April's Activities! (a little out of order)

Winston learned to play peek-a-boo in his car seat!
We went to the Wildlife World Zoo with friends, and Uncle Alex got to come too. Noelle and Jane loved the baby mice.
Stanton and Mason liked the white alligator the best.
And Winston did not like touching the starfish with Daddy. He liked everything else though! It was a very fun day!
On Monday Stanton threw up at the grocery store. This is a re-enactment. Winston was in the front of the cart. Noelle was in the inside of the basket with all of the groceries, and Stanton was riding on the outside side of the cart. That's usually how we roll.
So, we're strolling down the aisles, and Stanton throws up all over Noelle and all over the groceries!!!!
Of course, being me, I didn't have any wipes with me, so I push the barf cart all the way to the entrance, trailing the dripping vomit behind me, and use all of the cart wipes to clean up Stanton and Noelle as much as I could. Then I bring the throw-up groceries to register and ask if they want me to buy them, telling them I will, but warning that if I have to wait in line, he might throw up again. Luckily, they were very nice, cause I'm sure they didn't want to ring up and bag my pukey produce, so they told me I could leave and they would just throw them away. Thank you Walmart! You're not o bad afterall!
Poor Noelle got sick that same night. Thankfully they're both better now, and Noelle has a gross new memory to add to the one she still talks about from last year when Stanton peed his pants at the Carl's Jr. playplace in Blythe, and she ran out and slipped in it. This new one is a little bit worse.
We got to go on a bakery tour. Honeymoon Sweets came to Robert's work, and he asked them if I could bring the kids in for a tour. So we rounded up some friends, and off we went! We watched them make cookies.
And cakes! We even got to eat their scraps, very tasty! Laurie got a couple of baking tips while we were at it.
The best part, other than eating all of the fancy little desserts, was seeing all of the amazing cakes. They were just like the ones from The Food Network. I told Noelle and Jane that one of them was Cinderella's wedding cake, and they were very much impressed.
Then the next day we had a little princess "tea" party. I bought a real tea set before I ever even had kids, and I have been waiting and waiting to use it.
The girls got all dressed up in their princess clothes and jewels and we dined on princess fruit snacks and raspberry lemonade, while watching highlights from the Royal Wedding. It was so cute!
That morning Noelle had said to me, "I can't wait to see the real princesses carriage." And Stanton said, "I think it will be shaped like a tea cup and parked in a courtyard."
Then I asked Noelle to be like Cinderella and help me clean up, and she said "No, Cinderella just makes the birds do her chores." I told her to be like the birds then.
I didn't forget that I have 2 boys too. I also had a superhero soiree for Stanton and Winston on the blanket right next to the girls. They had Spiderman fruit snacks and dressed up in Star Wars and Transformer costumes. I brought out super hero toys for them to play with, but they ended up watching the Royal Wedding highlights with the girls. Then they played swords.
And now for our Easter celebrations...Easter is my favorite holiday! We dyed eggs. We made crafts, and we had a little Easter party and egg hunt in our courtyard. Ready, set, GO!
We all hid tons of eggs, well over a hundred! I thought it would take at least 10 minutes for them to find them all, but it really only took about 10 seconds! Kids are fast!
Winston enjoyed the egg hunt much better than the starfish, so we just had to have another one in our hotel in California. There was so much hallway for the kids to run down at 7am, laughing and yelling and looking for eggs. I'm not sure if the other Marriott guests enjoyed our early morning hunt, but we sure did!
Plus, it brought back memories for Robert and I of another hotel egg hunt. We were married the day before Easter, and on Easter morning we woke up at our hotel, and when I went to get Robert some cold medicine from the front desk, I came back with my shirt and all of my pockets FULL of Easter eggs! I had seen them hidden all over, so I went from floor to floor gathering them. It was SO FUN! Robert and I happily ate the candy out of them and talked about what a good find that was on my part. Then, later that morning when we were leaving the hotel, we saw a sign that said "Easter Egg Hunt at noon." Oops! I had collected most of the eggs before it had even started. It's one of Robert's favorite stories about me.
As much as I love all of the festivities that go along with Easter, the real reason it's my favorite holiday is because without this day, no other days would matter.
My friend Melissa told me about this great book called "A Christ Centered Easter." We did an activity from it every day of the week leading up to Easter. We did a narration of the Triumphant Entry and made our own palm fronds. We had an authentic Passover type meal. We read the Easter story in eggs, and we went to the visitor center and looked at the pictures of Christ's life. It meant so much to me to see my children point to a picture and say, "That's when Jesus suffered for our sins so we can repent" or "That's when He was resurrected so we can see our families again after we die,
like Uncle Scott and Harriet."
I was happy to see that they understood the real meaning of Easter and the importance of it in our lives. I am so grateful for the Savior and for His Atonement and to be a member of His restored church. I would not be who I am without it. I know He lives. I have felt His love and forgiveness and support in my own life and seen it in the lives of others. I know that we are not here to wander aimlessly and try to figure things out alone. He has a plan for us and our families, and He is always there for us if we turn to Him. I know that He loves us all and knows each one of us personally. I am thankful for Him and His sacrifice every single day. I know that through Him, I can become a better person and my family can be together forever, and nothing is more important than that.