More Easter Eggs

Another beautiful day here in South Carolina. I am so proud of my little cherry tree, the blooms are fantastic. So, of course, I had to take a picture. Nevermind that we are late for an Easter Egg Hunt.

We made it to Heritage Park just in time for the toddler Easter Egg Hunt. We enjoyed watching Tessa run around and pick up eggs.


There were 30,000 eggs and probably about that many people. Wow! Good thing this park is huge.

After lunch and a great nap, we dyed our own Easter eggs. Notice we are outside, I just knew we would make a huge mess. Tessa plopped the first egg right into the dye, she knew what to do. She loved stirring them and checking to see how the dye was absorbing.

Letting them dry was not nearly as much fun. Tessa and I played on the swingset while Daddy finished up the eggs.

And they turned out beautifully! Tessa was fascinated with these real eggs. She kept trying to open them like she does the plastic ones. The green one is now sporting a crackled effect thanks to Tessa manhandling it. Not a bad result for our first attempt at dyeing eggs.

Springtime Snippets

Ice cream is our new favorite food. Tessa will ask for it first thing in the morning and would probably eat ice cream for every meal if only I would let her. She still has tummy trouble with milk products, so we buy frozen yogurt. Here she is with her first ice cream cone. We had to teach her to lick the ice cream right off the cone, she kept trying to use her spoon. So cute!

Our weather has been fabulous this week. On Monday, Tessa and I went to Falls Park after our library time. The flowers downtown are beautiful! We walked the Swamp Rabbit Trail and played at the park, such a relaxing day.

My little Southern Belle has discovered fried chicken. I was sharing bites with her from my plate when she grabbed the whole breast and started chowing down. She knows the best part is the yummy crunchy outside!

We had a great day at the zoo with our sweet friends. The girls were adorable running around checking out the animals. I think Tessa liked the big baboon the best. My favorite comment of the day was when Tessa looked at some strangers and said "Hey y'all!" So friendly.


We played on both playgrounds at the zoo and Daddy joined us for a picnic too. Lots of other people took advantage of the good weather and the holiday too. It was a zoo - hahaha!!!

I would love to say that Tessa is roaring like a bear here, but I think she is saying "DOWN!" Just wait Baby, Momma wants a picture on the cute bear.

Toddler Bed Trauma

We converted Tessa's crib into a toddler bed. I finally admitted it could be put off no longer when one morning I found her hiking a leg over the siderail. It was just a matter of time before she successfully manuevered herself out of bed and I didn't want it to be with a headfirst landing.

So, we made a big deal about how wonderful her new Big Girl Bed was. She helped us make the bed and put all her animals in place. To my surprise she hopped in bed, snuggled with her bear and said "Night Night!" Really?! Had we waited so long that it would be this easy?

She took a few experimental trips out of her room after bedtime and we calmly escorted her back to bed. When we peeked on her later she was fast asleep in her bed. Success!

Or so we thought. Tessa woke up at 2 am and pitter pattered down the hall to our room. I took her back to bed, gave her a kiss and closed the door. Five minutes later, pitter patter. We did this who knows how many times until 5am. At that point, I sleepily attached the childproof doorknob cover to the inside of her door and steeled myself for the outburst sure to follow. Oh how heartwrenching it is to listen to your baby cry. At 7am, with Ryan gone to work, I gave in and brought her to bed with me. Sleepy little doll curled up with me and fell fast asleep.

So now we have a new rule - after 7am Momma and Daddy's bed is fair game. I have a feeling this may be the only time I'll get any sleep for awhile.

Easter Egg Hunt

While Ryan was in Florida, my parents and I took Tessa to an Easter egg hunt at our local park. This year Tessa was not at all scared of the Easter Bunny, look how close we are to him!

Here she is hanging out with Gamma and Gampa while we wait.

There were different booths for facepainting, coloring, and bouncing so the kids would be entertained while waiting for the hunt to begin. My little dancer thought the best part was the loud music. So cute!

Once they finally sounded the whistle to begin, the kids were off at top speed. I love watching Tessa run. She was adorable dashing around picking up eggs.

Such a sweetheart.

Oh Momma, that was fun!!!

Ryan and his buddies took a trip to Florida for baseball spring training. They saw four games in four days including Ryan's all time favorite team, the Yankees.

To add icing to the cake, Ryan caught his first foul ball. Hard to believe this baseball lover had never caught one before.

And yes, I was jealous when he sent me this beach picture.

Tour of Charleston

We took a whirlwind tour of Charleston this past weekend. Always a wonderful destination, Charleston in spring is fabulous. We started out with a horse drawn carriage tour. Tessa was fascinated with the horses. I love the overview of the city and the tidbits of history that we learned along the way. Lil' Pink took an almost fatal leap off the back of the carriage. Thank you so much to the polite stranger who rescued her from the street.

Then it was time to shop, shop, shop. I was remarkably restrained and only bought one hat. Tessa picked out a very expensive sea grass basket, which we did not buy. My mom chatted with a local author and bought her book.

When the boys started acting hungry we headed to Hyman's for lunch. While we waited for a table, a hostess passed out hushpuppies. Tessa kept saying "More, please!" They are really yummy. She also ate the boiled peanuts, she is a South Carolina native after all.

After lunch, we followed the Gateway Walk and went off the beaten path. Through churches, cemeteries, alleys and gardens this walk was perfect for letting Tessa run free. The camellias and bulbs were in full bloom with azaleas just about to pop open. Charleston is made for walking and enjoying the scenery, so that's what we did.

Eventually, we ended up at Battery Park with it's fabulous live oaks and bay views. But not before Tessa had knocked on almost every door between Broad and East Bay Street. She and Lil' Pink were apparently making afternoon social calls. Thank goodness she knocks very gently and we didn't disturb anyone.
By this point, Tessa was tired enough to ride in the stroller. When she asked for a book to read, all I had available was the tour guide book. Thankfully, it had lots of pretty pictures and she was content with it. She finally fell asleep as we were cruising along the seawall. From there we could both admire the antebellum architecture and watch sailboats race. We walked past Rainbow Row and headed to dinner at Poogan's Porch where Tessa slept through the entire meal.

After dinner we had ice cream and pralines. And, last but not least, a trip to the pineapple fountain. It's no wonder this is my favorite city in the Continental US, there are pineapples everywhere you turn!

I Love You Animals

To say that my child likes stuffed animals would be an understatement, she loves them! We have an ever growing collection of plush pals that accompanies us all around the house. Tessa rattles off their names like a drill sargent doing roll call. Heaven help us if one is missing, we literally turn the house upside down until said animal is recovered. We actually have two stunt doubles - Music Bear and Pink - in the event that one of these favorites needs a trip to the washing machine. One traumatic laundry day and now Momma knows better than to think it's possible to sneak someone out while Tessa is sleeping.

Yes, these friends all sleep in the crib with Tessa. We love listening to her talking and laughing and playing with them after bedtime. One night, we peaked in and saw that she had arranged them on the rail of her crib. Animal angels to watch over my sleeping beauty? An audience for my little drama queen? Who knows what was going on in her creative little head before she called it a night.

The Swing Set

Our newest landscape addition is a swing set. Two week-ends of hard work and the result is one very happy little girl.


Of course, I had to document the progress with pictures. Ryan and his dad worked in the freezing cold. It took both of them to level everything, no small feat on our sloped lot. Here's the frame for the fort.

We stressed about the slide ending in the flower bed but decided to stick with the original assembly plans. Ryan did a whole lot of digging since this plan has the slide going uphill.

Just when he saw the light at the end of the tunnel, I asked him to move the slide.


What looked simple to me was actually not at all simple. But, Ryan did a great job with the modifications. Tessa was supervising.

The finished product, as seen from our deck. Tessa noticed that she has a great view of it from her room too.

Today the weather was beautiful and our playgroup was able to enjoy the new swing set!

Tessa and Jackson sliding and jumping.

Ethan climbing the rock wall all by himself!

I had toys on the patio for the kids to play with too, including the wagon. Did I mention our lot is very sloped? OK took a wild ride down the hill and put a few gray hairs on her momma's head. She was fine but, after that, we kept the wagon at the bottom of the hill. The girls were so cute, all wanting to be in the wagon together.