We shared a fun morning of play among the tulips at Crescent Bend with our play-friends. The gardens are so much fun to enjoy with fountains and pretty flowers. Julia was pretty shy about leaving her mother’s arms, so we enjoyed a lot of watching Emily and the others play. The longer we were there the more Julia was willing to go on her own, but never far from her Mommy.

Emily enjoyed all of her freedom. There were scrapped legs that required a little attention and a photograph to heal. Also there were fountains to stick hands into. At one point Elena and Emily were carrying small amounts of water in their hands to water the tulips. Everyone chased bubbles, walked on flower bed edges pretending they are balance beams, smelled tulips, played under an umbrella, and had a lot of fun. Aiden did get his foot into the fountain at one point soaking his shoe and sock.

We ate a picnic lunch before we left the grounds and as usual the other kid’s food looked more interesting than what their own mama brought. This is such a funny, but consistent practice between the kids. After lunch the bigger kids ran, played with small rocks, rolled down a hill in the grass, and jumped off of one big rock. They were sad to go home and the weather and temperature had just been perfect. I hope we can have more days like that!

How does a parent entice or motivate a child to do something . . . anything. We are having to try some creative parenting sometimes to get the results we want, but tonight we lucked into one.

Our day was lovely and we postponed dinner to play at the park and take a walk together. Everyone was hungry and dinner seemed to be lingering. Julia was munching on goldfish after downing her pasta and Emily was eating her applesauce slowly. I suggested that Robby should go and start the bath water running for the girls.

Emily asked with much exuberance if she could take her bath first. Her animation was hilarious. I told her that she couldn’t get a bath until her applesauce was finished. She put her spoon to work and finished it right off. Julia was also listening. She had been signing ‘please’ after each goldfish so that she could get another. After the bath announcement she started, also with great exuberance, signing ‘all done’ followed with the sign for ‘bath’. Who knew dinner could be finished so quickly?

Now, two little sweet smelling girls are tucked in their beds sleeping soundly.

Sunny days are great for playdates. We had a picnic lunch and play time at a park with our friends. The kids are doing such sweet things with each other. Emily is making friends at the park with kids and doing things together on the equipment, they have cute moments of holding hands, Julia is wanting to follow Emily around, they all want to give each other a push on the swing, and they are happy together. This makes for some happy mommies.

I had to include a photo of the little one to join us soon. In just about a month, baby Loveday will join the fun playdates. It will be no time until a new one is toddling around the play equipment!

Julia gives lots of silly faces! She is showing off her teeth in all of her photos now. I love to see her smiles.

Emily was teaching Julia how best to inspect an egg. Some of the eggs had cereal that was perfect for Julia’s tastes. Emily ate every marshmallow that she could sneak into her mouth. The fact that Emily wouldn’t take a nap shouldn’t be a surprise given how much sugar she consumed on our hunt.

Easter this year was a wonderful time with friends and family. It is good to take time and reserve it for renewing of spirit. This year we enjoyed our renewal in worship this morning and then enjoyed an afternoon and evening of play and visiting.

Our egg hunt was slow and fun. Julia was tentative to walk around the yard to get to the eggs and then when she got the eggs she didn’t want to put them down and go to find a new one. Emily’s focus was on what was inside the eggs. It was like a treasure chest that she had to open and inspect. The hunt will be different in future years as they learn a competitive spirit, but it was fun just to watch their different personalities blossom.