After the long and seemingly never ending winter that we have had, an early Easter seemed almost destined to be cold and even snowy. But what a pleasant surprise the Easter Bunny brought this year - a gorgeous 60 degree day full of sunshine. It was a perfect day to host 20 family members for our annual Easter Dinner.
Of course, our day began with a visit from the Easter Bunny, who not only left baskets full of fun for the kids, but also a scavenger hunt throughout the house to find their eggs full of treats. Lexi and Zachary had a blast darting all over the house trying to solve the mysterious clues. Lexi had even created her own bunny costume for the occasion..
Lexi and Zach checking out their baskets.
Treats! Yum!
What fun!
Finding eggs on their scavenger hunt.
They even found some in the fridge!
When the hunt was over it was time to get ready for our guests. This year we had a full twenty, and everyone brought something fantastic to share. We ate and drank very well all day. Of course, the five cousins were thrilled to be together, in their matching outfits, and they had a blast doing a second egg hunt in the yard.
Beautiful girls
What a crew!
Gigi and Poppy with all of their grandchildren.
The hunt is on - again!
Lexi spots a yellow one!
Zachary samples the contents
Zach found the golden egg!!
The prettiest basket carriers I've ever seen.
My favorite Easter treats.
Our little family
The cousins had a blast!
Uncle Jay with Kat, Erin and Tim, and Meg and Dave
Things got a little wild at the kids table.
15 Adults fit around our table quite nicely.
This was before things got wild at the adult table.
I thought they were exhausted after a long day. I was wrong. They were pretending to have MRIs...obviously.
As always, it was a wonderful day spent with our family. I feel so blessed to be so close to so much of my family, and that we are all able to come together on Easter to share a meal, and a million laughs.
For the first time this year, I have begun hearing Lexi talking about boys in an "I like him, he likes me" kind of way. I recall being in second grade when I had my first "boyfriend", so it's not a huge shock, and kind of cute. However, this week blew me away!
As we were getting ready for her swimming lesson, Lexi was telling me that she had lunch with her friend Michael. Michael sits at the peanut free table, so she does not usually eat with him. I was curious what caused that to happen, so I asked. She told me that some of the girls came running over to her at recess and said that Michael just "finally" admitted that he loved her. My brazen little girl marched herself right over to him and said, "Do you love me?" His response? He ran away. Typical boy. That didn't stop Lexi. She found him again and "had a talk with him" and he finally admitted that he did like her, but he didn't love her. (Phew!) So I said, "Then he asked you to join him for lunch?" And she said, "No, I asked him." Welcome to modern day first grade dating!! Lexi likes Michael, but she also likes Aidan, so while she's flattered by Michael's feelings, she's certainly not gushy about it.
Later in the evening she told me that while she was having lunch with Michael, she looked over and saw her friend Brigid crying. She said that Brigid really likes Michael, and she was probably sad that she was eating with him. I suggested that she is too young to let boys get in the way of friendships with her girlfriends, and that maybe she should discuss it with Brigid the next day.
So, yesterday after school I asked her if she had a chance to talk to Brigid. She said, "Yup! Everything is ok." I said that was good and asked her how the discussion went. She said, "Well, I said to her, 'You know how you were upset that I was eating lunch with Michael yesterday? Well how about if we take turns eating with him?' She said, 'ok' and it was over." And so, Brigid had the lunch date yesterday, and tomorrow (today is a half day) will be Lexi's turn again. Michael must be feeling very good right about now. Nothing like having two girls fighting over you in first grade!
On Tuesday morning Lexi was struggling to find an outfit that she was happy with. I had made a few suggestions that were NOT acceptable, and she was getting more and more upset. Finally I just jumped in the shower and left her to solve it on her own. Awhile later she came into the bathroom holding an orange shirt and a bright pink skirt. She said, "Mom, does this match?" I looked at it and said, "Yes, Lexi, it looks fine." Then she groaned and said, "MoooooooM!!" "What??" I asked. She said, "I can tell by your tone that you don't really think it matches, but that you're just saying that it does because you don't want to argue with me." Hmmm...I guess I need to work on my acting skills. Having a teenager...er...seven year old in the house is tricky business.
As I stepped out the shower the other day, and bent over to dry off, Zachary looked at me and said, "You know, Mom, your hoobs are getting kind of wrinkly." Nothing like a big confidence boost to start my day!
PS - "Hoobs" is one of the words that Zach has said wrong for years. He picked it up after he gave up referring to them as my "drinker fings". I never correct him, because I think his version is hilarious! Others that I don't correct are "glubs" for "gloves" and "samwich" for "sandwich". And Ahren and I still refer to the Rockettes as the "Raw Cats". They only say these cute things for such a short time...
At dinner the other night, I made a comment about the fact that I had been skiing at Sugarbush for 30 years. Lexi said, "Mom, I thought you said you started skiing when you were 8?" I agreed that I had and she said, "Well then you've only been skiing for 29 years." Ahren replied, "No, she's 36, so she's only been skiing for 28 years." Then Poppy said, "No, she started when she was 8, so you have to count that year. So yes, she has been skiing for 29 years." Then there was a strange silence as we realized that Lexi outsmarted us again...
Ahren and I love skiing. When a young, fit, ski loving couple has children they pretty much have two choices - 1. Teach the children how to ski so that you can all ski together as a family. or 2. Give up skiing. Neither are the easy choice...
Two years ago when Lexi was 5 and Zach was 2, Ahren and I decided it was time to get them on skis. Being young-ish and poor-ish, we decided that we could teach them ourselves, and set out for the magic carpet, children attached to us by a harness and reigns. The first few times that we did this it was exhausting but fun. The kids enjoyed it, and we always had extra adults on hand to lend a hand with the kids, and allow us to get a couple of adult runs in as well. But this year when we went up in January we decided that we could no longer take on this task alone. It was time to bite the very expensive bullet and put the kids in lessons. The kids, and most specifically Lexi, did not agree that this was a good idea. It took us three months to finally convince Lexi that this would be fun. (With Lexi, you must have her blessing in advance, or there is no chance she'll go quietly. Zach is much easier to push into a lesson and just walk away). The evening she agreed she told me initially that taking a skiing lesson (or skiing without me and Daddy) was outside of her comfort zone. I said to her, "Lexi, you know what? Outside of your comfort zone is where all the fun is. Your comfort zone is your bed, your house, in your Mommy's arms...nice, warm, comfy. Outside of your comfort zone is the monkey bars on the playground, the deep end of the swimming pool, and skiing. If you never leave your comfort zone, you'll never have any fun." I saw her attitude change then, and she was convinced.
The sunset as we made our way up to VT
So, even though we had Lexi on board, Ahren and I were still pretty nervous about how the lesson would go. I woke up Saturday morning, and immediately became the cheerleader. "YAY!! THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!! LET'S GO!!!" I was exhausted by 10am when it was time to meet their teacher, Emily. They were both happy to meet her. She handed them their skis, and off they went.
Emily assesses the situation...
Ahren, Gigi, Poppy and I all just stood there staring for awhile. Just a little bit in shock that it had gone that well...so far. After watching for a second we all skied off quickly, knowing that if the kids saw us, it might not go well.
Mom and Dad on top of the mountain!
Two hours later we returned to this:
WHAT??? She hadn't been able to do that that before! Unfortunately, we missed Zach skiing. He tuckered out about 20 minutes before the lesson ended, and waited happily at the bottom of the hill.
Lexi carves some turns!
Zach was done skiing for the day, but VERY happy.
After lunch, Zach was happy to go back to the condo with Gigi, but Lexi was not done. She wanted to practice what she had learned that morning. So up the bunny chair we went to work on it some more!
Zach loved the cider and PB&Js at Sugarbush!
Mom and Lexi, ready to head back out on the slopes!
Lexi and Poppy at the top of the bunny hill
Lexi and I took about three more runs down the bunny slope. She was able to put together two, or maybe three turns, and would fall to stop. It was tremendous improvement over skiing with the backpack, but she was getting tired and I was starting to see her confidence wane. Sharing the rule Poppy taught me - always stop before you get so tired that you become dangerous - I suggested we go in for a drink. By the time we go to the bottom, Daddy had arrived to take his turn, and Poppy was waiting for me to do some runs with him. UGH!! I was so tired at that point I wasn't sure I could muster it, but how could I say no?? So off we went. Poppy and I had some awesome runs in the beautiful and warm weather! And Daddy and Lexi had a quick sip of water and went back for more themselves!! That girl was on fire. By the end of the day, we were all completely and utterly exhausted...except for Zach who got a nap!!
Poppy, looking fine at the top of the mountain!
Dad and Lexi practice skiing on the bunny hill
Fast and Fearless indeed!!
Zach feeling cool after his lesson!
Brownies - earned. They were promised brownies for a lesson with no tears.
I was so pleased with our day, and felt very happy about the progress that Lexi and Zach had made on their skis. I was ready to get a good night sleep, and head home in the morning. But when the sun came up on Sunday, Lexi declared that she would like to take another ski lesson. Jaw.dropped. After quickly checking the finances, Ahren and I agreed. We quickly got the kids dressed and ran them over to the mountain for another day with the Fabulous Emily!!
Mom on top of the mountain!
Mom got to ski some bumps!
Gigi and I were the only adults who wanted to ski and we had a BLAST!!! It was another beautiful day in Vermont and we soaked it all in. When we arrived back at the magic carpet, I was truly blown away. Zach, again, had tuckered out a bit early (expected), but Lexi had suddenly become a skier!!!
Holy moly!! I was shocked, stunned and amazed!! Emily was so happy with her progress! She told me that Zachary had had another great morning, but being 4, it's hard to ski for two hours. He was happy, and that's all that we cared about.
Even Emily was proud of her!
Lexi and Zach pose with Emily after their lessons.
It was time to go, but I had to go up the carpet a couple of times to enjoy getting in a few runs with my daughter. What a pleasure!!
The last time we skied I had to hold her going up the carpet. Now look how cool she is!
When we got back to the condo, Lexi ran through the door and declared, "Poppy, I NAILED it!!" She sure did! We were all so thrilled for Lexi. She had made such great progress, and now she loves skiing lessons. She told me this morning that she wishes she never had to leave the mountain. I am so, so proud of her. We are all looking forward to skiing a whole lot more next season! :)
Last weekend, after a busy and fun filled day hanging out with Grammy, Grampy, Auntie Kae, Uncle Devan, Auntie Jen, and of course, Eva, Ahren and Lexi got all gussied up to go to the Sweetheart Dance. This is the Father/Daughter Dance for kids in Kindergarten and 1st grade in North Andover. They went last year as well, and had a great time so Lexi was very excited to go again. Lexi's friend Maddie and her Dad came along as well, and the moms and brothers (and Maddie's Aunt) stayed behind to play (the boys) and solve the world's problems over a bottle of wine (the girls).
The dance came as a bit of a last minute surprise. We were so busy with school vacation and winter fun that I kept forgetting to ask Lexi and Ahren if they wanted to go. One night, earlier in the week, I said to Ahren, "Well, I guess you and Lexi aren't going to go to the dance this year..." He replied, "Well, does Lexi want to go?? Because if she wants to go then I want to take her!" Lexi is so lucky that her dad doesn't just take her because he feels as though he should, but because he truly enjoys that special time that only he gets to have with her. This will be the last Sweetheart Dance for Lexi and Ahren. Next year they will go to the 2nd and 3rd grade dance.
Lexi with her main man.
Daddy and Lexi with their friends Maddie and her Dad, Aaron
The girls.
It appears as though I never posted the pictures of the dance from last year! So...a year later, here they are!
Daddy got Lexi a corsage
They adore each other
Ready to go!
She loved the corsage!
The group - Ahren and Lexi, DJ and Kaya, Chris and Carly, and Aaron and Maddie
Love for her Daddy.
As a "Daddy's Little Girl" myself, there are few things I adore more than seeing the special bond between Lexi and her Daddy. She is such a lucky little girl to have a Daddy who loves her so much.
