I Heart Spring

Every spring the tree outside my kitchen window sprouts gorgeous deep red, heart shaped, leaves. I'm enchanted by them.

After a few weeks they grow out of the heart shape and turn green, but for a little while every spring I see hearts out my window.

Easter Tradition, With A Twist

No matter how many other Easter parties or egg hunts or holiday festivities we engage in, we always celebrate Easter with a private egg hunt in our yard. I fill the plastic eggs, Steve hides them, Dagny and Dane hunt. Fun? Yes.  In deference to the fact that Dagny and Dane are now teenagers and far too mature for this sort of silliness, it was decided that this year would be our last egg hunt. (no sadness on my part, we had a good run) Dagny didn't want to search for eggs but she still wanted to be part of the fun, so she became the hider of eggs. (Steve was demoted from his position of Easter Bunny, I don't think he minded)  Thinking that Dane would need the eggs to be well hidden so the hunt would be a challenge, Dagny proceeded to hide them.  When I say hide, I mean hide. She put a lot of thought into trickery and camouflage.  That is what earned her the nickname Evil Easter Bunny. She put eggs in thorny rose bushes, down drains, way up high, she even dug a hole in the lawn, put a green egg in it, then covered it up with grass.  I think it was the longest egg hunt we've ever had, and one of the funniest. Dane wasn't thrilled with all the hiding places, but in the end he had a basket full of chocolate and it was hard to be mad at the Easter bunny, even if she is a little evil. 

Dagny, the Evil Easter Bunny

Was it necessary to put the egg deep inside the spiny bush?

(probably not necessary, but definitely funny)

 Found One

 At The End Of The Hunt All Is Forgiven

 The Reward For The Easter Bunny's Evil Deeds?  Chocolate, Of Course.

Control Freak

I remember very clearly being at the zoo when the kids were about 1 and 3, Steve was pushing a fully loaded double stroller up a hill and he turned to me and said,"Won't it be nice when they grow up and we can just go places and not have all this hassle?"  At that moment I wholeheartedly agreed with him, going somewhere without car seats, strollers, or a diaper bag, sounded heavenly.  There is a sheer physicality to parenting small children that is exhausting. I loved, loved, loved, having little kids, but after I got rid of the sippy cups and retired the stroller, I looked at my little humans that could buckle themselves into the car and I reveled in their independence.

Now I'm thinking that I had it all wrong.  Their independence is vastly overrated and irritating.  I preferred when they were small and I was totally in charge.  When it was my responsibility to get them ready to go somewhere they were always dressed appropriately for both the occasion and the weather, we were rarely, if ever, late, and we always arrived at our destination with all the necessary accouterments. Not to mention the fact that I could take them anywhere I wanted without any dissent.  Seriously, I miss those days.  Their independence and my relinquishing control is a natural and necessary part of this whole growing up process, I'm just saying there are times when it's mighty inconvenient. 

Getting out the door with my two teenagers might be more difficult than with two toddlers, but I will admit that once we are at our destination the teenagers are fun to have around.  As witnessed by our trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  We've been there many times over the years, it's an awesome place.  

Beautiful Monterey Bay

watching the otters

Now and Then

the thing that never changes - begging for souvenirs in the gift shop

4

Happy Birthday

 Gavin!

Gavin has accomplished quite a lot in his four years of life; he's a father, a grandfather, a champion, a canine good citizen, and quite literally, a man's best friend.

WonderCon

...and the geeks shall inherit the earth.  

WonderCon is the place where all the freaks and geeks come out to play, it's a melting pot for every flavor of geeky awesomeness.  Our love of all things geeky is a family affair; Steve started it all with his love of Star Wars and his teenage years of comic book collecting, Dagny added anime/manga, Dane is all about the video games, and me, I introduced Buffy and all things Joss Whedon into the mix. (mine was obviously the most important contribution) Steve and the kids have been going to WonderCon for years, but this was my first time. My favorite thing was seeing all the people in costume, most of them were so well done, these were people with an eye for detail. (if you want to see some of the best costumes, go here)  Dane got in on the fun and dressed up as Captain Hammer from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. (if you haven't seen it, go watch it right now!) He really got into character and had fun posing for pictures.  

Steve, Dagny, Austin - welcome to the show

The Crowd

 There were costumes galore, sometimes in wonderfully odd pairings

My personal favorite - Harry Potter Puppet Pals and Avatar

 Dexter's latest victim

Oh, all the things you can buy

 Bummed that this picture turned out so badly, 

the little Dr. Horrible was awesome

 Captain Hammer and one of his fans

Captain Hammer, Corporate Tool

April Fools

A prank that is over immediately, or one that goes on for days?  Me, I enjoy the long con.  

We showed Dagny and Dane this website and waited for them to figure out that it wasn't real.  After about 10 minutes Dagny's natural skepticism kicked in, but Dane was a believer.  I kept a straight face while we talked about all the pro's and con's of owning a little tiny giraffe, despite the fact that it was a ludicrous and hilarious conversation. (where are we going to get a bonsai tree for it to eat? what kind of bubble bath does it need? do giraffes like French Bulldogs?) I know that at some point we have to tell him they don't exist, but right now we're having way too much fun.  Maybe next week.  

Petite Lap Giraffe, anyone?