happy easter!

it was henry's second easter, but i think it was more like his first since he could actually participate and enjoy the festivities like a big boy!  we spent the weekend with the oliviers in minnesota, so henry got to play with his aunties, uncle, and grampa and gran!

here we are dying easter eggs!  henry is coloring his egg, he loves to say "color" while he's working at it and often requests his "colors" sometimes throughout the day.  he did nibble on a few once at home...but i think we were able to cut him off before we had to worry about any colorful after-effects.... ;)  i don't know which is more fun for him, actually coloring with the crayons, or just playing with them by dumping them out of the box, putting them back in, and then dumping them out again...but coloring eggs was something new!

he was very interested in the dye though....which wasn't the easiest to keep him out of, so we had to get him his own cup of dye-free water that he was free to spill :)

faith writing on an egg with candle wax--a Ukranian tradition

gran molly's ukranian egg--melting the wax off to reveal the pretty design

tessa's starry egg

after he was done scribbling on his egg for a bit, henry thought it was time for a sample

and the egg eventually just ended up like this after a few hard knocks on the table :-)

and now the hunt!!

henry was a very serious egg searcher, as he is about most things new and exciting.  he's a no-nonsense kind of guy!

daddy helping out

and aunties helping too!

ooooh someone caught a smile!  haha --he really did enjoy hunting for the easter eggs

especially when he opened them up to find...

some yummy bunny gummies!

~hope you had a wonderful easter and let yourself indulge in a few chocolate bunnies!!!   (ps--more photos to come soon :)  )

The NC Finale

Just a bunch of random candid photos from our fun weekend with my brother and his fam.  I already miss them so much :(  So I will probably be logging on and looking at these photos like a nerdy little blogger a few times a day for several days :)

playing with some easter goodies!--little wind-up chicks and bunnies

grammy hugs :)

 cousinly huggies too :)

 this was the highlight of henry's and bryson's interaction...henry taking bryson's bink out of his mouth and putting it back in again...and again...and again.  luckily for henry, bryson found this amusing most of the time :)

a very blue-eyed bryson...don't stare for too long or you may find yourself struggling with a strong urge to kiss your computer screen...at least I do anyway :)

loving on mommy

and daddy too!

kaydyn playing outside

 waiting for the cheeseburger she ordered under the swingset -hehe

 grammas give the best pushes ;)

the goof troupe again!

(austin says that henry looks like a redneck hick in these photos....in my defense i had to put him in socks and shoes with shorts after he decided to cool off his perfectly-fashion-appropriate sandaled toes in the dog's water bowl...i think he's cute no matter what he's wearing! but i guess when you throw in a pearl-snap shirt, a pushed back baseball cap, and that gap between the front teeth...there's no denying the redneck gene in him...)

I just love the fact that h and k seem to have so much fun when placed in close approximation :) it looks like someone just said something hilarious

i am missin' these a-dorable kiddos!

beach bums

After our little trip to the aquarium and senior frog's, we went to the beach to see the ocean.  It was henry's very first oceanic experience....

and what do you know.....he was asleep!

for the most part anyway....then when we were thinking about packing back up and hitting the road he bolted up in his stroller like he knew he was about to miss something important!  so we ditched our shoes and played barefoot on the beach for a little bit. the water was a little chilly on our toes though, so henry kept his distance from the foam :)  and we found some seashell treasures too

bryson also enjoyed the beach!  he even tasted a sample of it :)  haha  finally--i have some photos of this little fella to share!

watching waves and cuddlin' his mama

but i don't think anyone enjoyed this trip as much as kaydyn did!  she was able to escape from her daddy's grasp for a quick little belly flop--haha  then, after that, they just let her splash around all she wanted--why not?  she was so much fun to watch.  kind of reminds you to enjoy the little things :)

some of my favorite people :)

AND finally gunka and grammy taking it all in and watching their grandkiddos play

 ps--as i quickly post this, i am packing up for another weekend of fun with the olivier fam in minnesota for Easter.  We are super excited to spend some time with them!  :)  Have a blessed Easter weekend!  I have a few more photos left from NC that I will post when we get back