Where did April go?

I (Emily) have been working so much this month that I haven't really had much time or energy for the blog - or for photos. Most notably, April is "Daddy Daughter Dance" month at work and as such I have lots of princess decorations in my office. Evan found this half-melted pink sequin crown in my office last week and just HAD to wear it home. He told me he was "Pwincess Fee-oh-naah" and I was "Shweck." I love when I get to play the ogre. Tonight I saw the most beautiful moon-rise and had to drive up the bluff for a photo op. Unfortunately, I have a moderately priced point-and-shoot camera, which means that the photos turned out terrible. This was the best I could do: a super blurry shot of the moon taken from the street corner down the block from our house. The moon was huge! This picture really does not do it justice. Maybe someday I will get a "real" camera from Santa or the Easter Bunny...(hint, hint, Jeremy!)

Last Tuesday Beth and I took the boys to the Jose Cole Circus. I had heard that it was pretty bad - a bunch of wiener dogs jumping through hoops amid intermissions where clowns tried to sell you $10 glow necklaces. I came prepared: a purse full of snacks and a 12 pack of glow bracelets from the dollar isle at Target. Mom: 1, Circus: 0.

I did, however, get suckered into paying $8.00 for Evan to ride on a smelly, sad looking elephant. Mom: 1, Circus: 1.

Evan found the circus pretty entertaining - this video of him is fairly dark, but you don' t need to see his face to feel his excitement - he is laughing so loud that it got all of the other kids (and parents) around us laughing, too!

The highlight (and low light) of the evening for me was the dancing elephant. I only wish I would have shot some video. It was amazing - I know it sounds corny, but she was actually quite good! I also felt very sad for her though, no majestic wild animal like an elephant should be forced to dance in a traveling circus for peanuts (pun intended). I hope she enjoyed it. All in all, the circus wasn't bad, and well worth the $10 admission.

Happy Easter! 04.04.10

The Easter Bunny arrived early at our house...unfortunately, the Easter Bunny's assistant forgot Jonas in the backyard when she went to get Evan up to go search for eggs. Jonas found a few on his own before we got out. I guess he wanted to join in on all of the fun!Bubbles! A flashlight! Shark stickers! A steamroller! Playdough! Goldfish crackers! SCORE!

A short video of the egg hunt

Easter at Great-Grandma Nelson's. One word: delicious!Evan carried around this flag and told everyone "I'm a WINNER!" You sure are kiddo!The yummy bunny cake from Great-Grandma. In the afternoon we went to Grandma and Grandpa Novek's for some more Easter fun. Another egg hunt, more delicious food, and more sunshine!Show us those pearly whites, Bear! Evan LOVES Bear, and he loves that Bear will actually play fetch with him, unlike Jonas who would rather sunbathe.It was a perfect day - the weather was beautiful and warm, and it was just breezy enough for us to get in a little kite flying.

...and, Rex got a new toy! He was nice enough to let Jeremy take Evan for a spin. I wasn't sure if he liked it, but after his first ride he yelled after Jeremy "Daddy! Wait for me! I want to go again!" Now I'll have TWO boys asking for expensive new toys.

What a great day.

Spring has Sprung!

The votes are in! It is officially Spring - the magnolia tree in our neighbor's yard sprouted its first bloom on Friday. As of today the entire tree is covered in fragrant flowers - it smells amazing!And this is the first plant in our yard to bloom. I can't remember what it is called...but according to the tag it wasn't even supposed to come back in our planting zone!We took advantage of the warm weather and went to the zoo last Thursday to celebrate Grandpa Bruce's birthday. Here Evan is posing with a sleeping jaguar. What can I say? The kid loves cats.The day we decided to go to the zoo happened to coincidentally be the first day that the baby farm animals were out! It was also the first day of Spring Break, which amounted to about 2,000 extra screaming children at the zoo that day. Evan was yelling a little too loudly at the baby chicks, so I told him he needed to use his "inside voice" and talk quietly. He interpreted this to mean that the chicks needed to be quiet as well, and decided they needed "shushing".Isn't this too cute? I just had to share.And, of course, we ended the day with some awesome temporary tattoos. Unfortunately I made Evan scrub off the one on his neck before Easter. I have no control over Jeremy's hair (aka: the red mohawk), but I didn't want our Easter pictures to turn out with Evan having a frog and fly tattoo on his neck.

The Junior Zookeeper shirt we bought Evan last year is a bit too small. It turns into a belly shirt when he lifts his arms, but hey - at 2 you can get away with that, right?

Dance at Colvill School

We went to a dance at Colvill School tonight just for 2-5 year-olds. It was so much fun! We went with Beth and DJ, and the boys really wore themselves out. I don't know who Evan gets his "moves" from, but I had a blast watching him!

Evan taking a break on the dance floor...we were all pretty tired by the end. 1 1/2 hours of toddler dancing (aka: spinning in circles and running around like a madman) is hard work!

Grandpa Nelson and Auntie Karla came over to visit this past weekend. Evan is finally old enough to sit still and take a decent picture! He still doesn't like to smile at the camera much, but he will at least give you a few seconds to snap the photo before he moves!

Its been beautiful out, and we have sure been taking advantage of the nice weather! We have been to a park almost every night for the last week and a half. Baypoint has been flooded, but it is still open...

...unlike Colvill Park. This is our favorite place to play, and it is now underwater. It will probably be a few weeks before it reopens. This photo is from last Monday, the last say it was open before the shut it down for high water. You can see the very top of the levee by the back treeline on the left.

Beth taking the boys for a spin.

Becky and Evan busy building things. Evan LOVES Becky and wants to call her all the time on the phone. "I'm calling MY friend Becky so she can come over and play with me" he tells me...what a funny guy!

Oh, and for the record, we are in the midst of our first week of potty training! That's right - the Thomas the Train underoos that I bought four months ago have finally won over the heart of our two-year-old train fanatic. Last Thursday was our first official day, and Evan used the potty and went without an accident from 2:00-8:30pm. He has since peed on his shoes twice (once in the middle of Menards) and we have had at least one accident each day, but he seems to be getting that hang of it. I am so proud of him! Let's hope his interest in "big boy unduh-weers" lasts!