Easter Egg Hunt

On Saturday we took Grant to his first Easter egg hunt! It's always my intention to go but then we're busy or he's sick or whatever. But not this year. The parks near our house have fun things planned throughout the year and they do an egg hunt every year (right across the street from where I took Grant to Trick-or-treat the Trails). They have some fun stuff set up for kids to do for a couple hours and some local people set up booths then at noon they turn the kids loose on the eggs!

When we were walking over to the event we saw a firetruck on display. Firetrucks are one of the things that excite Grant to no end but the boy was on a mission. We had planned to meet a few of his friends out here and he was not to be distracted from finding them.

His "humor mama with a sort of smile while I try to
continue looking for my friends" face.

No boy can resist the opportunity to climb inside a firetruck!

When I saw the amount of people at this thing I figured the odds of finding anyone we planned to meet out there were very slim. And I was very wrong. We managed to find 2 of the 3 families in about 5 minutes (never found the 3rd but they may not have made it) and Grant was so excited to play with his friends!

Checking out the slide with one of his friends.

They had some of this inflatable stuff for the kids to play on and I
think Grant could have stayed on this one all day!

And the rest of the time before the egg hunt started was pretty much just boys being boys running around. 

I absolutely love watching him interact with his friends.

"Come look at the eggs!"

There was a brief pause in the running around for a photo op with Raphael (who acted surprised at Grant being dressed like Michaelangelo and Grant loved it!).

We made our way over to the bubble machine and the boys just ran around popping bubbles until it was time for eggs.

Kids love bubbles!

We made our way to the field where the eggs were with about 15 minutes to go. They had taken down the fencing and I was AMAZED that not one kid made a move toward the eggs until it was time. 

Waiting patiently for the signal...

The Easter Bunny comes to tell them it's go-time...

And they're off!

It went really quick! I'd say in about 5 minutes there was not an egg to be seen. At one point Grant broke an egg and he just left his bucket out there and ran over to Husband with the broken egg because he didn't want to leave it. They didn't allow parents for this age group out on the field so, of course I go into protective-mom-mode and get worried someone will take Grant's eggs (he was so excited about this, it would have made him so sad if he left with no eggs). So I'm standing behind the line yelling over the noise "Grant! Get your bucket! Don't leave your bucket!" I'm sure I looked like a maniac (and for no reason because no one touched his stuff). But he had a good time and was very excited about the eggs he found! I'm so glad we got to go this year.

High Five for Friday

Hi there! Today I'm linking up Jennie to share some of my favorite stuff from the past week.

1) Last weekend I made and delivered this fun beach themed birthday cake!

It was my first attempt at making palm trees!

2) On Saturday we went to a birthday party for Grant's best friend. He was so excited that he couldn't get to sleep Friday night, woke up early Saturday morning, and asked every hour if it was time to go to the party. The party was at a place that teaches circus-type aerial tricks and the kids had fun swinging and playing around. It's always so fun to watch Grant play with his friends!

3) Sunday, we went to the park for a walk and some playtime.

4) And I made Grant this fun mask:

5) My co-worker and, as she calls herself, "work mom" is retiring this week. We had a little celebration for her yesterday and I made her this cake:

6) Have you ever heard of a hot brown sandwich? Maybe I watch too much food TV but I've been wanting to try one forever. Last night for dinner I gave it a shot and holy crap was it good! I used THIS simplified version from Kraft. But I found a baked potato version online somewhere as well and I think I'll be giving that a try soon!

I actually can't stand tomato so I made a couple without it for me
but Husband and Grant enjoyed the tomato ones :)

Happy Friday everyone!

Have a great weekend!

High Five for Friday

Well, hello! Today I'm linking up Jennie to share some of my favorite stuff from the past week.

1) A few weekends ago, we were out to eat with my in-laws and saw "tater tot fondue" on the menu as an appetizer. We all talked about it but none of us ordered it. But I thought it would be easy - and fun - to have with dinner one night. So that's what I did Friday night. We just had some BLTs with it. I put a plate of tater tots, a big bowl of homemade cheese sauce and a small dish of sour cream (just because) on the table and we all got a wooden skewer to eat with. Do you know how excited a 4 year old gets when you tell him he gets to eat dinner with a stick?? It definitely made for a fun Friday night dinner.

2) Saturday was rainy and dreary but I had to go run an early errand Saturday. Grant wanted to come so we stopped for a biscuit at McDonald's on our way. They have this neat interactive thing in the corner for the kids and Grant had a blast with it.

And since I knew Saturday was going to be yucky, I planned a fun t-shirt craft for Grant to do. Using THIS technique, I helped Grant make a t-shirt for his Aunt Shauna and then one for himself! He had so much fun and was very proud of his artwork when he was done. (If you try it, that link uses Sharpie fabric markers but the craft store I went to didn't have those so I used Tulip brand which I don't think were as bright.)

For Aunt Shauna (who should never be allowed within 10 feet
of a white tshirt, but it wouldn't have shown up well on another color)

And Grant's.

3) Sunday, Grant and I ventured out to take his 4 1/2 year pictures. Sitting still for pictures these days (or sitting still for anything) is not his favorite but I did promise ice cream for good behavior. He was very patient for pictures (and I'm in love with how they turned out) and definitely enjoyed his ice cream! And I love our little ice cream dates :)

4) With St. Patty's on Tuesday, Grant helped me make some green marshmallows to share with his friends for snack time! These are always a hit with the kiddos at school.

5) One of my very favorite things is that some of Grant's teachers have my phone number and will randomly text me pictures of him. It really makes my day!

Happy Friday everyone!

Have a great weekend!

4 1/2 Years Old

I look for any excuse to play with my camera and take pictures of Grant. As long as he's willing to sit still for me! (This time it was the promise of ice cream in exchange for good behavior.)

4 1/2 years old and so handsome :) He didn't really want to do pictures but I think he had a little fun with it. I tried not to ask him to do much (except smile) and I tried to be quick. I think every time I snapped a picture he'd ask if it was time for ice cream yet. But I'm so glad we did them because they turned out so good.

This dude is obsessed with dinosaurs and volcanos. And racing. It seems like there is always a "race" of some sort going on in our house. Or a story involving dinosaurs and "hot lava". 

Finally got this kiddo in a big boy bed! He's got a new twin size bed in his room and he loves it. I don't think I've ever seen him so excited about bed. I think his favorite part was shopping for and picking out his new sheets.

Recently added to the TV line-up for us: Paw Patrol. Husband isn't a fan but I don't mind it. It's definitely cutesie and a big a switch from things like Ninja Turtles but there's a good message - even if the dogs are a bit whiney. 

I can't even.

Grant is getting so excited about kindergarten! His daycare is in a different county than ours so he won't be going to school with most of his current set of friends. But I found out that one little boy he's good friends will be going to the same school and he (and his brother) will be in the before & after school program with Grant too. I'm so glad he'll have a friend to pal around with while he makes new ones.

He's learning so much! Writing, recognizing (semi-reading) words, math - it's incredible. We do a lot at home with him but I'm always so thankful for what he's learning at daycare (we call it school). He's gotten so much from being there and he loves going. It makes me so happy but also sad that he'll be leaving there soon.

He's just so his own little person now. He has the best little sense of humor (we cracked up over Big Hero 6 and quote it all the time). Loves to talk on the phone. Asks about our day. Tells very involved stories. And his imagination is crazy. It is never boring at our house.

And now I will shamelessly share more pictures:

This was all him. All I could think was "How you doin'?"

I know I cut off the top of his head but I love this picture. It is
just so very Grant. So happy and laughing.

Discover the Dinosaurs

When Grant gets excited about something he does this crazy little laugh. Being really original, I call it his Crazy Excited Giggle. I love it and I don't ever want it to go away. It's like he's so excited that he just can't contain it. It's one of my favorite things.

Grant loves dinosaurs (is there a little boy out there that doesn't?). Last weekend we had no real plans for Saturday and then a friend gave us tickets to the "Discover the Dinosaurs" event at the fairgrounds. When we told Grant that we were going to see dinosaurs that day, he did his Crazy Excited Giggle.

When we got there, the line to get in was insane. BUT we had tickets already and got to go right in (thanks, Rocco!). 

Grant was a little apprehensive at first. Some of the dinosaurs move and make noise and there was quite a crowd in there. When I asked him to stand in front of one for a picture, not long after we go there, he wanted no part of it. But it wasn't long before he got comfortable (or realized that other kids were doing it without getting eaten).

Happy!

I just like the way he's hanging on to Husband's head.

That's not creepy.

Grant seems to really like triceratops and when we came across that one was finally when he agreed to pose for a picture. He was really excited about the triceratops.

Once he was more comfortable, he was all over the place. Couldn't wait to see the next dinosaur!

 He went nuts for T-rex! 

ROAR!

Easily my favorite picture of the day.

They also had an ice age exhibit. That was fun because Grant looooves the Ice Age movies so he got to see some of the things from that movie (they actually had the movie playing in a little theater there). 

And he got to look for dinosaur bones!

After the exhibit part, they had a huge section of inflatable stuff for the kids to play on. If there is an inflatable slide around, Grant will find it.

He was having too much fun for me to get any good
pictures but there was a HUGE smile on his face!

And they also had a spot where you could ride a dinosaur (or wooly mamoth or rhino-looking thing).  They had, I think, about 6 different dinosaurs/animals that moved and you could ride them for a couple minutes. You couldn't choose what you got to ride but when it was Grant's turn, he got the triceratops! 

I think he was a little nervous but he really liked it. The whole thing was so much fun for him! 

On the way out, Husband couldn't resist and opportunity to feed Grant to a T-rex :)