Easter and Strawberry Shortcake

 Happy Easter! Notice the shoes? This is the only picture I got of Maren in her Easter dress. She refused to wear the white sandals I got her for the dress, and wore her new Light Up Twinkle Sketchers from Grandma and Grandpa instead!

 Maren spent the better portion of an hour (?) swinging with Grandpa while she waited for her cousins to arrive. We decided to have a Strawberry Shortcake Easter and Birthday celebration since her birthday was so close this year.

 Easter isn't complete without a couple hundred eggs to hunt wth your cousins! Be sure to shake each egg before putting it in your bucket - you don't want a dud.

 Aunt Alisa impressed again with her pizza-sized birthday cake, strawberry cupcakes, and strawberry shaped cookies! We are so grateful for her willingness and talent. She and her husband stated "this was a simple one."

 Maren LOVED it.

Happy Birthday, Maren!

Turning THREE

Sweet little Maren turned 3 last week!

 She finally got to make the monster cupcakes she had been eyeing in a cupcake recipe book. This is Maren "helping."

The monster eyes weren't quite done before bed, but I took her picture with them anyway.  

The finished monsters - of course there were pink ones for girls and blue ones for boys... 

 On her birthday, Maren visited the science museum and made a mudpie earth for Earth Day. Then she visited a friend who had a new baby sister too so she could practice for her own baby sister.

 She finally got to open presents after dinner - with Izzy's help of course.

Since we were tired of cupcakes, Maren celebrated her actual birthday with an ice cream sandwich!

We can't believe Maren is three years old. Time goes quickly, but everyone always tells you that. Maren started a new daycare this week at a center and has impressed me with her ability to adapt. She loves school and is in such a good mood when I pick her up. That helps the mommy guilt a little. :) On to another year!

Hunting

This week...

Maren fell asleep on the couch after dinner....(this never happens!) 

I looked like this at 30 weeks and 3 days. 

 Maren got super silly excited to go on an easter egg hunt.

Before she started, I asked what color eggs she was going to get. She told me "PINK and Purple!" At the "intermission" when all kids had 10 eggs, her bucket showed that she had ONLY picked up the pink eggs. They are "girl" eggs, you know.

We are excited for this week as Maren turns three. I can hardly believe it.

Trip out East

We flew out east for a week-long trip to see friends and family recently. While the trip out took 4 hours longer than it was supposed to, Maren was very excited to ride on TWO planes.

We visited the Boston Children's Museum on our first full day there with friends. Maren really enjoyed the bubble room!

There were fast slides!

And we even discovered a water room! (Bubbles, slides, AND water? This was right up Maren's alley.)

In the art room, Maren and her friend Lily got to play with natural earth, red clay.

Maren channeled her inner construction worker and drove a skid-loader.

Daddy practiced sharing his lap with two little girls, eager for a story.

Maren and Lily were excited for Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the morning.

There was also lots of CHEESE! We loved staying with Lily's family and can't wait to see them this summer when then visit our state!

Then, we were off to Connecticut to visit our family. Maren got to go back to the beach park and was much more in to independently exploring it this time. It was a bit chillier than last time and very windy. 

You can't keep this girl away from the water. She had to throw shells and rocks back into the Sound.

We finally met cousins Grace and Leo. Grace and Maren loved eating the frosting from their St. Patty's Day cupcakes. Don't worry - Grace wasn't mad...that's a signature Grace-face.

Maren loved playing with her big cousin Bella. Bella was probably exhausted by the time Maren left. Bella even shared her room and Maren slept happily on her trundle bed away from mom and dad like the big girl she is.

An attempt to get a picture of Maren and Grace....too slow!

We finished our trip with more friends back in Boston and flew back home the next day. I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of those cuties! What was I thinking? We've had some days now to catch up at home before we are all back to the daily grind on Monday. The school year will be pushing toward summer and there is a LOT for me to do. There won't be any more traveling now on my part, aside from a short trip just over an hour away in a couple weeks, which is my choice in what's best for me and baby.  Maren's new sister's room is ready-enough for her and Lee is working hard on his Honey-Do list before she gets here (13 more weeks!).

I suppose I should put the ticker in a permanent place for a while...but I was happy to see that it's under 100 days now!

Updates

 We went to the waterpark with friends!

Then we all got sick - no one more than me and it was 2 weeks before we did anything else! But Maren finally got hair cut again. 

Last night I took this picture of Izzy with her nose pressed against Maren's door. I think she felt left out because Lee was putting Maren to bed. :) We've also worked on the new baby's room and sometime I will post pictures when we get it done!

Frosty

 We got some snow today and then had balmy temps in the low 30's, so i thought it was perfect for a little snow time. And, when you tell a 2 year old they get to go play in the snow, be prepared for screeching, circle running, and chattering about building a Frosty and needing a carrot for a nose. We couldn't find the snowman kit from Grandma and Grandpa nor do we have trees for stick arms, so Daddy improvised with golf ball eyes, dowel arms, garden gloves, and an old oil can for a pipe.

 There was a lot of snow eating going on.

Wishing you a happy winter Monday!