Egg Hunt

Last year, I ran Maren around Lee's parents' front yard and I think we picked up two eggs before the cousins had canvased the whole area in about 1.2 seconds!

She was a teeny peanut who didn't walk on her own or really with us yet!

Here she is this year, collecting ALL the eggs herself at my parents'.

So fun!

Hey...what's in here? (This is where the frenzy of the hunt came to a screeching halt as she ate the m&m's inside.)

With much coaxing to keep going on this kinda chilly and windy afternoon and Grand and Great-Grand parents cheering her on (ok, so it looks like they got distracted too...) she got all 24 eggs picked up.

Beauty Queen

This is Maren after her first hair cut, She talked about it all the way there and went willingly to the cool big girl chair. She never shed one tear she was such a big girl! That's not to say she didn't want to! Let's look back in time now...

During her cut she sat very still and wondered why this very nice woman (who has been cutting mommy's hair for over 8 years) kept combing her hair.

The thought of the big girl booster on the big girl chair was very appealing! For a short minute.


Mommy got Maren this new butterfly bow to entice her to sit for her hair cut. It looked beautiful!


We probably won't be back to get a hair cut for a long time, but this big girl would probably start to love it at some point...right?

Water Park Fun!

I'm sad to say that it is almost the end of my spring break (cue the violins - some may tell me...). We took a family trip an hour away to visit a waterpark yesterday afternoon and overnight. I wasn't sure how Maren would do because she hasn't enjoyed getting water on her head in the bath for a while now and hasn't been in the pool since summer either. But, warm(ish) water, room to be independent and walk on her own, and lots of people seemed to help her get comfortable. She really loved the slides she went down with us and splashing. This morning, we weren't sure we were going to go back before check out at 11, but she asked us soon after waking to go swim, so down we went for another hour! I think she would have lived there if she could have...but I don't think hotel life is for us - she is too cued into sounds (any and EVERY) and she spent a lot of time asking what each noise she heard was!

Who Says You Can't Eat Applesauce with a Fork?

Maren does really well.

We spent the morning and lunchtime at the mall with Uncle Eric. Mom got some shopping time in, then Maren got to run around like a crazy monkey in the play area, we had lunch (Maren ate applesauce and fries - nice and balanced), then went on a horse ride! Of course, Maren could see the horses though all of lunch and wasn't a happy camper. When we finally got done, the carousel guy decided to take a lunch break. So we had to wait more. Whew. The tears really only ensued at the end wen she had to get off.

Spring day at the park!

Thomas Park had an overhaul last fall and is finally open! There is now a smaller play structure for smaller kids and a VERY large one for the bigger kids. And there were a ton of kids this afternoon! This little peanut couldn't wait to get there.

Haha, she looks like a giant!

What to do first...

WEEEEEEEE!!!!

We are so thankful for better weather! Who cares if it is supposed to snow again on Saturday!

Bows

Here's how this went.

(Bringing me her bow bowl.) "Mommy, I want my bows."

"Ok, Maren. Which one do you want?"

"This one. Flower bow."

"There ya go! So pretty!"


"Mommy, want this one. This bow."

"Oh, you want the green bow instead?"

"yeah, green bow, too!"

"You want the flower bow and the green bow?"

"Yep. And this one, fly bow."

"Ok..."

"And this one, too!" (heart bow)

"Mommy, and this one. Brown one."

etc, etc, etc.

Forts

"Fort" is it these days. And not just one person can be in it at a time! You'd better find a big blanket because Maren likes to invite everyone! "Come on, Dada. Come on, Uncle. Come on Mommy. Izzy come in too!"

Oh, and don't even think about leaving for a breath of fresh air! :)

Uncle Eric and Maren during wind down and George time.

What a great weekend and the count down is on until spring break in another week! Maren spent a lot of time playing with "uncle" when he was here today and spinning around. Her other favorite thing she discovered yesterday is that, if she plugs her ears, it changes what she hears! So she has spent some time sitting with her fingers in her ears then removing them to hear the difference. :) AND, tonight when getting ready for bed she had a dry diaper so I managed to keep her entertained while she sat on her potty and she was very pleased with her success! YIPPEE! This give me hope for the summer.