Happy Easter!

All in a Day

A good day.

A morning hike to a beautiful summit. Pancakes with whipped cream on top. The arrival of Tutu and Papa. Playing, reading, dancing and sharing. Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Sushi feast. The looking forward to Easter.

Yes, a very good day indeed.

Ready & Waiting

The boys spent a good part of the day dipping, re-dipping and re-re-dipping their Easter eggs to achieve just the perfect color for each and every egg. I watched on the sidelines trying not to stress about cups full of dye being knocked over. Each year as the boys get older it gets easier and easier. The boys especially liked dipping the eggs in different colors to see what new colors they could create.

Now we just need that Bunny to show up and hide these bad boys.

Eggy Day

Today was an egg kind of a day. Lots of hiding of eggs, cooking of eggs, eating of eggs and even an egg that exploded in the microwave. Very exciting.

Tomorrow we will continue with our emphasis on eggs as we dye and decorate our Easter eggs. And I am sure there will be more hiding and eating of the eggs, but hopefully no more of the exploding. It will most definitely be an egg-cellent day.

Things Heating Up

You might think that this blog entry is going to be about the warmer weather that we are experiencing here in San Diego.

You would be wrong.

You might think that this blog entry is going to be about the fact that RCK Controls (where I work) has been getting lots of good business news recently.

You would be wrong.

You might think that this blog entry is going to be about the fact that baseball season has started and the Padres have a bullpen that is full of hard throwers.

You would be wrong.

OK, enough already. I have a child that has an unusual tolerance/desire for spiciness. We had nachos for dinner tonight and Sammy decided he wanted some jalapenos on his nachos. Normally he gets one, and enjoys it. Tonight Suzy plopped three down on his nachos, and tried to resume her conversation with me. Approximately four seconds later we look back over at Sammy as he furiously is downing water. The little tamale scarfed those three jalapenos like they were candy, and was paying the price. He looked at me, and gave me this really big smile. If I could peer into his brain I imagine he was thinking,

'Wow, that was hot! Hey, that was kinda cool. I wonder if they would give me some more?'

The Shores

Sammy really wanted to go tide pooling again so we headed down to La Jolla Shores this morning. Unfortunately the tide was too high and we couldn't make it to the tide pools. Still, the boys had fun running along the beach, jumping waves, collecting & washing rocks, finding sea shells and just getting sandy and wet. It was another beautiful day and surprisingly not very crowded at the beach.

I love going to La Jolla Shores not just because I love the beach, but because it is where Dan proposed to me. On ones of these benches that the boys are sitting on. Maybe even this bench. The boys were pretty excited to be sitting where Dada proposed to Mama over 11 years ago!

I don't know what fun thing is in store for tomorrow. I'll have to see what the boys have planned.

A Trip to the Pool

What better way to start Spring Break than a dip in the pool? It was a beautiful, hot and sunny day, just perfect for a swim. The boys were so excited about going swimming today that they slept in their swimming suits last night. And they sure did have fun. It was a big moment for Sammy as he can finally stand in the shallow end (3 feet) and have his head completely above the water. He now can venture from the stairs and sides without fear of drowning.

Daniel was all over the place. Diving for sticks, kick boarding, swimming and doing cannonballs. That kid is a fish.

A perfect pool day!

Peace

Today was a bit of a rough day. One of the boys (not me) was a bit too squirmy in church this morning, and they both were less than optimal during their Sunday School, so they started the day off wrong. That continued when we got home, so there was a lot of stress and consternation in the Walls home. Peace was not in our house. So, when Suzy and I were discussing what to blog about tonight, and she suggested Peace, I was a bit confused. Then she reminded me, reminded me of a time when there was peace, peace like a river. A time that was this morning, on the ride in to church....

There we were, deeply involved in a bizarre conversation with our boys, when the Peace overcame us.

'I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river in my soul.'

My eldest was serenading us with a song that he remembered from a CD that he liked. Sammy, not wanting to be left out of the conversation, piped in with,

'You gotta pee like a river?'

Tide Pooling

Sammy and I got to go on a tide pooling adventure down at La Jolla Cove today with Sammy's preschool class. I was a beautiful day (I say that a lot don't I? Because, well, it usually is.) and Sammy loved every minute of it. Luckily I was in 2-hour parking or I would have never been able to drag Sammy away. We found all sorts of shells and sea creatures, even a rather large lobster. Sammy liked sticking his finger in the sea anemones (we call them 'squishy things') and finding hermit crabs. But his favorite part was taking off his shoes, rolling up his pants and wading through the shallow pools (that kid loves to get wet). Mine was just being close to the ocean and enjoying the sights and sounds of the sea.

My Guys

This picture cracks me up and makes me think of that song by Rodney Atkins.

"He said I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool

I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you

And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are

We like fixing things and holding mama's hand

Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad

I wanna do everything you do

So I've been watching you"

The World is My Playground

You would think that after a long day at school the boys would be anxious to head home. Nope. Not my boys. It easily takes 30 - 40 minutes to get the boys from school to the car. Although I can't just blame the boys as I am often gabbing with teachers and friends. Today the boys enjoyed playing in all the nooks and crannies outside school. These boys can find something fun to do almost anywhere we go.

Loving this big missing teeth smile...

Brothers and buddies...

It is moments like these that make everything worth it.

Park It

Oh to be a kid experiencing the pure joy and fun of a cool park again. Just look at those big smiles. Climbing, running, spinning, swinging and sliding. Just pure and unadulterated fun.

Field Trip

Sammy and I got to join Daniel's class on a field trip to the theater and the park today. The performance was great (the kids were well behaved) and the kids loved playing at the park together. Besides two of the boys I was driving who were behaving very poorly in the car ride (not Daniel and Sammy thankfully) and the slight detour I had to take trying to find the theater, it was a successful outing. But field trips with a bunch of small children sure does wipe one out. What am I doing still awake? I will post photos tomorrow.

Character Trait: Lasting

It has become a bit of a game with the kids. Who's parents have shown up for Chapel this week? Oh, looks like David is going to get a Chapel award, there are his parents. Well, Suzy and I are nothing if not competitive and sneaky, so we try very hard to not let Daniel know when we are there. In fact, the picture below is taken right as he finally saw us hiding up in the balcony after he received his award for the character trait of 'lasting'.

We aren't quite sure what 'lasting' signifies, but we think it is some positive way of saying very stubborn. Actually, Suzy and I were both pretty surprised that Daniel got this award, because he really isn't that stubborn, or whatever the positive spin on stubborn is. However, he does have an enduring positive character, which is how we are choosing to define 'Lasting'.
Gotcha, buddy, you never even knew we were there! We win!

[The kid in the front row on the right side in the above picture actually saw us for a split second in the hallway, but we ducked back behind a corner pretty quickly. It turns out he was walking right in front of Daniel in line, he missed us by that ' ' much. Better luck next time, Daniel.]

[Also, I am pretty sure that this will post as Suzy, but I am too tired to figure out how to change that, so just remember, I get credit for this one!]