Easter

Holidays make me so giddy now. It's weird. I guess my lack of enthusiasm stemmed from young adult aloofness. But, my family always came together at holidays and made it fun for us, so I guess it shouldn't surprise me at all that I wanna do the same for the chiquita. 

Our Easter came in three parts this year.

Part 1:

The first was a neighborhood celebration in Stepford, Bunnypalooza. It sounded like a fun idea and the girlie was so very excited. View the excitement:

Running to the park to see the Easter Bunny (which to my knowledge, she has no real concept of).

I actually love our community and I'm thankful that there are events like this. However, I always come away a little (a lot) disappointed. Some insight:

The little one ran from the car (a block away), and into the event field, filled with gusto. There was a crowd, and jumpy castle things, and people she knew, and tents!, oh tents!, and more jumpy castles and-- yes, excitement. 

I--as a mother, looked past the bright and shiny, and saw the crowds, and the lines. I tried to steer Leeloo towards the open craft tent - but no, she saw the great big (with slide and climbing log) bounce house.

"That mommy!"

So we went into line. And we waited. And she ran about. And came back and we waited. And she ran to the front of the line and I coaxed her back and we waited. And she tried to pull me to the front of the line, but I convinced her to hold our ground, and we waited. And about 20 minutes later (two toddler lifetimes), we were next. 

This was a big bouncy castle, like the penthouse version. I sized up all the kids in front of us and they looked around Leeloo's size, so I felt ok about it. She pulled off her socks and shoes and clambered up the bouncy slope into the abyss. 

This is where my mommy vision went into 5 second slow motion cycle: She's in...she's smiling...she's balancing...I can jockey for position and see her clearly...she looks unsure...she sees me...she smiles...she's balancing... she's jumping!...she's giggling!...she's so happy...she's - what?

There was a blur of blond and then a grunt. Leeloo was down and an 8-yr old little girl pushed herself up off of her and bounced away. My girlie is tough. She has brothers that knock her about constantly so she can take a whollup. This time, she froze, assessed the damage, made eye contact with me and said "ow, mami, ow head", then started to cry. She made her way out, wailing. I held her and moved away from the castle, trying to soothe her, but really it just made her even more upset. She was holding her head in pain but so sad that she wasn't back in  the castle. I suppose I should be grateful for her resolve, but at that point I was not gonna shove her back into the melee. More upset.

Eventually (after ten minutes or so of her crying and cuddling and running back to the line and cuddling and pleading for more), I bribed her with a cookie. 

The egg hunt for 1-2 year olds happened simultaneous to her meltdown. So once I calmed her down they were on to the 3-5 year hunt. The hunt was in a small fenced yard--maybe 50'x50'--with only one side opened. There was no real "hiding" of the eggs, just groups lying on the ground. In front of the one open side there were parent and kids and older siblings lined up ready to go. When they finally gave the hunt order it was chaos. At first we couldn't get passed the parents standing and watching, the we couldn't make it around the kids getting the eggs, so in desperation I picked the girlie up and like a running back tried to take her to our goal--an untouched egg-filled corner. With great maneuvering we got there, but as soon as I set her down the eggs were gone, mostly picked up by older siblings who were "helping". We left with an empty basket.

After that I decided to abandon Bunnypalooza and head down towards the playground. Eventually all her little friends made it there and she had a great time with them, but it took an hour or so of me watching them to let the frustration subside.

Part 2:

The second egg hunt we attended was much smaller. The day before Easter our complex decided to do there own little hunt. We bounded down and waited for the doors to open.

Waiting with Wawa.

When we got in, Ripley got to meet an Easter bunny (I will not say "the" Easter bunny because the costume was one of the creepiest I've ever seen).

After meeting creepy bunny she had to wait again. I'm all about teaching my daughter patience - but seriously, there is only so much you can ask a 2 year old to endure.

The second egg hunt happened in a much smaller area. But the chiquita was still no match for the older kids. Her abuelita and I managed to steer her towards one egg but that was all. Luckily she didn't really think that she was missing anything. Especially since the hunt was at the pool. I let her put her feet in, but she was all in (fully dressed), in minutes. Time to start swim lessons again!

Part 3:

Easter Sunday.

The day started with her basket:

Contents: Coloring books, a birdhouse, box full of "jewels" and small little things.

Her first jewelry box.

Best matchbox car ever.

Grandpa joined us for Easter morning.

After eggs we got dressed and put all our things together to head to the park where we invited all her friends for a picnic. All week my mom and I worked to make small gifts for the kids. We ended up with super cute chickies and sock bunnies. 

Little felt chicks in eggs. 

Sock bunnies from my own recycled socks.

Ripley loves her little bunny.

The park was wonderful. We have a small circle of families that we do a lot of things with. All of our kids are the same ages and they see each other many times throughout the week. The kids play so well together and the parents are all very nice and genuine. We are lucky to have a good circle.

Our picnic was fairly simple. We had snacks, bubbles, little paper airplanes, sidewalk chalk, and our own egg hunt. The night before I went out and bought more eggs, determined that the kids would not be left wanting. I admit now that I went a little overboard, and I'm ok with it.

Michaels had the best bubble wand.

Flying a paper kite with her Uncle.

Happy memories.

Super casual simple park birthday

When your daughter has a gaggle of friends you find yourself at lots of toddler parties. Indoor, outdoor, fancy, plain - parties of every shape and size. For Leeloo's 2nd birthday I wanted to do something simple. I decided that we would just have a morning in the park. Not even the bigger park that we usually attend, just a small little neighborhood park down the street, which is usually empty.

The chica's birthday happened to be on a Friday, so I set the date for the party on the next day, Sat from 10-1. I also thought that, since she's blessed with so much, we should just have a book exchange, and then everyone could go home with something. Park, book exchange, maybe some snacks, oh and a piñata (because it's required), easy peasy.

Oh, and if we were going to have a book exchange, the kids needed a reading space, so I thought, why not make a teepee that the kids could sit in? The piñata also had to be handmade, because the ones in the stores are super cardboardy and you need a chainsaw to break them. Piñata, teepee, park, snacks, a cinch.

Then I started the invite list. Friends, family, our friends with kids. It soon grew to over 40 people. So snacks became a little more involved than I initially thought. Fruit, and sandwiches, but those are boring, maybe sandwich skewers, with star shapes? We also needed veggies, so veggie rolls, Yeah. And for dessert, cupcakes. But I didn't want to buy them - because that is entirely too simple. I wanted angel food cupcakes with strawberries and a whip cream frosting. But whip cream melts - so a mascarpone frosting. Which meant I needed to buy a piping tip too. Super casual simple park bday.

Did I mention that I also hosted Thanksgiving at my house? We had a Halloween party, then we went to visit Arizona for a couple of weeks, followed by Thanksgiving, and her birthday was a week after. No pressure.

It was mostly all under control until the monday before. That's the day that a friend asked me if I had looked at the weather (which I never do). She said there was a chance of rain. Great.
So everyday after that I checked the weather. Mon: 15% chance. No biggie. Tues: 40% chance, I sent out and Evite warning that there might have to be a plan B. Wed: 60% chance, I had to actually start thinking about a plan B. Thurs: 100% chance of rain on Sat (with the temp in the 50's), this is where I may have had a bit of a freak-out.

I thought about all logical indoor alternatives. I had a cafe say they could accommodate us (but what do you do with two year olds in a cafe?), and I also had a very nice friend offer up her house (which I declined and then told her the size of the guest list). Ultimately, I had to bite the bullet and postpone the party by a day (Sun: 0% chance of rain). There were a couple of cancellations, but mostly people were flexible.

Saturday morning we woke up and it was sunny. Seriously. Bright blue sky and sunny. At this point I was cursing the gods - or a least the meteorologist. However, by 11:30 it was pouring. We would have been soaked. My faith was restored.

By Sunday the rain had cleared up. It was still way colder than we're used to (in the fifties), but it was sunny and not too soggy. In the end there were only two families that couldn't make it, and the rest of the day went smoothly. Just another little birthday in the park. No big thing.

Link to my Pinterest idea board.

Halloween 2013

This year, Halloween wasn't a singular night of Trick o' Treating, it was a month long whirlwind extravaganza! This was the first year that Ripley could really be in on the action. Last year she was just barely toddling around. We pinned a tail and added some ears, but the whole Halloween thing was beyond her. This was her first cognizant Halloween - and wow, did she love it!

Ripley's first Halloween.

The festivities started early, since I was not only responsible for her costume, but for the boys too! B was easy - a generic "military guy", but Z (who keeps me on my toes), wanted to be a Predator. Many Google searches, and lots of brainstorming, later I had a plan.  I began early in the month, but I was figuring out final details right up to the wire. All in all, I gave myself a gold star for the project. Some of it didn't hold up to a 9 year old's rambunctiousness, but for a few golden moments it was awesome!

Serious gold stars for this one.

Ripley's costume was also difficult. The boys voted for her to be Boo from Monster's Inc. With my mom and tia's help it was finished in a day - then she rejected it. I mean adimantlly saying "No!" and running away rejection. So I had to go back to the drawing board.

People always comment that Leeloo looks like Snow White. It was an easy direction to take. Thank Pinterest for lots of ideas. After another afternoon she had the cutest princess costume (and mostly no sew!). When I dressed her in it I realized that she is significantly less tomboy than I think - she loved looking all girly!

Ideas were gathered here: http://www.pinterest.com/dfly/snow-white-costume/

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Aside from the costumes, we were also involved in planning a Halloween party. I have decided that I love throwing kid parties. The crafts and gifts and games - it's all so fun. Luckily, we have friends with houses and yards, so everyone doesn't have to try to cram into our little space.

Ami helping her granddaughter in the Pumpkin Patch.

Ripley trying an egg roll.

These were meant for "Boo-ling" but stacking was just as fun.

Little peg people I got to make as gifts.

Fun skull eggs that held surprises.

Party ideas are here: http://www.pinterest.com/dfly/halloween/

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Halloween fell on a Thursday, so the weekend before the chiquita and her favorite friend went Trick o' Treating around some local restaurants. This gave us a chance to try on the Boo costume.

Here's a close-up of the hood (modeled by my mother).

I also made a cute bag to match. Here it is as a work in progress.

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The whole month was kinda festive. Poor girl. I just bought more stuff on sale. Halloween por vida!

Teddy even has the spirit.

I'm a sucker for grocery store balloons.

Hanging out.

The skeleton princess.

One balloon to rule them all!!! (esp. grandma)

Hat found in my costume box. New fave.

And then there are our everyday outfits.

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Halloween morning we went to the park and the chiquita got to wear her Boo costume again. She tolerated it, but still didn't really like it. The scales are made from glow-in-the-dark puff paint, so maybe it was the smell?

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After all this build up Halloween night was especially fun. The girls looked darling and watching them Trick O' Treat was the definition of joy.

Happy Halloween everyone!