Spring Fun with Friends

After a busy Easter weekend I was ready to clean my house, put away the Easter baskets, and get back to our normal crazy life.

The girls were ready too! On Monday, their friends came over for the afternoon. The weather was fantastic and they had all afternoon to play as they wished.

After a never ending cold spell followed by lots of rainy days, Grace was thrilled to wear a dress and flip flops and play outside.
Ella was pretty happy too.
These 4 girls played outside for hours while I weeded the garden and got other chores done outside. I love that they can hang out for hours playing tag, hide and seek, and chasing each other around. I love that they work out their differences without tattling endlessly. Most of all I love that my girls have such great friends to hang out with all the time.
What happy girls!
Group hugs!
Not to be outdone by their big sisters, these two are the most entertaining little toddlers ever. They remind me a bit of a couple of old men. They yell at each other without bothering to listen to the other one. They are happy to just sit next to each other for hours and play by themselves. Here they are covered in lots of sand.
My little sand baby!

The Last of the Easter Pics

I have a few more last minute Easter pics before I move on.

Ella with her Easter cookie.
Grace with Easter cookie.
Lydia and her cookie.
Obviously it looked so tasty that Ella couldn't wait to eat it.
Ha! Found an egg!
Grace found her basket at Grandma & Grandpa Murphy's house.
Lydia found an egg!!

Depending on how ambitious I am the rest of this week, I plan to stay up to date with pictures this week.

Easter Eggstravaganza at the Y

What's a better way to celebrate Easter than hanging out with friends and our favorite Y staff?

Grace was quite leery of getting a tattoo. Eventually she decided that she would get one on her foot.
Lydia decorated her flower pot.
Lyds and Jo hanging out with the Easter Bunny.
Ella!!
Lydia decorating eggs.
Making crafts.
Ella was not really a big fan of the Easter Bunny. Poor baby girl :(

I am so glad that we have an amazing Y staff that puts on such great family events. I am also relieved that my kids enjoy going to the kidcare at the Y. We had a few weeks were Lydia hated... yes hated going to the Y. We are almost back on track, but treading lightly.

Easter!

Happy Easter from the Pedersen Family! We celebrated Easter at our house on Saturday morning because we were heading up to Freedom on Sunday.

At about 1 am on Saturday morning, Lydia came into our bedroom with an Easter egg convinced that we needed to go find the other eggs. Easter Bunny hid the eggs after the kids went to bed on Friday night... and an egg was hidden under the girls pillows. I just didn't expect Lydia to wake up in the MIDDLE of the night and then wake up. Thankfully, I was able to coax her back to bed where she slept peacefully for a few more hours.

Grace was super excited about the eggs! Yes, Grace does happen to be the only one who got dressed before she came downstairs. I have no idea why.
Ella's not quite sure what to make of all these eggs and craziness.
Lydia quickly ate herself into a sugar coma. Lots of candy make her a happy morning person.
Grace found her basket behind the rocking chair.
"A Rapunzel Dress"
My three pretty girls in their new princess dresses!

Easter Egg Hunt

Good weather, great friends, and Easter eggs...

The kids are lined up ready to hunt for eggs.
And they are off...
The Easter Bunny hid eggs every where.
Even on Grace's picnic table. She thought it was the best hiding spot ever!
Ella is a bit more amused by the sand toys. (Have I ever mentioned that I am not a huge fan of sand. It seems to creep into everything)!

Ella found an egg...
Poor Paige, they are all checking out her loot.
Ella has had enough looking for eggs. There are fun toys to play with that she doesn't have to look for and put in baskets.
Grace and Connor...

Decorating Eggs

After a long and never ending winter, I have been look forward to spring and Easter. Although winter seems to be hanging out a bit longer than I prefer, we are still making the most of all the fun Easter activities.

A year ago we were able to decorate eggs outside and enjoy 70 degree temperatures. Thankfully the girls aren't too terribly messy.


The girls insisted on wearing aprons to ensure that their beautiful dresses not get dirty.
Some days I wonder what a day without a daughter in a Cinderella dress would be like.
Grace loves making beautiful eggs!
Lydia tie dyed her eggs in the colander. She enjoyed a more active decorator. She spun and colored and spun and colored.
Grace liked to put her eggs in the colored dye and check on them from time to time.
Seriously, she's such a ham!!
I LOVE when my girls are best of friends. It makes all the hours of fighting and bickering worth it!

Kicking Off Easter

Easter (like all other holidays) seems to be a month long activity for our family). We made bunny ears and cute bunny tails last week at our MOMS club meeting. On Saturday we went to the Germantown egg hunt (indoors, since it was so cold and rainy outside). Here are pictures of my two littlest super egg hunters.


We have a fun filled week planned with egg decorating, more egg hunts, and cake decorating! Maybe I'll even keep up to date on the blog. Maybe...

If not, have a GREAT Easter!

Healthy Kids Day at the Y

I wasn't convinced that we were going to go to the YMCA for Healthy Kids Day until I heard that there were going to be pony rides. I have an equestrian tour scheduled for later this month and I wanted to make sure that both Grace and Lydia would actually like the horses before bringing them for a long morning of horses without Paul to help out.

After registering, we quickly hurried to the ponies. Grace and Lydia were super excited about the pony rides.



Lydia didn't stop smiling the entire time she was up there.

Grace was a little bit more nervous, but excited to be riding Oreo. She can't wait to see her in a couple weeks.
Ella actually was okay with being on the horse... until it started walking. Then she jumped off into my arms.
Poor Ella wishing she were back on vacation at the pool. (Me too Ella)!
Cutest 18 month old!!
Time for push ups! I have to admit it's really hard for me to do more than 10 real push ups. Yep, I'm a wimp.
Medicine Balls! Look at these strong girls!
...and tough girl Ella.
And of course time to work those triceps.


This is the point in the day where we quit taking pictures. The girls had a great time making bracelets, playing hopscotch, decorating pillow cases and hanging out with their favorite KidCare people. Unfortunately, their parents went on strike and failed to take any more pictures.