Chocolate Bunnies, Easter Eggs and...Sleeping in the Closet?!

Well, I guess I’d better get this Easter post up – before I fall too far behind again. Like every holiday in our kids’ lives, Easter was more than just a one-day event. Especially for Delila. As a “little kid”, she still gets to celebrate holidays in school. Big kids like Jake, who attend Big Kid public schools don’t get to participate in such frivolities. You know, because that would be mucking up the division of church and state thing. So, while Delila was hunting for candy-filled eggs at Infinite Bounds, Jake was sitting in computer lab. Poor Jake.

The real festivities got started bright and early Saturday morning with the neighborhood egg hunt. Once again, favor fell upon the little kids – they got to go first. Lila & Katie were ready to go when the whistle blew!

So many great eggs!

The Big Kids did their best to be patient. But let’s face it. Waiting is boring!

By the time the whistle blew for them, the boys were ready to go!

When all was said and done, our hunters were satisfied with their loot.

That wasn’t the end of the day’s festivities for Lila. She got to attend her 2nd Infinite Bounds Gymnastics Team Easter Egg-stravaganza. This is really a site to see. The girls are encouraged to wear their stretchiest leotard. Last year, we didn’t heed this advice. Lila wore her prettiest leotard, not her stretchiest one. She ended up being quite uncomfortable. Why? Well…

…because the Team egg hunt consists of running around the gym finding eggs and stuffing them into your leotard! It’s a very funny thing to watch.

After all the eggs have been found, the girls sit in a big circle, unstuff themselves and survey their bounty. It’s tons of fun.

The next morning brought goodies from the “real” Easter Bunny.

Chocolate bunnies for breakfast?

Oh yeah!

And just who’s idea do you think that was?

Then it was out to the yard to search for more goodies.

The real Easter Bunny does a much better job of hiding eggs.

Although the ants didn’t seem to have any problem finding some of the candy-filled eggs. Poor Marshmallow Peep.

Fortunately, the ants didn’t find ALL of the eggs.

Jake made sure no eggs were forgotten.

He also made sure they each got the right eggs. I have to say, my kids are pretty savvy negotiators.

After our candy-induced comas wore off, we were joined for dinner by our good friends The Pittmans. Duke made his our first ever “Beer Butt Chicken”. It was delicious! Cenz brought over a honey baked ham – which is Delila’s new favorite food. Delila! The one who won’t eat half of the things she KNOWS she likes – let alone try something new. She took one look at the ham and declared, “I want to eat some of THAT stuff.” *sigh* Four years, and I still can’t figure that girl out!

After dinner our crazy kids decided to go swimming. They didn’t care that the water was only 65 degrees! They probably would have stayed out there all night if the thunder and lightning hadn’t chased everyone inside. A huge storm whipped through and the tornado sirens started to blare. Never a good thing at our house. Jake really hates the storms, and the sirens really throw him into a panic. So, we quickly emptied the closet under our stairs and at Jake’s urging, we all huddled inside until the sirens stopped screaming.

The Pittmans made a rapid departure during a break in the weather. Our kids didn’t recover so quickly. So, we made a comfy nest in the closet, read a few stories…

…and called it quits for the day.

Friday Happy Hour Chez les Bonds

Everyone who knows us, knows we like to kick back on Friday nights.  Well...Lila would like to start Friday Night Happy Hour off right by saying,

"Cheers!!"

Let's face it, there's nothing like a cold "Kid-Beer" after a long hard week.  You don't have to be all fancy about it...

...sometimes, drinking out of the bottle is fine.

 

Just don't forget to save the cap for your collection.  Oh, and by the way, Lila gives two enthusiastic 'thumbs up' for Boylan's Root Beer.   

We sincerely hope that wherever you are, you're enjoying your Friday night.

Time Flies When You're Making Cupcakes

It's Tuesday.  One of our busy days.  Lila's school lets out at 2:00.  Jake's school lets out at 3:00.  Lila's gymnastics practice starts at 4:00.  Jake's soccer practice starts at 6:00.  That's a lot of running around.  It's also fairly typical around these parts.  So, to make things a little easier, one of the other Team Moms and I switch off watching each other's kiddo on Tuesday afternoons.  This week was our Tuesday with Taylor.  To celebrate the lovely spring weather we're experiencing, we decided to make some springy pink flower cupcakes with purple icing...and sprinkles, of course!

After a mad dash to the grocery store to pick up a cake mix, we whipped up the cupcakes just in time to get them in oven to bake while I picked Jake up from school.  We super-cooled them in the fridge so we could decorate -- and eat them before it was time to leave for practice.  Delila & Taylor volunteered to test the sprinkles, you know, to make sure they were good.

It was unanimous -- the sprinkles passed the taste test.  But what about the cupcakes?  The batter was pink, after all.  They could be horrible!

Nope!  Pink flower cupcakes + purple frosting + sprinkles = yummy!!  By the way, Jake was not too pleased about this pink flower cupcake thing.  Not pleased at all.

Duke did his best to assure him that eating a pink flower cupcake with purple frosting would not turn him into a girl.

Sufficiently convinced, Jake decided to take the chance.  Guess what!  He's still a boy!  Can you believe it?!   (But being the devoted mother that I am, I did make him a couple of regular old round cupcakes with blue batter.  Never let it be said that I don't run a fair household.)

Well time really flies when you're making cupcakes, and that was just about all the spare time we had on our Tuesday.  Hope yours wasn't as busy, but was just as yummy!

A Great Day with MaMa

We always love having company, but especially when it's MaMa!  She came in for a visit last weekend, which meant lots of fun and lots of spoiling.

MaMa arrived Friday afternoon.  We took it easy for the first half of the weekend.  Playgroups and sports practice kind of took presidence over everything.  But Sunday...well that was our FUNday.  After a breakfast of Sunday Waffle Sundaes, we headed off to the American Airlines Center.  MaMa was treating us to the Disney on Ice presentation of Toy Story 3.  It was freezing inside and our view was obstructed, so I'm not sure the grownups had a great time, but the kids didn't seem to care.  They had a blast.  

After the show, we were happy to be outside in the warm sun.  We were starving (because mean old mommy wouldn't spring for the $10 cotton candy and the $8 snow cones), so we headed over to the Knox Henderson area for some al fresco dining.  After lunch, we crossed the highway for some ice cream and a trip to our favorite shopping destination:  Froggies!

Froggies is funTAStic!  It's a toy store, a kids' bookstore & a novelty store all in one.  Don't bother going in there unless you've got a couple of hours to kill.  MaMa wanted to treat the kids to a little something special, so this was just the place we needed to be.  Lila's first pick was a fabulous pair of princess sunglasses, but she changed her mind when she found...

...the Barbie Movie Theater Book!!!  "O! M! G!  Can I have it?!  Please oh please oh PLEASE!?!?!"  Leave it to MaMa to say yes!  And while I have a serious aversion to Barbie, I must admit this is a pretty cool little set up.  Slip a disk into the little projector, head for a dark room (like a closet or our powder bath), hit the switch and you've got yourself a slide show.  I'm pretty impressed with the quality of the projector.  It's got a focus feature, and the images are quite sharp.  I'm not sure how impressed MaMa is with the cold comfort of the tile on our powder room floor, but she was a real trouper about it.

Jake chose a glow-in-the-dark Nano Hex Bug & Track set.  He just loves these little guys and was so excited when he saw there was one that glowed in the dark.  Guess what that meant for MaMa?  Yep, more time sitting in the dark on the floor of our powder room.  Poor MaMa!  

 If it's any consolation, both kids have played with their gifts everyday since.  Lila's taken her book to school to share the magic with her friends, and Jake can't wait to get home to play with his tracks & bugs.  I especially appreciate Jake's little glow in the dark bug.  It's one of the only toys in the house that I don't run the risk of stepping on in the middle of the night.  It glows so brightly, it can practically light up an entire room!

But the pièce de résistance of MaMa's visit was the return of Nay-Nay.  You may recognize Nay-Nay - the pink & white, sawdust-stuffed unicorn Lila won on the Boardwalk in Ocean City last summer.  She stayed behind in Maryland because there was no room in our luggage to bring her home to keep MaMa company.  Well, there's nothing as joyful as a girl and her unicorn reunited.  Thanks, MaMa.  And thanks for coming to spoil us! 

Run for Your Life!! ~or~ Pay Up, Please

Boosterthon!  It's fun!  It's fitness!!  It's...(not) free!!!  But it comes with a bunch of really cool free junk like t-shirts, headbands, shoelaces, backpacks, footballs (yes, footballs!), etc.  Just the motivational kind of crap every mother needs laying around the house!

So, just what is Boosterthon, you ask?  Well, it's Anderson Elementary's idea of a FUNdraiser -- with the emphasis on fun.  And let me tell you, it was lots and lots of fun...except for the calling around and begging for money part, of course.  The idea is that the kid calls his friend and family and asks them to sponsor him as he runs laps around a field.  All the money goes directly to the school and is used to purchase technology products for the classroom.  Great idea, right?  Except that getting your kindergartener to make the pitch over the phone is...well...it's like trying to get a 6-year-old to do anything that requires sitting still and speaking intelligibly. We managed to muddle through that part.

Race day dawned on a beautiful morning...a bit crisp, but beautiful.  The perfect day for a race, and much better than the day before which was cold and wet.

Lila was ready to get in on the action too!  (Oh, and by the way, she'll be hitting you all up for funds in a couple of years.  So start saving!)

Music thumped and parents cheered as Kinder took the field.  All the kids were psyched up and ready to run.

Lila made sure the Rehydration Station was well stocked for all the thirsty runners.

In a sea of white Boosterthon t-shirts, Jake was easy to spot.  He was the one wearing his very serious race-day face and doing his warm-up calisthenics. 

When the whistle blew, Jake shot out of the Kinder starting blocks - determined to be the first to cross the finish line. 

Keeping track of the laps was done by parent-volunteers with strong backs.  Each child had to stop at a designated spot to get the back of their shirt marked.  It created a bit of a bottle neck, but it also gave the kiddos a chance to catch their breath since these kids only have one speed -- full-throttle.

 

Rehydration breaks also offered an opportunity to take a breather.  

Some of our more experienced 1st grade friends, like Michael, opted not to stop for water - knowing that hydration breaks eat up valuable seconds in a race. 

But race coordinators did their very best to encourage water breaks, by enlisting the assistance of pretty girls to hand out cups.

Good buddy, Christopher represented for 1st grade by crossing the finish line first.  Jake met his goal just moments after.  He was the first Kindergartener to hit the Lap Cap and finish the race.

After a quick photo-op with his oh-so-pretty teacher, Ms. Lyttle...

...he took off to encourage his best pal, Andrew finish his last couple of laps.

And for those of you who need it, here's your proof.  35 laps, run hard and fast.  Pay up!

Ski Tahoe! ~or~ Spring Break 2011

That's what 'they' say to do.  So, that's what we did!  Instead of heading to the Rockies this year, we decided to hit the Sierras.  Duke & I had been talking about it for a while.  We have great memories of day trips to Tahoe during our days as Bay Area residents, and the thought of skiing the Backside at Northstar sounded pretty good.  Then, when Uncle Jerry so generously offered to let us stay at The Cabin...well, plans were put in place.

Day 1 was awesome!  Just like we remembered it to be.  Blue skies, warm temps - just what we ordered.  We checked the kiddos into ski school, warmed up on a few blue runs and then headed to our favorite steep, wide blacks -- just like the good old days.  And when we got tired...

...we headed to the Mid-Mountain Lodge for a couple of Pip's Bloody Marys -- just like the good old days.  It's not just a beverage.  It's a meal in a glass -- complete with olives, spicy green beans, onions, pepperoncinis, and jumbo shrimp.  Duke gets the shrimp, I get the spicy beans.  Of course, we had a little trouble ordering them this year.  Apparently, Pip hasn't worked there for years and most of the current staff don't have the faintest idea who he is.  Happily, his legacy remains and is now officially on the menu as "The Gourmet Bloody Mary" -- even if it means we've lost our 'insider' status.  (You used to have to know to ask for them.  sigh.)

 

The kids did great in their first day of ski school.  They both loved it and learned a lot.  The next morning, they were ready for a pre-class practice run with Mommy & Daddy.

It was a beautiful morning and we made it down the mountain with seconds to spare before they had to be checked in at the ski school.  I'm really impressed with Northstar's kids' ski program.  In previous years, it seemed like the kids spent a lot of time inside -- watching movies, eating snacks, etc.  Not at Northstar!  Those kids are on the mountain by 10:00.  They break for a 30 minute lunch around noon, and then it's back on the mountain again until 3:00.  They really get a lot of skiing in, and it was obvious.  The kids really progressed a lot this year.

With the kids off doing their thing, Duke & I headed back to the top...only to find this.  Snow and wind gusts up to 45 mph.  Not ideal.  But hey, we only get to ski one week a year now, so we take what we can get.  We skied until we couldn't stand it anymore, took a break and then skied some more. 

I'm sorry, when your beard is packed with ice and snow...well, that's a pretty clear sign to me that it's time to hit the lodge.  Apparently this guy couldn't read the sign.  I've never been so happy in all my life that I don't have facial hair.  The one nice thing about the crappy weather was that we had the mountain nearly to ourselves...

...which was not the case the next day.  Snow on Thursday and blue skies on Friday means lots of company on the slopes. 

We had company of our own at The Cabin Friday night.  Cousin Brad and his girlfriend, Erin joined us for dinner.  It was nice to finally meet her. (And yes, I stole this picture off Brad's Facebook Page because I was a little lame on picture taking this trip.)

On Saturday we were joined by old San Jose friends, Rick & Maxine.  Maxine looks pretty unimpressed here, but trust me, she had a good time.  Really.  I promise.  The kids were so excited to see her.  Lots of fun was had, and more than a few tears were shed when it came time for goodbyes.  (Again, camera-lame.  What was I thinking?!)

We took a 'break' on Sunday to head down towards the Bay Area to say hi to a few folks.  Our first stop was in Rocklin for a quick visit with the Vegh family.  It was so nice to see them and meet the newest member of the family, baby Lexie.  (Seriously, why did I even bring the camera on the trip?!  I took almost no pictures on this day.  Too busy chatting, I guess.  I stole this one off of the Vegh's Facebook page.  Thank goodness for Facebook!)

Next we hit the highway for San Jose to chat with our friend Jax for a bit, then back up the road to Alamo for dinner with Aunt Sally & Uncle Jerry.  (Again, no pictures.  Arrrrgh!!  I sure hope I've learned my lesson.)  It was great to visit.  We didn't get out west last year, so it had been a while since we'd seen them.  Of course, they thought we were absolutely insane for taking on such a crazy road trip on our 'day off' -- especially at 9:30 when we piled into the car to head back up to Incline Village...knowing that it was snowing like crazy on Donner Pass.

Monday got off to a promising start.  Something like 14" of new snow had fallen, so even though we were tired from all the trekking we'd done the day before, we suited up. 

Unfortunately, by midday the snow had turned to rain.  I'd never ridden a ski lift in the rain.  I guess there's a first time for everything.  No problem though, especially since we'd already made plans to meet another friend for lunch in the Village.  This time it was Leslie we were hanging out with.  Leslie use to help us out with Jake when we lived in San Jose.  She lives in Truckee now and it was SO great to see her, and I'm just kicking myself for not getting a picture of her with the kids.  Grrrrrrr!

Our original plan was to ski another mountain on Monday & Tuesday, but when we learned our friends, the Goldbergs were coming up from San Jose to ski Northstar, well...that's what we decided to do too.  The kids didn't seem to care a bit that it was raining -- especially when Charles handed each kid a telescoping marshmallow fork and Jill pulled out chocolate bars, marshmallows & graham crackers.  Ohhhhhh!  Life is good!!

The next day was warm and rainy again, so we had a leisurely morning at The Cabin, and then putzed around the Villages at Northstar and at Squaw.  We had plans for dinner with yet another friend -- our old next-door-neighbor from our first tour of duty in the Dallas area.  Nancy was born and raised in Texas.  One day...oh, maybe a decade ago...she decided that she'd like to live near some mountains.  So she moved to the Reno area.  She's so adventurous and is involved in so many incredible things.  I hope I have her energy and capacity for taking new paths when I'm 70.  It was so fantastic to see her.

Actually, it was so fantastic to see everybody.  It was a hard trip in a way -- because we have so many friends and family out that way.  We told ourselves when we first started planning this trip that we were NOT going to view it as a trip out West to visit.  We'd just have to plan another trip to do that.  If people wanted to see us, they'd have to come to us.  And it's so amazing how many friends we managed to connect with throughout the week.  It made leaving really hard.  Of course, another foot of fresh snow and plummeting temperatures didn't make it easy either.  But what do ya do?  Ya gotta go home, right?

Too bad home's not here...yet!  Sigh...someday.  I wonder how big our tree will be by the time we get around to building a house behind it.