none of that for sure! He was too tired to give up his spot! "Here come the sleeping bags girls!" (Steve and Grandpa had to blow them up the old fashioned way because we forgot the pump!)

After we got the bed situation all taken care of so Steve could get some much needed sleep, the rest of us celebrated Grandpa's birthday with some presents...

Both days we spent some quality time at the pool! There were tons of kids that the girls could become friends with while we were there!

And both days, a good long nap followed the fun at the pool! Awww... a little rest for the grown ups.

Sunday morning rolled around too soon... We wondered if the Easter Bunny would find us in the desert. The girls were confident that he would until Daddy talked them out of their confidence... meany daddy!

But sure enough... the Easter Bunny found them!

~~~

They got bunny ears and an Easter basket to collect eggs in!

The got BIG baskets with lots of spring necessities (that smart bunny). Charlie commented that the Easter Bunny left too many clothes and not enough "fun stuff" (that darn Easter Bunny).

Finally, the girls noticed that there were some eggs outside to find!!!

Nothing like an Easter Egg Hunt in your jammies!

The tradition of the "Golden Egg" followed us from Aunt Ginny's house to the desert! The girls were thrilled when they found their golden eggs.

Grown ups LOVE to be photographed first thing in the morning with their jammies on, right?

At least there was coffee all ready to go with this early morning! Easter Bunny Grandpa had to put the eggs out before the sun came out because the girls were already up! Oops, sorry Grandpa!

Finding chocolate bunnies were a hit too!

Seriously, how fun is it to run on a golf course at 6:00 a.m.? How cute are these two?

Thanks for hosting us Nonna and Grandpa! We had a great time!

Ole! Mommy gets a pinata!

March brings a lot of birthdays for our friends and family... including a birthday for Mommy! The tradition in our house is that daddy takes the girls shopping for my present and they get to pick out whatever they want. Now, we do this for each of our birthdays so each time we try to teach the girls that it is always best to get the birthday boy/girl something that he/she will like NOT something they would want! As you can see... all that teaching is paying off! The girls got me a pinata! Exactly what I wanted!

How can you not love these girls?

Charlie got the first whack!

She had so much fun!

And then came the swinger! As Ryan put it, "she killed it!"

And didn't stop once it hit the ground! Watch out for this girl in a dark alley!

The candy was the best part!

And then we went to my fave restaurant, Mahe, for some sushi!

LOL...I think we have these exact same dinner pictures from last year!

I have the best family in the whole world! I love you guys! Thanks for a super-duper, wonderful, fantastic, couldn't-ask-for-a-better-birthday birthday!

Claudia turns 29!

One of our very best friends, Claudia, turned the big 2-9 one more time this year! Her husband, sister, and good friends Paula and Amy threw her a surpise party! We had a great time! BBQ was awesome. Conversation was fantastic. Lots of laughing. And I think I found a new drink to love :-)

What could be better than all that?

I only snapped just a few pictures of the night but I thought I'd share...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRIEND!!!

Thanks for sharing your big day with us!

First Trip to the Snow!!

This past weekend, we took the girls to the snow for the first time! I can't believe it has taken this long! Part of the hang up was that Steve and I disagreed (respectfully, of course) on our accommodations!

I wanted to stay here.

This is our family cabin. I wanted the girls to have the same traditions as I did growing up staying here. Steve said that it would be too covered in snow and too difficult to stay there.

I don't say this often so read this carefully...

HE WAS RIGHT!!!

He was right, he was right, he was right!

(I'm sure he's getting a kick out of reading this right now!)

So instead... we stayed here!

Biggest darn hotel suite I have ever seen! This is what you call compromise!

I got my weekend in the snow. He got a bellman and room service!

Our first excursion... sledding!!!

The girls are not old enough to ride alone so each one had to ride with us. We all loved it. The girls got so daring on the back of these innertubes. We went both days to the same snow play area.

Mommy and Charlie on one of our first runs!



Charlie getting very adventurous!!!
Can you believe she rode down on Steve's back? Ryan did this several times before Charlie got the nerve! So proud of my brave girlies.

Snow bunnies!

Family shot!

We ran into a dad that is from Ryan's softball team. I guess we weren't the only ones playing hookie!

Mommy and Ryan ready to sit the slopes!

Not a bad way to travel up hill with 2 kids and 2 innertubes!

Worth every penny!

Later...
We drove back over to the Kudron Cabin to enjoy a little fun in the snow.

We posed by the "Kudron's on the Rocks" sign! Look, the snow is almost to the roof!

#1 on the girls' list of things to do in the snow:
The much anticipated. Much talked about. Much enjoyed... Snow Angels!!

The #2 on the list of things to do in the snow:

Make a snowman!

(For the record, 6 & 4 years olds are not much help in making snowmen until they get to put the face on! Mommy and Daddy had to do all the hard labor! Thank goodness for that handy shovel my husband "happens" to keep in the car!)

Ryan remembers the cabin from the summer... she was so excited to be back!

That's my Mountain Man! Uh huh, ya... those are Sorels he's wearing! Uh huh, ya... that's my hunky, shovels in the snow, wearing snow boots kinda man!

A weekend of Firsts: First time bowling!

Rock and Roll Style!

Daddy is feelin' just a little bit threatened by his competion!

No, Charlie is not his competion, silly!

Ya, uh huh... that one unit bowling class at SDSU really paid off!

Ryan loved it!

Charlie got bored!

(But easily found her groove dancing to the music!)

Dinner at Nottingham's. A restaurant we have never tried before!

Note to parents: Never leave home without your handy-dandy Leapster games!

A very happy family trip!

Anyone want to join us for a trip next winter?