Brunch with the Hop-Hop

And after the egg hunt, we headed to CLCC for brunch with the Easter Bunny (or, Hop-Hop in Griff speak). Last year at brunch he was somewhat in awe of the EB (see last year's Easter post), but this year saying he was in love with the Easter Bunny is an understatement. When we got to the Club, EB was outside taking photos with kiddos as they came or left. And he could barely wait his turn, waving to the Bunny, frantically trying to get his attention. And after we went inside and sat down to eat, all he wanted to do was get up and find the "Hop Hop" (in his words, "hop, hop...where are you?") In order to get him to leave we had to convince him that the Hop Hop had went home to bed, as he'd already had a long day...dropping off all of those Easter baskets for the morning had tired the EB out!

When we left CLCC we headed to Uncle Bill and Auntie Lisa's to see them, Sam, Nick and Auntie Honey. And a the end of the day, nap-less Griffin was very ready to CRASH.

Some pictures with Mommy before brunchFinally! The moment he'd been waiting for... G was a big fan of Baxter (U Bill and A Lisa's puppy). Baxter was so good with him...even when G taunted him with his new stuffed animals from the Easter basket that the Atkinsons spoiled him with (and he WAS spoiled...thank you A Liz and U Dave)!

Also, earlier in the day he opened his Easter card from Gma Cathy and Gpa Bill...when he found "dollars" inside he was elated to be able to take them to his bank...for some reason (and I may have posted about this before, forgive me if so) Griff LOVES to put money in his bank. Whenever he finds a coin, he races to his Lightening McQueen bank to make a deposit. He's never put paper money in his bank before this weekend, but he loved it just the same. I would hand him a bill, Daddy would show him how to fold it to fit, and after it was in he'd look to me and ask, "More?" And I'd hand him another bill. I think I am going to try this tactic and see how it works for me. :) More?

Hunting Eggs!

We took advantage of the nice weather Easter morning and had an egg hunt with the eggs we had colored the day before. Griff found all of the eggs and was pretty excited upon finding each one...so excited at times that he had to smash a couple of eggs together. And after the hunt while hanging out on the patio, I looked down and saw Griff playing with what I thought was a stick; upon closer inspection he was petting a very large brown spider saying "hiiiii bug, hiiiiii bug." There is no question that G has NO fear and is 100% boy (I, on the other hand, was not able to let the spider-petting go on too much longer).

This one had a football skin. So, naturally, after he found it he chucked it onto the patio. Touchdown.

Coloring Eggs

We spent some time yesterday coloring some eggs for this morning's Easter Egg hunt. It got a little messy, to say the least, and we thought Griff's little fingers were going to be permanently discolored. But, they washed, as did the table.

We'll start out with the egg that Griff colored. And poked. And colored the inside. Turned out very nice.

He had to stick as much of his hand as he could in the dye.

And the egg needed to drip dry before he made his next move.

Basement Progress

Our basement is progressing at a great pace. Over the weekend, after Griff's big party, Ben and I went and picked out tiles for the bar-area, tiles for the bathroom and shower, a vanity, and carpet. Whew. I wanted to post some pics of the progress on the blog - these are actually the first pictures I've taken thus far of any of the work - so we can remember what it looked like before...because I am pretty sure it is going to look awesome after and we will soon forget the "before." We use this blog for several purposes - one being so family & friends can keep up with what is going on and see pictures of Griff (and soon Baby P #2); the second big use is to keep a "diary" of what has happened in our lives so WE can go back and remember the fun stuff...so this post is probably more for us - because giving ourselves more play & living space is quite certainly "fun stuff" in our lives!

A view up the stairs. This will of course be carpeted, the door at the top will be gone, and the doorway will be widened. The cutouts you see on the sides of the stairs will remain open so the stairs don't feel closed-in.



This is a view from the bottom of the stairs to the left. Along the far wall will be a built-in cabinet that the TV ("giant" TV, per Ben) will sit on, and we'll have some storage underneath. And we're moving the leather sectional down to this space for the TV.




Here's a view from the TV area back over at the stairs.






And a view to the other side of the same section. Here we are planning on putting a bar table with stools and having some shelving.

A view into the bathroom (left) and the bathroom closet (right).

And, though there is a toilet in here (left by the previous homeowner, never used or installed, so no worries on the hygiene here) this is the new guest bedroom, which the door from the outside comes into.

Hallway view.

This is a view from the bar area. Under the stairs will be storage and the rest will be open space between the bar and the bar table/stool area.

And in the back of this picture is where the bar is going to go - with tile around it on the floor.

I Did It...TA DA!

Every accomplishment, no matter how small, gets an I DID IT! TA DA! Love it.

Griff's B'Day Bash

I think it is safe to say that we all had a great time Saturday night celebrating Griff's birthday with a pirate party! Here are some pictures...in absolutely random order. Griff was spoiled (thank you so much everyone) & had a blast playing with the kids - the BIG kids - and Ben and I felt he grew up more in one day than in one year. He absolutely loved when everyone sang to him...the little smile on his face as he looked around at everyone singing was priceless. Love you my little two-year old sweetheart! His personalized cape from the Atkinsons! He couldn't wait for each present to be opened...so the gift-opening portion of the evening was SLOW going! :) We had the pleasure of SNOW on the day of the party (so much for our hope that the festivities could spill outside)... Gma Kris made a pirate chest cake to go with the cupcakes! Giving Gpa Henry kisses the morning after the party... Cheesing with Gpa Henry Giving some love to Gma Lea Griff's newest phrase: "I DID IT! TADA!" Any time he does something he thinks is an accomplishment we hear this...and it is SO cute. Whether he finishes a puzzle (as he has done here...the awesome firetruck puzzle Auntie Kayla and Uncle Eric got him), turns on a light, or successfully climbs on something...I DID IT! TADA! as he looks over at us for our approval. And he also got a metal pedal tractor from Gma Cathy and Gpa Bill! This one was a major hit. And the process of putting it together took Gpa Bill and Great Gpa Henry quite some time. Griff could barely wait! After the gifts were opened he checked out his cards.

A submarine from Gpa Henry and Gma Lea (Griff is pretty convinced it's an airplane)

Whoa! Snacks!

He decided it was time toward the end of the night to finally have a cupcake

But he had to smell it first (per usual). It's always a good idea to smell something before it's eaten.

Is it done yet Gpa?

The scalliwag Ms. Ashley

Manual labor

Brian REALLY wanted this skull n bones tattoo on his neck. Something about street cred.

Griff, Claire and Hunter clowning

Griff gets outfitted for his pirate belt

Griff and his Momma

Gma Cathy and Gpa Bill also got in on the pirate gear

Great Gma Lea and Great Gpa Henry

Ben and Gma Kris

Liz and Claire

Gpa Bill was SO excited to wear his bandana

Liz helped outfit everyone (and quite honestly a lot of the party was due to her help!)

The treats