April Dialog 2011

I can't remember what we did this day but it wore Ellia right out!

This month we also watched conference with the VanOrmans and did our big blanket breakfast which turned out really nice, especially since we had her sister, Shannon's help.

The weather was so enticing we decided to take a little hike. It was really Ashlyn's first and she did so good...but kept getting distracted by the flowers and birds, and pretty much everything. There were a few times Ellia looked back at me and I couldn't believe how much it seemed like I was looking at myself from some old camping pictures my parents have of me. Our ultimate goal was the creek because it had bright orange gnewts in it. We also got a chance to take off our shoes and wade...although it was VERY cold!

The next week grandma carol and grandpa kerry came to visit and brought the girls an early easter basket. The big hits in the baskets were the small fry stuffed animals and of course the jelly beans.

We went to Hart Park for a picnic and then played on the playground and nearby grass. Once when Ashlyn started to mozy off and we called her back, she turned around to reveal that she had found the oreos.

On April 9th we went to the Santa Anita Horse Races and we were lucky enough to be there on Derby Day! It was such a fun experience and SO family friendly. Food was inexpensive, there was a playground, grassy area and carnival games and activities. We got to watch some of the big gun horses race...that would go on to race in the Kentucky Derby! We started to figure out how the betting worked, and guessing who might win. I got the first race right! (I just picked by name!) Had we bet $2 we would have won around $60! So then I guessed for the second race and got that right too! Jeremy wasn't going to tell me, but just have me guess on the third and see what happened, but my dad gave me the good news...after that all my guesses were wrong! It was so cool seeing how it all worked, and the horses were amazing! This is the track that helped make Seabiscuit famous and they even have a statue of him there.

It was too cold to get in the water all the way...for most of us, but when Ashlyn just kept trying we finally let her and my mom got the camera out - she was bring so cute, and even though it was freezing she kept wanting to get in...and she succeeded.

April also marked the date of the spring Little Feet Repeat sale. As always it was AMAZING! Here is Ash in one of her outfits...NOT wanting her picutre taken (she is sitting on one of jeremyt's shoes). Most of the clothes I got there were between $2 and $3.

Here's Ellia in a few of her favorite outfits...the first one, shoes included, was a total of $7. The second, also included the shoes and I think that was around 7 or 8 too.

We were fortunate enough to have my mom there during on of Ellia's preschool field trips. We took the Amtrak train to Hartford to play at a park and get some ice cream. It was so neat to take the girls on a train ride!
UNfortunately Ashlyn only had a twenty minute nap and was inconsolible after that. It was one of those times as a parent you just have to sit back and try to see the humor in it (after you have tried averything) so, out came the camera...like I said it was a good thing my mom was there. She cried for probably half an hour straight, and what finally ended up calming her down was a huge diet coke. The trip pretty much did me in!

One of Jeremy's young men's activities was ice blocking...always a favorite!

There was a discount day at CALM zoo so we called some friends and took a picnic. All the walking must have helped Kelli out, because that night she went into labor! Ashlyn was pretty brave feeding the goats, but Ellia was a bit more cautious. The kids also really enjoyed riding the train, and just as we were leaving the VERY shy porcupine came out to say hello.

As always there were several Easter parties we got to go to. The first was hosted by the meetup stay at home mom's playgroup. It was Ashlyn's first and she really hesitated to hold the basket, but then once she started putting eggs in it, she would relinquish it. Which caused her A LOT of problems. She tripped over it about three times and dumped out all the candy on the playground. Then when I was trying to get a picture of her with the bunny she freaked out and dove off the bench, fortunately her basket broke her fall. It was pretty hard to help both girls so I kindof had to yell directions at Ellia (bigger kids had a different section). Every time I looked over she was standing around, NOT picking up eggs, and all the other kids were picking up the close ones so they kept getting farther and farther from her...and me! Jacque was there and when Ashlyn had her allottment I left her and ran to help Ellia. To my surprise she had been doing just fine, in fact she only needed two more eggs, the thing slowing her down was that she would only pick up the purple eggs!

Our next easter party was hosted by none other than ME! through the primary - it was a ward activity. There were some fun games that our whole family participated in, including a sack race. I tried it, mostly against little kids, and thought I'd go easy on them, but boy was I wrong! It was SO hard! Then Jeremy did one with the guys but Pat won by a long shot. Right after this easter party we headed into the mountains for a dinner picnic. Jeremy had the girls practice egg hunting again to get ready for the big day.

Finally it was easter morning...and since we are still figuring out how to create our traditions, this year the girls did an egg hunt in the back yard and then found their baskets hiding in the front yard...which they quickly ripped into so I've decided that in the future the Easter Bunny will be wrapping the baskets in celophane and we'll wait until all have been found before opening them! Another thing we will continue are money eggs. Jer thought the girls wouldn't even care, but as soon as they both picked up a money egg and shook it they got SO excited..."Money!" Jer did give me a thumbs up for a validation which was nice!
Ellia's reaction, "The Easter Bunny brought me a potty!"

At the end of April, we had our best beach day yet at Carpinteria. We stayed over night, and the first day on the beach was so fun, with perfect weather...too bad the second day was WAY too windy to enjoy the beach. Instead, we drove to and played at a gorgeous park for awhile. I really liked the look of this town and would love to go back on a girls trip! Ashlyn was trying to take pictures with just about everything, saying shoo shoo, it was cute.