Assertion

One of Huelan's passions is dinosaur shows.  Her fascination has gone beyond the cartoon Dinosaur Train,- she's currently fixated on seriously scientific historical investigations into dino anatomy and behavior.  She's even gotten into pre-dino reptiles and the rise of the early mammals.  The producers of these shows don't pull punches with their CGI animals- they fight, hunt, tear flesh and die in documentary fashion.  And Huelan can't get enough.  Some kids are into Frozen, she's into the Cretaceous period.

Watching hours of dino fighting is probably where she got this behavior, though I can only speculate on where Vansen picked it up.  He understands the game quickly, and though his answer to her challenge falls short, it's not for lack of spirit.

I am sure that this is just the first of many, many, many opportunities for these two to vie for the upper hand. I can't say how it will end up, but if this video is any indication, Huelan will be sure to press her advantage anytime she has it.

Easter

This is the closest thing we've had to a family pic in who-knows-how-long! Even though I've been having camera issues that have resulted in a soft focus, I'm pleased as punch.

Easter weekend was a blast.  Liz had Good Friday off, so we got an extra day of the kids climbing into bed with us.  A little Friday shopping for Easter outfits to round out a chill afternoon. 

Saturday morning I had the kids by myself for half the day, and we hit up the Easter Egg hunt in a local park. This was our second year at the same hunt, and we were a lot better prepared this time (picnic blanket, sunscreen).  Last year Huelan was still in the youngest Egg Hunt group, where they let about 15 kids at a time run loose in a corral with candy sprinkled in the grass  This year she graduated into the next group where about 300 kids race vie to collect as much candy as possible in a 10 minute window.  The pep talk I gave her highlighted the fact that none of these kids are her friends and her priority is to fill that basket.  Just kidding, of course the most important thing is to have fun (and keep your elbows out).

How they were able to keep all those kids at bay for 10 minutes while they finished setting up is a testament to how well kids will behave when there's a promise of candy.  And I dangled the Easter Bunny visit much like I use Santa around Christmas time- as a threat.  The carrot (ha) and the stick....

We of course had an egg hunt in the family room in the morning, then it was Easter lunch.  It was quite a spread, and after about a dozen deviled eggs, I dozed off on the deck, sitting in the sun.  But only for a minute.  Huelan found the GOLDEN EGG that Grandma stashed and was jumping-up-and-down ecstatic- highlight of the day, maybe the year so far.

A beautiful, sunny weekend made even better by lots of family and food.  More pics here.

Also, I neglected to post pics from the first half of March, so here they are as well.

Al Fresco

"Table for one on the deck please. I'll have the butternut squash special with the peas on the side."

"Dessert? I guess I've got a little room. Are your blueberries local?"

Life aint too bad. 

Liz Said

"After Nicole was just so perfect, I don't know how we got so lucky that we had another perfect one."

Vine Test

https://vine.co/v/M5WBpQFiK35

I'd like to ve able to imbed, but not sire how. 

Cartoons

This is the new Saturday morning cartoons. It combines the best parts of climbing into bed with Mom and Ba with on-demand, streaming animation. The only time he watches media is when he's peaking over her shoulder, which is not infrequently.  

Weekends

Basically, the only time you get to see someone outside of the family is on the weekend.  So we (Liz) has made an effort to set up some grown-up play dates- most recently with Vivien and Karen, et al. Coincidentally, they both have big sis-little bro combos as well.

We watch our own kids grow, develop, and mature, but when we see our friends' kids after we haven't seen them in a while, it can be a surprise.  I, for one, am horrible at remembering how old other people's kids are- I just have a vague sense of whether they're older or younger than my kids.  Most of our friends' kids are a smidge younger than ours, so I err on that side.  Liz's parents made some of their closest friends from when all the kids were going to school together.  They still regularly see and hang out with those people, even after most of the kids are no longer in close contact.  Kind of weird to think that that scenario might still await us.