Easter Morning

We had so much fun with Elsie this year for Easter in regards to egg hunts and her Easter basket.  This year the "Easter Bunny" went a little crazy.  It was more like Christmas morning and not an Easter basket.  I had to upgrade to a larger basket and cram it all in.  

This picture just gets me-for some reason she looks like such a little girl-not even a toddler!  

Oh and this little nightgown (which she is obsessed with) was suppose to arrive in her Easter basket but somehow discovered it two days before.  Oh well! 

Ummm this makes me think she is heading off to preschool!  

"I found one!"

Elsie had so much fun looking for eggs.  Even if they were in plain sight!  Her delight when she discovered one was the best ever!  

Her new goggles or according to her "swimsuit glasses"

Zoo Egg Hunt

Last weekend, I took Elsie to the zoo for an Easter event.  They had an egg hunt, face painting, and the Easter Bunny was there too.  We met up with Amber, Marc, Jean, and the kids.  Amber got there before we did and warned me it was BUSY!  (I hate busy places).  Last Christmas, Dale and Bev gave us an annual membership to the zoo so I figured if it was that bad we could just leave and not be out anything but the time and gas it took to get there.  When we pulled in to park we were directed to the overflow lot-I didn't even know that had that and we had to park clear in the back of the lot.  When we walked towards the entrance we saw a REALLY LONG line that went out the doors and all the way into the parking lot.  Thank goodness for our membership because we literally walked right in.  It was perfect! And once we got inside it didn't seem busy at all. First up, the egg hunt.  

I don't think Elsie's expression changed at all between these two pictures-ha! 

This egg hunt wasn't what I was expecting at all-it wasn't really a "hunt" more like a "gather".  The object was to collect 12 eggs and then trade them in for a little goody bag-Elsie did enjoy it :) 

After the hunt we hit up the bathrooms and then watched the seal show.  Elsie loved seeing the seals jump out of the water and when they waved.  After the show we figured we should get on the train.  

One of the highlights-she never gets enough of the choo-choo.  

Then we headed to the petting zoo.  Elsie was very excited to feed the goats and the "llama, llama"

And Aubrey and Elsie were giggling and squealing with the little cow.  

Silly girls!  

We didn't make a point to make it to all the animals.  I wanted to hit the big ones, like the giraffes, but make sure to get in on the Easter festivities.  After all, we can come back anytime we want.  

Although she didn't smile, this is much improvement than in past years.  This is the first year she willingly sat on the Easter Bunny's lap.  

Our last stop of the day was to ride the carousel.  Another highlight of the day! 

Life In March

March was an interesting month for us.  We spent a lot of time getting settled, unpacked, and began projects in our new home.  Also, JoLene-our daycare provided-had shoulder surgery so she had a lot of time off which meant being creative with daycare coverage.  It meant more time at home with Elsie but more time at night working from home.  All in all I would say March was a wonderful month.  

Back in January Elsie started a tumbling class through the neighboring cities park and rec program.  It was on Wednesday mornings and Elsie was one of four little girls enrolled in the class.  One class there were three girls there, most of the time there was just one other girl and for two weeks in a row it was just Elsie.  I plan to write a whole other post on this because I struggled a bit through the class but overall I think it was a wonderful experience for us and we will sign back up again in the fall.  

Oh Tally, you keep us on our toes!  One afternoon I was upstairs doing some laundry and I heard Tally barking.  So I went down and this is what I saw...She couldn't get down.  Lesson learned:  keep all the chairs pushed in so she can't climb up.  Seriously-does she think she is a cat?  We have caught her a few more times like this and she barks because she gets stuck up there.  

John and Tally also started a obedience class at the local kennel club.  Let's get this girl trained!  haha.  Still our biggest challenge with her is how she jumps up on the desks, tables, and counters and pulls stuff off of them.  So frustrating.  We also struggled with walks because she would pull so hard, so much.  The instructor at her classes recommended we use a training collar/prong collar and let me tell you this is like night and day!  She does so well on walks now!  She even accompanies us to the park/playground and happens to be one of the most popular attractions there :)  At first I was nervous about kids/parents approaching her but she does so well and to this date has never shown any signs of aggressiveness.  I do think we need to socialize her with other dogs more often though.  

Because JoLene was off for 2.5 weeks throughout the month of March, Amber and I did a swap.  Cayden and Aubrey came to play at our house the first week JoLene was off.  

Then during spring break when Amber was off of work, Elsie went over there to play.  

They enjoyed the spring weather at the park. And on Monday it was St. Patricks Day so Amber made little green ice cubes.  

 After work we headed over to Dublin Bay-an Irish restaraunt in town.  I had ordere Banger Boxty and it was delicious!  

In March, Aubrey turned two and we celebrated her "Princess" themed birthday with her!  

Tanner curled the girls hair and Elsie loved showing us her curls :)  

My sweet Little Elsie Bug :)

Our "Family Fun Day" this month was a trip to the circus.  We attended the Shrine Circus on Sunday March 23rd.  Amber and her family went Satruday night and warned me that it was long-3 hours!  It started at 5:30 so I knew it would be a late night.  

It was a typical small circus (let's be real-this is not Ring-a-Ling Brothers) but it was enough to keep Elsie entertained.  It didn't hurt she got cotton candy and popcorn :)

Before the circus started and during intermission they had pony rides and elephant rides.  Elsie has ALWAYS been a bit hesitant when it comes to large animals.  She wouldn't do the pony rides at our friend Taylors birthday party last summer and she won't go near the horses at my parents house so when she said she wanted to do pony rides when we were waiting for the circus to start I was a bit dubious that she would really do it.  Well, all she could talk about for the last 15 minutes before intermission was the ponies so we headed down as soon as imtermission began and got in line for the ponies.  

Well she did it!  And she LOVED it!  No hesitation from her at all.  She wanted to do it again and again but of course, at $5 for a maybe 2 minute ride we said only one time.  

But then she saw the elephants and just HAD to do that too-REALLY?  Where did this fearless girl come from?  So John went with her on the elephants and she LOVED that too!  

It was a fun night! 

The last week of March Elsie was invited to a birthday party for a little boy, Noah,  from Jo Jo's.  All the daycare kids were invited and it was a lot of fun.  The day was just BEAUTIFUL!  The kids spent most of the time playing outside on the swing set, the bounce house, and the trampoline.  They also had a horse so Elsie had to go and see that.  

On March 15th I participated in my first 10k.  You can click here: Leprechaun Chase 10k to read more specifics but overall it went well.  I was glad just to finish the 6.2 miles without walking.  It was also a nice time with some friends.  

Our biggest project of the month-removing the wallpaper and paste from the 1/2 plaster-1/2 drywall dining room walls.  So happy to say the walls are freshly painted and we've moved on to a new room.  Post coming soon.  

Baseball season started on March 31st!  Go Twins!!

Enjoying our front porch on a beautiful Sunday afternoon!  Spring weather came in full force in March.  There were quite a few 50, 60, and even a 70 degree day!  It was lovely!  We spent a lot of time at the park and outside.  Elsie's new favorite thing is ride her bike up and down the street on the sidewalk.  

The shop got a new makeover this month too.  We now have kitchenette complete with new cupboards, countertops, and even a sink!!  

Snoozing on my bed-this seriously never happens.  She was watching Mickey one afternoon before nap and it got REALLY quiet.  I looked over and she had fallen asleep. I should know better than to move her when she is sleeping.  I tried to take her to her bed to get in a whole nap and she woke up, never to fall back to sleep again that afternoon.