Saturday, April 25, 2009

Spring Fever

Spring is here! Even though today is cooler (even sprinkling at times), it's still spring. We even had an 88-degree day this week! Amazing for April. It improves all our spirits to be able to go outside, take walks, draw with chalk, go to the park, have picnics, etc. So that's what we've been doing!

We had a 2-hour waterfight on one of those warmer days. It started with Daddy and Misha, who roped me in when I came home from work. Then the neighbors ventured out to join in the fun!



Misha got drenched ... but loved every second.



Don't squirt the photographer!!



My grandma, Misha's great-grandma Mary, was in Brookings last weekend, so Misha got to see her again and give her a checkup with his doctor kit. :)



Then, of course, we all took him to the park. Here is Lyon's Park, where I have many memories of playing when I was a kid. Sadly, the wooden playground is rotting and falling apart and will no doubt soon be replaced with modern, plastic, garish-colored equipment.



Down the slide!

Later in the week, we hit Camelot Park for a picnic, tag, and climbing fun:




















As if we don't have enough pictures of Josh and Misha, here's another one of my two sweeties.


Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Easter Day Fun

Easter morning was filled with a.) the Easter bunny's visit, b.) Grandma Kate's crazy schemes to make enough food for a 20-person feast :) and c.) some last-minute tie-dyed egg-dying fun for Misha.



Last year, at age 3, Misha was not a very good Easter-basket finder. He walked into his dark room and announced, "I didn't find it!" We turned on the light and he peeked around, saying, "Maybe the magic queen taked it!" Finally, after a lot of guiding, he found his basket and was delighted in particular with the peanut butter crackers - so much so that this year he remembered the crackers in his basket even though Josh and I had completely forgotten!

This year, he scrambled upstairs and began actively looking in drawers and cupboards. He still needed a bit of inspiration for places to look, but eventually he found his goody-laden baskets (yes, plural - thanks to Grandma Kate). This year he also really wanted to SEE the Easter bunny, so as soon as he found his basket, he ran down the stairs and opened the door to look outside - but it was too late. That bunny was too fast. So he dove right into eating his chocolate bunnies. Luckily, after a few bites he decided to save them. They remain on our counter, completely forgotten.



Grandma Kate's deviled eggs - everyone loved them, even Misha!



Egg-dying adventures:





My impression of an Easter egg ... (30 weeks)



It's just not Easter without a bunny cake - my mom makes great bunnies! And Misha loved it, of course.



After a very filling Easter dinner, we appeased Misha by going to the park so he could dig in the sand with his third Easter basket - a sand bucket! Happiness for Misha is sitting in the sand and digging. South Dakota children, deprived of parks for about half the year due to the weather, really know how to appreciate a good park. Note how much fun Daddy and Misha are having on the rocking sea animals!






Spring is here - I love watching Misha's delight with nature. (That red speck on his sleeve is a ladybug.)



On Monday, we took Kate to the airport in Sioux Falls and said goodbye. Misha was very sad to see her go, so we cheered him up by going to a park.







A random picture of Misha's morning hair-do:



Kate brought us an awesome 3D castle puzzle, which Josh whipped through so fast I hardly got to help at all! It turned out great.



Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter Activities

We've been keeping very busy over the long weekend. Yesterday, we went to the community Easter egg "hunt." It was completely different than I expected, as this was not a hunt at all! Rather, the kids had to wait for the signal, then run into an enclosed grassy area to pick up as much candy and as many eggs and toys as possible. The sad part was that the parents were greedier than the kids. The kids were quite laid-back, walking among the toys and scoping them out, stooping to grab something if they deemed it cool enough. Here's a photo of the swarm of kids - Misha IS in this photo, if you like to play Where's Waldo. (He's wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt with orange stripes on the arms.)



Josh and Grandma Kate started a papier mache piggy bank project, pictured here... (It's not done yet!)





It's always a good day for play-dough:



Here's Misha talking to Aunt Tanya on the phone. He's quite the conversationalist now!



Posing with Grandma Kate:






Decorating Easter cookies with his buddy Jessica:



Our beautiful cookies!



A walk in Indian Hills with a stop at the park (Mom and Mish on the hamster wheel):



A pretty tree in Indian Hills:



Playing with his transformer bday present from a little friend in Texas:



Running wild in his cool dino shirt from Great Aunt Glo:



Grandma Kate making sure the Easter bunny's baskets are just right. :)



Chuck E Cheese


Misha has been wanting to go to Chuck E Cheese for quite some time, only knowing that it was a fun place with games. We had told him that maybe for his birthday we could go - so we took Grandma Kate with us down to Sioux Falls to have a good time. I think Grandma Kate had as much fun as he did! At one point, she went to the bathroom and didn't come back ... and finally, we found her in the video arcade racking up tickets to earn Misha a prize. Funny!

Misha had fun playing on the rides, bashing worms, playing Skeeball over and over, and trying out everything.

















Even though the prizes were "cheesy," Misha was quite content with them:

... especially this ridiculously enormous sucker!