I love how when the snow finally melts, green grass and blooming flowers are revealed.
The one brown spot on the lawn is the place we built a snowman in December. Too much water? Revengeful poisonous snowman? Grass that took too long to warm up? Makayla found the missing snowman eye.
Makayla is an outdoorsy girl. She's really suffered this winter, hating the months and months of snow and cold.
I don't know if anyone appreciates spring more than Makayla-except for me. The two of us should move to Hawaii.
When we weren't enjoying the sunshine, we were feverishly working on Easter projects.
I love these cheap inexpensive little kits from Walmart or Target. For a few dollars you get 1000 pieces and an afternoon activity.
Hailey and Makayla had fun making several bunnies, which we strung up
for a festive Easter look.
The grandkids love it when Grandpa comes home and swings them to the sky.
Just like my own kids, they love to unhook the swings and reconfigure them
into the "friends forever double swings"
and the infamous "double straddle swing".
Hmmm. We need some practice with the dismount.
Of course we dyed dozens of eggs.
We sneaked in a few of the fake eggs you can dye to satisfy our need to create.
FYI, they may look like real eggs but they don't taste like real eggs.
Predictably, Makayla and Hailey concluded the dyeing with an experiment to see what happens when you pour all of the colors into one container (it turns a sickly green).
Hailey and Makayla insisted that no one could eat "their" beautifully dyed eggs
although I noted they managed to down a few.
Alas, the eggs eventually turned into deviled eggs for Easter dinner.
During the week before Easter, Makayla visited the dentist to have two smallish fillings. She ended up biting her sleeping lip and creating a massive wound.
It looked pretty disturbing and is causing a lot of pain even through it's been at least a week.
One the Thursday before Easter, Hailey had half day at school. Makayla requested we eat lunch "somewhere healthy". She's really cramping my style.
Hailey got a sack lunch at school but conveniently forgot it and ate healthy with us instead.
It was such a beautiful, sunny day we thought we'd check out Riverfront park. Doesn't this look like the face of trouble?
I expected the area would be overrun with kids looking for fun on a school-less day, but it was fairly deserted.
It was a perfect day to hop off some of that extra energy Hailey always seems to have.
Makayla immediately spotted a duck egg by the waters edge, but her excitement alerted a couple of squirrely preteens who managed to grab it and run off. Dang. Makayla had such high hopes of bringing it home, hatching it, and starting a duck farm.
Spring is in the air, and there were a lot of aggressive males trying to drown each other,
or as I delicately explained to the grandkids, "Showing off for their girlfriends".
A beautiful day.
Mishap Makayla fell and skinned her knee
and spent the rest of the day with her pant leg pulled up,
milking the tiny spot of blood for all the sympathy she could get.
We search for all of the different kinds of ducks/geese: the mallards
some with blue heads, some with emerald green or royal purple.
Me: "Why do you think the males look so fancy and the females look so plain?"
Hailey: "Boys are show-offs."
Makayla: "Shhh! You're going to hurt their feelings!"
I explained the need for protective camouflage, and Hailey was delighted when she spotted an example of it shortly after.
Hailey spotted this Canadian goose with un-webbed feet. We only saw one un-webbed goose, clearly not the norm, but this slightly deformed goose looked fat and sassy.
Makayla demonstrated her best duck walk.
It was spot-on.
We spotted one solitary black bird (Hailey: Poor bird. He doesn't have a girlfriend).
and this fella with the white neck (Hailey: He's part dalmation)
and Hailey and Makayla's favorite: this crested fella (Makayla: I love him! He has a mohawk!).
When we came home, Hailey made this British-inspired Easter egg, resourcefully labeled "To Grandmpa". That's what we call "coloring one egg for two people".
Around this time, Megan zoomed home to see her mommy go to her friend's wedding. We may or may not have hit the mall. We definitely stopped by to visit Grandpa, recovering from quadruple bypass.
Isn't this the cutest picture ever? I just wish I'd had my focused camera instead of my unfocused phone.
Easter day was beautiful in Billings. Makayla's mood was not. Her poor lip hurt.
I found these cute bunny rolls on pinterest and made them for Easter dinner.
Yep, nailed it!
The eyes are peppercorns you remove to leave the small depressions.
I bet you're impressed.
We ended Easter at Grandpa's rehab center, eating cake and ice cream. Cause, you know, none of us got enough sugar for Easter.
Hailey loving her newest little second cousin.
It's gotten so warm we've even been gardening.
Happy Spring/Easter/Sunshine/Gardening!
