backyard easter egg hunt

The Easter Bunny hid 50 eggs in our backyard! The boys worked hard to find all of them. Nate thought more of the eggs should have had coins, and was also disappointed when finding eggs that didn't make noise when shook (those held stickers). Colin was happy with all the eggs, and didn't have any complaints.

another kind of egg

Colin was cleaning the patio in anticipation of the Easter Bunny and noticed a clump in the sunblinds. He asked if it was a nest, and when I looked at it, I said it was!

I climbed on a stool to see if any eggs had been laid, and sure enough - there are 4 tiny speckled eggs inside. The bird worked fast, as I'm almost positive the nest wasn't there yesterday.

A few days ago a bird flew in the patio door, so I wonder if it's the same bird? We'll be watching to find out!

coloring eggs

AJ Easter egg hunt

For the last few years, we've been attending the Apache Junction Easter Egg Hunt. It's an event put on the Saturday before Easter and it's great fun! They have free easter egg hunts separated by age groups, bouncy toys, and simple carnival games with prizes for all the kids. Colin & Nate love going, and it's a fun way to spend the morning.

Getting ready to run!

And he's off!

I think this is a superhero pose . . .

There was a petting zoo this year. In years past, they've had pony rides.

Nate at the Easter egg hunt

Nate on the bouncy slide.

Waiting to hunt for eggs.

Petting a bunny.

Matt & Kelly's Wedding

My brother got married last weekend and my sister & I flew to Waukesha to be there. Here are just a few shots from the day!

Colin on 4-4-06

the lizard investigation

A dead lizard was found in the pond. Colin decided that it was time for an investigation.

He hypothesized that maybe a bird had the lizard and dropped into the pond - or perhaps he fell into the pond and couldn't get out. He decided that if he could find bird claw marks on the lizard, then it was likely a bird.

Daddy fished the lizard out of the pond and laid it out for further investigation. Please note the investigative tools that he gathered together all on his own. Nate was a very good helper, looking up information in one of the many dinosuar books we own.

The lizard was carefully measured against a plastic coral snake and markings were compared. A magnifying glass allowed him to look closely for any marks. Copious notes were taken during the investigation with a handy purple crayon.

Even though he found a clue of a bird feather, he deduced that a bird did not have anything to do with the lizard's demise, since there were no claw marks. The lizard must have been unable to climb back out, and drowned.

I really should have videotaped the entire investigation, because he was quite adorable with the whole thing! He's been enamored with "Corwin's Quest" on Discovery TV lately.

Nate on 4-3-06

* he's snapping his fingers, in case you were wondering . . .

more garden progress

More progress on the garden this week. I added a couple more plants (foxglove, alyssum, purple groundflower whose name escapes me, spearmint, basil, sage, oregano, cilantro, more flowers, more lavendar . . . )

I added 4 solar powered lights that look just magical at night when they glow.

Bo got the pond running. Once we're sure there are no leaks or problems, we'll start building a flagstone shelf around the edges to hide the plastic.

Today, Bo got a load of 3/4" rock and we started filling the rock into the garden around the plants. It really made the garden look complete. He started adding the flagstone, but ran out of time - so it'll be a project for a later date.

I'm thrilled with our progress.