Easter 2011

This morning came all too early for the parents in the Nielsen household: 5:45 AM. Madelyn has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Easter Bunny, and it was obvious that she could wait no longer as she woke up so early.

She quickly found her Easter basket, which was hiding rather conspicuously in the center of the kitchen table. ;) She climbed in the chair and, one-by-one, started pulling each candy out of the basket. She also found Kai Lan bubbles, and some sidewalk chalk. Ooh. We love chalk! And as luck would have it, the Easter Bunny even brought her the very thing she has been asking about for weeks (7 weeks to be exact).

Side story: For the last seven weeks, Madelyn has been carrying around a Target ad showcasing Polly Pocket and her wondrous ice cream swimming pool. She would show anyone and everyone would would pay attention to her. We have been telling her that she would need to save her dollars, and she had even starting doing just that. She had saved 4 of the 15 dollars she would need to go to Target and make the big purchase (we agreed to pay the tax).

But, low and behold, the Easter Bunny must have been listening to all her whining, um, I mean, begging, no, I mean, pleading..... this child was hooked on the idea of owning this Polly Pocket, and I am SO thankful he came through. I am quite excited about throwing the Target ad away. Or perhaps it will find its way into her treasure box. That will be a funny story someday. ;)

After checking out all things yummy in the basket, she began her Easter egg hunt. The Bunny left some inside and some outside. Madelyn didn't seem to be overjoyed at the task of finding all the eggs, but she played along for pictures.

Once all the eggs were found, we came back inside to pick apart more Easter candy. Here is a short clip that truly had us roaring. Now, keep in mind, we were deprived of sleep, and extremely slap-happy.

Happy Easter, everyone!
  

Easter Carnival at the Park

Our friends invited us to a fun little Easter carnival in Peoria, and as soon as Madelyn heard there would be fire trucks and bouncy houses, she was all in! 

It was an absolutely beautiful day for the carnival. The sky was a bit overcast and the high was about 80. As we were pulling up to the park, the fire truck pulled in right behind us. Madelyn was practically out of her car seat before I could even get her unbuckled. However, once we walked up to the firetruck, and the fireman greeted her, she wanted nothing to do with it. Seriously, child. Firemen. I wanted to ask her if she was really my child. ;) We decided not to push the issue, and would come back after she'd had some time to get acquainted with everyone.

She spent most of her time jumping in both the bouncy castle and the bouncy house. We all wondered if she'd ever get tired because we were exhausted just watching her!

She also got her very first "tattoo" which was quite exciting for her. "Look, Daddy! We match!" Oh boy...

She also got her face painted... one of her very favorite past times (ever since Legoland).

And of course, we did finally make it back to the fire truck, thanks to "New" Allison.

It was a great way to get ready for our other Easter celebrations. A big thanks to the McClellens for inviting us! :)
 

Coloring Easter Eggs

Today I went out on a limb, and made hard-boiled eggs for the first time. Ever. It's a little embarrassing to admit that, but Grammy has always taken care of it, and well, she's out of town. I was a bit nervous because no one wants to eat half-cooked eggs, so I emailed my boss, Valerie, who is the queen of perfect hard-boiled eggs. She gave me the low down, and what do you know? It worked. I made the most perfect hard-boiled eggs! Yippee!

Madelyn has been so excited to color eggs. We've been counting down "sleeps" until the Easter Bunny comes, and coloring eggs has been somewhat of a deterrent. :) Today, she eagerly asked to take a nap because she knew once she woke up we'd get to color the eggs. Perhaps we should plan to color eggs every day since it's such a motivator!

We all had a good time coloring the eggs. Chris and I both tried to think back to the last time we actually dyed eggs, and we both came to the conclusion that it has been a real long time. Nonetheless, it was like riding a bike...easy-peasy.

We made some the "old fashioned" way, and then we tried our hands at a new tie-dying method. It was pretty cool, but proved to be quite time consuming. I think Madelyn preferred the old fashioned way because soon after we started the more meticulous ritual of "tie-dying" the eggs, she grew quite bored. Fortunately, I only boiled 16 eggs, so Chris and I weren't left with too many to do on our own.

Madelyn is looking forward to the Easter Bunny hiding these colorful eggs Sunday morning. She can't wait for the egg hunt!