As I read and pondered upon the true meaning of Easter this year, I couldn't help but wonder how in the world Easter Eggs became so popular. It's like Trick-or-Treating--how did we all just start doing it? It's amazing to me how traditions start and envelop a whole culture.
Not that I have any complaints about Easter eggs. I think they are fun, and I love the egg-filling (and opening and eating!) and egg-hunts and egg-coloring. And these little activities become more and more fun each year as Winston becomes more and more delighted each year.
This year, my sister-in-law found a swimming pool that was hosting an Easter egg dive. It was fun to watch, and Winston loved it. It didn't matter how many eggs you grabbed; in the end, you exchanged your eggs for a bag of candy.
Egg hunt with some of my family at our house.
Coloring eggs to launch off the roof at Sam's parents' house. Winston loved the blue.
Searching for what the Easter bunny left in our house Sunday morning in the buttery morning sunrise.
Coloring more eggs at our house (these to eat; not to launch off the roof).
Winston is learning some letters, and wanted me to make a "Capital T" on an egg.
I grabbed a crayon and to his delight spelled his whole name--in his favorite blue, of course.
Last year for Winston's birthday we bought him a little wiggle car. So far the neighbor kids use it more than he does, but the other day he used his little brain and jumped on the back of the driver.
They had a blast, and kept going and going and going. Oscar was a clever driver with great skills to maneuver around easily. It was cute to watch.
Our down-sloping driveway seems to attract a whole slew of neighborhood kids when our garage is open and Winston is out. They all bring their bikes, scooters, little cars, big wheels--you name it, they bring it. Winston loves it! And so do I--anything that I don't have to come up with to entertain the boy, bring it on. Especially when it's warm and sunny out.
If it is something that can be inherited, Winston definitely inherited my father's and my grandfather's love for trains. He loves them--all varieties of them.
He convinced me to make a train out of playdough the other day. And it doesn't look too bad, does it?
His Auntie KaeDee taught him this song a while ago, and lately he'll just randomly start singing it. It's really cute. Of course, he shuts down a little when the camera is pulled out, but you'll get the idea.
(Do you love his shorts in the middle of winter? Hey, we've been potty-training 'round here...more to come on that, soon.)
Sam and I have been married for 6 years, and each summer we have the intention of going camping. This is the first summer it has actually happened (not including the summer we worked at a scout camp), starting with that first one-nighter over the 4th of July.
When we planned this little trip to Yellowstone, my brother had just conveniently purchased a trailer, so they wanted to come along. Another brother happened to be available, too, so he came with us. Winston loved having Vance in the back seat with him as company for the long drive to and from and throughout the park.
The early memories of my life blur together, and I can't really figure out what was my first memory. Many of my "memories" I think I've just heard from my parents and siblings enough that I think they are memories. They are probably just memories of the stories I've heard, because I see myself in the story as opposed to seeing the memory from my own eyes.
However, when I think about it, I think my first memories are of my first trip to Yellowstone, when I was just about 3-4 years old--right after those large fires that devastated much of the park. I remember seeing elk hanging out on the front yards of the buildings in Mammoth Hot Springs, and seeing lots of bison in the middle of the road--many with baby calves.
I've been to Yellowstone only twice since then, and enjoyed going again and showing Winston many of the beauties and mysteries of the Earth.
Old Faithful on a rainy day.
See Winston's concerned look? Every time he saw "big booms" (what he called the geysers) up ahead, he got really scared and didn't want to continue walking on his own.
While the photo doesn't really show his excitement, Winston loved being with his cousins on this trip.
First grizzly bears sighting. Too far away to really enjoy it, though.
Walking up to Mammoth Hot Springs.
Enjoying ice cream at Mammoth Hot Springs.
Poor bison was hit by a car (or so we were told); it has a broken back leg.
See the broken leg?
Different set of grizzlies, still quite far away.
Black bear teasing elk.
Overlook of one of many waterfalls.
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Winston called all the white rock "snow," and wouldn't believe it was rock.
We were lucky to see on two different occasions a bison walk into and swim across the river. It was quite the site. Bison are HUGE and they were even fighting the softly-swiftly moving current. All but its nose was under water. This video doesn't do the scene justice--it was awesome and hilarious.
We camped in the Grant Village campground in the park, and the first night I woke up hearing growling--really just my nightmare of a bear in camp. I also dreamed of a bison running in between our tents. Obviously the park workers did a good job of scaring me about not getting near the animals and the close proximity of bears. I slept much better the next two nights, and am very glad there were no bear attacks. :)
We decided to take a little longer way home, and drive through the Grand Tetons National Park, and on through much more scenic roads than I-15 down through Idaho. It was well-worth the extra hour drive. It was beautiful!
So, now I'm tempted to plan a National Park trip every-other-year or so. How about Yosemite and the Redwoods?
Last Sunday was the third Summer we have taken Winston to a USU Alumni Band Concert, held outdoors on the quad on campus in Logan.
What a beautiful place for a concert, eh?
This year I spent much more of my time chasing Winston around and around and around rather than listening to the concert, and it was still lots of fun.
While Sam did this:
I did this:
And this (probably about 10 times):
I love the sound of his feet echoing between the buildings.
Awwww...cute little barefoot print.
When people are this cute, they can hardly cause any harm or get in any trouble...
I can't believe it has been 2 years since this little dude was born! He is such a joy in our lives, and I really can't put all that joy into words. (I tried.)
May is a huge b-day month in my family. Yesterday we celebrated all the May b-days (up to 9 now) at our house.
Learning how to swipe frosting off the cake with fingers
My niece Kaitlyn ate the frosting off Winston's finger, and he looked at her like, "What are you doing? I got that for me to eat!"
Today we had another party with Sam's family. I decided to go against conformity and forgo traditional birthday cake and ice-cream. This isn't the first time. Sam and I deliberately chose not to have a wedding cake. And there were many times growing up that I didn't want cake, and asked for pie instead. I toyed with the idea of making a cookie cake (like the large ones at Mrs. Field's cookies) or large chocolate chip cookies (Winston loves cookies) to frost with the number 2 or something, but I couldn't find a recipe and I ran out of time to do multiple test-batches trying to make a cookie recipe work.
So, last minute I decided to make some chocolate and vanilla pudding parfaits, layered with chocolate and vanilla oreo-like cookies and cool whip. Easy-peasy to put together and yummy! We even stuck a candle on top for Winston, which he blew out all by himself after 3-4 blows.
See the yummy parfaits? Chocolate and vanilla? Best photo I got (actually Sam got)...sorry. Now they are all gone...
Here was the highlight of the party. I sure love his little laugh.
Here's one of his first renditions of his first full sentence: "Be happy." Pardon the video...Sam started it behind his back because Winston loves the camera and wants it almost every time he sees it. When not on camera, we say "Don't worry" and Winston immediately says "Be happy!" loudly. It is so cute!
I remember the first few times Winston really giggled. He giggled and giggled and giggled. I had tears running down my face from laughing right along with him, and still do when I watch those sweet videos again. Little giggles are so cute.
It's fun to discover what makes Winston laugh. We have lots of fun teasing him and interacting with him. Most of the giggles come from the teasing and roughhousing initiated by Sam.
This movie was taken a few months ago. I love watching the happy interaction of these two.
There are a few things I look forward to every morning: 1) getting back in bed in roughly 15-16 hours, 2) eating breakfast, and 3) practicing yoga.
I love how long and lean I feel after a good few minutes of yoga. I reach and stretch so much I really think I'm taller. And thinner. And that feels great. And then I find myself out of breath from the movements. And the next day I'm sore from working and building muscles. I love those feelings. And I get them every time I do yoga.
I know it looks like me (haha!), but really it's just an image I googled. :)
I think Winston must like it, too. He always giggles when he sees me do it. And then he tackles me, or shoves his face right up against mine when I get into downward dog. It's hilarious, and I can never seem to firmly tell him to leave me alone so I can finish; it's just too cute! We just wrestle and laugh.
The air outside is generally icky. Bad-for-your-health icky, due to our lovely winter inversions and huge commuter populations in our valley. Today it's actually clear, but January and February tend to have long stretches of filth and ick.
So, that means time inside to entertain ourselves. I made the mistake the discovery that Winston loves to watch movies of himself. All. Day. Long.
Is there a problem with this? Well, the movies are intermixed with our photos, so I have to keep opening files for him to watch. And they are usually under a minute in length. I'm a little tired of them.
But, he loves them. And with this icky air, I can only do so much to make him happy, you know?
Winston continues to amaze us with things he utterly refuses to do no matter how excited we are to teach him, and things he just picks up on his very own.
Last week, I walked into the kitchen and found Winston peeling his own little orange. He even put the peels in the garbage. Who knew a 19-month-old milestone is peeling an orange, entirely by himself?
He now enjoys peeling and eating at least two of these baby clementines a day.
My Mac-user friends already know that one of the totally cool things about macs is the built in camera. Along with easy skype abilities and the like, it has a photo booth program to take pictures with multiple effects.
To pass some cold-weather time last week, Winston and I had a grand ol' time playing around with it. I was laughing so hard tears were rolling down my cheeks.
If you watch until near the end, you'll see Jay Leno. It's hilarious.
He giggles often, but before Sunday we had never heard him full-on laugh like this.
We have another video of him laughing for about 1 1/2 minutes after this video. And he was laughing for about that long before we caught this. We were laughing right along with him.
And as I write this, I am laughing out loud myself. Winston was sitting in his little car fussing because he wanted out. I crawled up to him from the opposite side he was looking and scared the poor little bageebies right out of him. He not only jumped, but his face formed into the most little frightened face you ever did see and his fusses turned into a shear screech of fear. It was so sad but it is making me laugh so hard.
Our family's "hunting grounds" is a beautiful place. It's hard to believe it has been 10 (maybe 9?) years since my first official hunt with a tag. And it's probably been 6 years since I've been to camp.
Sam and I met up with my family at camp on two separate nights. On opening day we arrived shortly before the crew came back to camp with their first kill.
Doesn't he look fancy all dressed up? (The deer, not my brother.)
We had a good time around camp. Sam went hiking with Winston, rode horses with my brother and his kids, and even did a little tracking.
Last Saturday was the first time that I can remember all of my siblings and my dad being at camp at the same time. I don't think it has ever happened before.
And once you hear us around the fire, you can probably tell why it doesn't happen very often.
I should have had the camera 2 minutes before this film--everyone was rowdy and much louder than this. You should have heard Sam laughing at the scene.
