Easter 2011

We had a great Easter this year.  Avery and Greyson woke up to a trail of Easter Bunny fur (cotton balls)coming down the stairs.  Avery knows the drill and quickly followed the trail to the playroom where she found an empty egg carton and two pair of bunny ears.  She helped Greyson put on his ears and the Egg hunt began.  Greyson wasn't much of a hunter, but he did follow Ave to find their final eggs in the kitchen next to their Easter baskets.

 The kids with all their loot.  Greyson was all about the chocolate eggs.  We thought we had put all the candy away when the kids had had enough...but then Greyson kept coming up to us randomly throughout the day with colored foil in his mouth.  Later we saw him pop a chocolate egg in his mouth foil wrapper and all, chew it up and spit out the wrapper after he had sucked it clean. Nice.

 All the Hunters, lined up and ready to run!

 I had a little pep talk with Avery before the hunt began, as Easter Egg hunts were kind of a big deal in my family.  To my surprise she already had her strategy all figured out, and executed it perfectly.  She reminded me that we count up all the eggs at the end to make sure each kid gets to take home the same amount.  How sweet, I can't say she learned that from me...Easter just wasn't complete unless I beat my sister year after year...don't cry Nicki!

We celebrated our final Easter in Buffalo with the Kelli, Beecher, Chris, Zannah and the kids with a big Easter dinner.  We made a ham, Grandma Janet's homemade mac & cheese and baked beans.  It was delish!  And Zannah brought over this most adorable speckled robins egg cake! So cute!

Dentists...aka Zombie Assassins

 This year for Ezra's birthday we went to dinner at The Outback with the kids, and it was slightly miserable.  The kids were little monsters.  Greyson refused to sit in the high chair, kept trying to crawl on the table, play with knives, drop chunks of bread on the lovely guests in the booth behind us, among other exciting things...  We ate as fast as we possibly could and left.  I told Ez we had additional plans for the night, he thought I was taking him to see a movie with the kids. He said  he had had enough and just wanted to go home.  He was pleasantly surprised when we pulled up to Lasertron and dropped him off for his Super Secret Surprise Man Date!!!

Ez and dental school buddies "Preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse" ...whatever that means... 

 After an intense round of Laser tag, they played something called Cybersport.  It's like a cross between basketball and lacrosse played in bumper cars. 

All of this fun was followed by a DQ ice cream cake after party at our house.  It was the perfect birthday surprise, if I do say so myself!!

Girls Night

While Aunt Nicki was in town, we decided to have a GIRLS Night out!  The party started at the Cheap theatre where we saw Gnomeo & Juliet, with popcorn and a drink for only $6...man I'm going to miss that deal when we leave Buffalo!!  Then we took Ave to a fancy restaurant (The Melting Pot) for a special dessert.  She thought it was pretty cool, however she decided on a whim that she no longer likes chocolate in the melted form and won't even try it.  Kids?!? She did feast on all the dippables w/o dipping them of course.  That's ok, there was more for Nicki and I. 

Nicki's Visit

 Buffalo, Ny is Aunt Nicki's favorite vacation destination and we love it when she comes to visit!!  This time we had super special fun day at the roller skating rink.  The local skating rink has Toddler Tuesday, where kids can bring anything with wheels to ride on while they rock out to there favorite Justin Bieber jams.  The kids played while Nicki, Ez, and I laced up a pair of roller skates for the first time in 15 years.  Let's just say I remember looking a lot cooler when I was a kid.

Greyson's First Birthday

 On February 20th, Greyson celebrated his very FIRST birthday!  We had a small birthday party for him with some of his closest friends...ok some of our/Avery's closest friends. In usual birthday party fashion, I stressed over the food and decor all week...but I think it turned out really cute.  Greyson LOVED it...ok, he had no  clue there was a party going on, let alone that it was all for him.  ...but I loved it!

Milk Glasses

Oreo Truffles

Chocloate Fudge Cupcakes

Mom & Dad with the Birthday Boy

Making his very FIRST Wish

                                                             Some of the Party Folk

Our Playroom, the aftermath of a party with lots of Boys...I guess this is what I have to look forward to :)

St. Patty's Day

 The kiddos all decked out in their matching St. Patrick's Day shirts and matching shamrock tattoos. Thanks Grandma Janet!

 Greyson took the notion of "The Fighting Irish" a little to seriously and decided to have a dual with the dining room table. The Luck of the Irish wasn't with him today. 

 Ave with her class, in the midst of a Leprechaun hunt. 

 Avery O'Boekweg with her trusty "Leprechaun Looker", she informed me you need this special tool if you really want to spot a Leprechaun..."They're real sneaky Mom!"

We topped of St. Patty's day in true Irish fashion, with a Shamrock Shake from Mickey D's!

Thirty-One

 I had a great birthday this year.  Ezra's mom, Linda, came up for a visit and so kindly took Greyson off my hands for nearly the whole day!!  Avery and I had a girls day that started with two tickets to see Elmo Live and Buffalo's historic Shea's theatre.  Avery thought it was pretty special of Elmo to come all the way to Buffalo just for my birthday.  Elmo wasn't really at the top of my bday list, but I am glad we got to see a show at Shea's before we leave buffalo.  It was built in 1926, and been completely restored and is definitely a site to see.

 Ave and I near our balcony seats.

Then we had our own Elmo after party at Red Robin for lunch. Here is Ave thanking me for being on a sugar-free diet so she can devour my bday sundae. 

Linda watched the kids again (thank you!) so Ez and I could go out.  Like Elmo, Lady Gaga really wanted to hang out on my birthday this year.  We had tickets, and in because I am the worst gift receiver ever, I decided to try and sell them on craigslist.  Ez bought them for me as a Christmas gift since she was coming to town on the night of my bday, but I just couldn't stomach the price.  I am somewhat of a Gaga fan, but FOUR HUNDRED dollars for OK seats was just crazy to me.  Long story, short we sold them about an hour before the show to one excited teenage girl and her mom.  We still lived it up with dinner at the Cheesecake factory and a movie at the cheap theatre...that's a little more my style.