Easter Weekend

Fridays are Show & Share days at Rainbow Station, and the kids were supposed to bring something Spring or Easter related on Good Friday.  Em had an easy choice, and decided on her bunny ears.  She looked super sweet, and I think she must have kept them on all day long, because she was still wearing them when I picked her up that afternoon!

On Saturday, our neighborhood hosted an Easter Egg Hunt and Chili Cook-Off at the clubhouse, which is right across from us.  I'm on the Social Committee, which meant I went early to help set up--when the bounce house went up, I knew we needed a tester, so I brought Em over with me.

One of the other ladies on the committee brought her daughter too, so Em had a friend to share some Goldfish with, and then to jump with in the bounce house

The weather was beautiful, so we took her sidewalk chalk.

Everyone brought filled plastic eggs, so the dads split up and hid them all over the area around the clubhouse.  The kids really wanted to help, but we managed to hold them off until the eggs were spread out.

Em had a ball!  She found eggs everywhere!

She was very determined not to leave any eggs behind.

 Here she is showing off her loot!

That afternoon when we got home, she put on a little concert for us--this Minnie Mouse guitar was a birthday present from a little girl in our neighborhood.  Em is pretty good with it!

On Sunday morning, I had some of Em's Easter treats out to surprise her, so she had to sample her chocolate bunny for breakfast (no, she didn't get to eat the whole thing).

After lunch, we made hard boiled eggs and dyed them before Em went down for her nap.

This was the first time either of us had dyed eggs, and she was a pro! 

 She did a great job, and was very steady with the egg holder.

 While she napped, I put a trail of eggs from the door of her bedroom all the way down the stairs,

through the kitchen, and out into the  backyard where her Easter basket was waiting!

She had another egg hunt waiting for her in the backyard.

And quickly named her new friend Baby Cottontail.  Love!

Her hair is quite a mess because she slept pretty hard, but it didn't get in her way.

She had a great time, and was so excited that the Easter Bunny came while she was asleep to hide the eggs we dyed.

It was a really fun Sunday, and she didn't get too full on sugar.  We spent some time outside with her new bubbles that were in her basket, which I think she liked more than the candy!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

I debated quite a bit about Em's birthday--I thought I could do just a simple celebration at home with family and she would be fine.  As it turned out, none of our family was able to make it, so I decided to throw her a bigger party and invite her friends from school.  We invited everyone from her class, plus a couple of other friends, and ended up with about 13 kids total!

Em said pretty early on that she wanted a Mickey Mouse party, which surprised me--especially since she's been Peter Pan for the past couple of months.  Honestly, I think she would have been excited no matter what we had decided.  Mickey was easy for decorations though, and I went a little crazy with Pinterest inspiration :).  I made her outfit, and thought she looked just adorable (although the tutu didn't stay on long--she took it off for a different princess dress before the party).



We planned for a bounce house in the backyard, but it rained the whole morning, so I had to come up with toddler-friendly activities inside.  I bought this roll of craft paper and just taped it along the walls and set out crayons--Em needed to try it out before her guests arrived!

  I just can't believe how grown up she looks.

This was our front door welcome.

I think we overdid it with the food, but I didn't know what to expect, and didn't want to run out.  We had tons left, so it was a good thing it was all stuff we like :).

The paint table was a huge hit--I covered the table with a plastic table cloth and put out foam brushes, paint and paper.

These were our party favor bags and party hats (a must have, according to Em).  I made the hats, and got the bags from Etsy.

Heather is a friend of mine from work, and her daughter Emma is almost exactly one year younger than Em.  The older they get, the more they have in common.

Em and Max are in the same class, and good buddies.

I got her cake at Publix, and I thought they did an awesome job!  I found my inspiration picture on Pinterest and took it in--they said they could do everything except the ears, so I just made the ears from black foam and stuck them in.

It was yummy and beautiful--and this is when the white shirt lost the battle!

Em's little circus tent was a popular hiding place--I think there were at least six kids in there at one point.

This is Em's best buddy Declan, who was in her class at Gateway, and Riley, a little girl in our neighborhood who's 4.

This was the after-party mess.  It actually could have been a lot worse!

People brought so many thoughtful, generous gifts!  This was one of her favorites--Rapunzel dress and princess gloves and shoes!

A few more decorations--I put streamers on all the doorways,

and used all of Em's stuffed Mickeys for decorations too. 

I made these out of Styrofoam and spray painted them.

They looked a little better from a distance :).

I also made the Happy Birthday banner, and then finished everything off with balloons.

We were happy with the turnout, and everyone seemed to have a good time.  It's so unbelievable that we have a three-year old now!

St. Patty's Day Fun

Saturday was really our first taste of spring weather--it was supposed to be warm and beautiful, so we decided to go to uptown Charlotte for the St. Patrick's Day parade.  Em was very excited about seeing a parade, but it was so crowded when we got there that she took turns sitting on our shoulders for the best view.

Here's former Charlotte Mayor, turned NC Governor as the Grand Marshall.

This was one of Em's favorite parts--all the Golden Retrievers!

There was a big kids' zone with a carousel, bounce houses and games.  Em got on the first time and wasn't very happy because "the bunny is not my favorite animal."

She was more excited to get back on her favorite animal--the doggie--but then decided she was going to be shy for a picture.

She was pretty happy when she got on the swings all by herself like a big girl!

And even happier when they started spinning around--she held on for dear life.

She talked Daddy in to standing in line twice for the big slide!

We stayed for several hours, and Em enjoyed exploring some of uptown with all the people and dogs.  It was a great day for a parade!

She was exhausted from playing, so she wasted no time falling asleep in the car. 

We headed down to look at cars--since my job no longer requires full time travel (hooray!), I'm turning in my company car and we're buying one.  We've been looking at the Honda CR-V, but Em decided she liked this little 2-door Accord :).

 

We were close to home at that point, and because we had bribed Em with ice cream for being a good girl at the car dealership, we went to Baxter Village for ice cream.  We didn't realize there was a big festival going on there too, so Em got to paint a picture (she told the lady her name was Peter Pan, so that's how her picture was labeled :)).

Then we saw a cupcake shop, so she settled for a double chocolate cupcake instead of ice cream.  She might look just like her Daddy, but she definitely has some of her Mommy in her too :).

The weather was perfect, and there was music and lots of kids, so it was the perfect environment for her.  She met this green frog and was trying to give him 5 in this pic.

She had a terrific time dancing, and jumped right in for some of the group dances.  We finally stopped to eat Italian for dinner and head home.  It was a full day, and Em was exhausted (we were too!)