Rush Family Reunion

I'm not sure who planned the Rush family reunion but it was a success! It was great to see my dad's side of the family all together and happy. It should be a yearly tradition.

Candlewood Easter Egg Hunt

Charlie and I decided to head to the golf course a little early to get a round or two of golf in with Grandpa before the big egg hunt began... I should of known...my kid doesn't like the act of the ball going into the hole or it even being hit for that matter. She sure did have fun playing with all the flags though.

I love this egg hunt for many reasons. It feels so personal. There aren't a million kids fighting over the same eggs. It's very low key and the Easter Bunny is always ready to take a picture with Charlie without any line to wait in. Our mission was to find the golden egg this year.

Of course, only I would forget to take Charlie's Easter egg basket to an Easter egg hunt. Of course, my mom knows me too well because she brought one just incase. I'm so predictable. In my defense I think the Easter Bunny had secretly already filled her basket and it was waiting for Easter morning. I guess I was a little too prepared!

Last year Charlie was going for anything round and ended up with many golf balls instead of eggs and she could care less that there was something inside them. Well, NOT this year. As she found each egg she was sure to open it right up and see the surprise. Sometimes she would open one she already opened and say "Enty" meaning empty. Too cute!

She had a blast! Thanks Dad for the best egg hunt ever!

Build a Lambasaurus

I really wanted to take Charlie to Build A Bear again. Easter came around (and a coupon) so we went. She really wanted to build a duck or a zebra but they don't have those yet. We almost had to build a saber tooth tiger until she saw this cute Easter lamb.

Of course, it couldn't just be an innocent little lamb. When it came time to put a sound in it I showed her many options. A cute giggle, a candy song, the words I Love You....but no she had to pick the dinosaur roar!

She really wanted to have her lamb go home in this car, but instead Grandma bought her a stroller and backpack!

Here she is...Cinderella the roaring lamb! Do you expect anything less from Charlie?

Then we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. The girls always seem to act their "best" when we all go out to lunch with my mom! Lucky her...

Zoomar's Petting Zoo

We took the train to San Juan Capistrano to spend the day at Zoomar's and the new park next door. This is one of my favorite places to go with Charlie. I thought Charlie would love to hold the rabbits and guinea pigs. Boy I was wrong...she would feed them and pet them but would not hold them. I'm realizing she thinks bigger the animal the better.

I think the goats were where Charlie had the most fun. She chased those things around just like the goats chase around the people.

I'm pretty sure this bridge is for the goats. However, Charlie thought it was for her too.

She loves riding horses so we let the girls have one ride each. Charlie picked the smallest one named "Bullseye" by her and Adelyn picked the biggest one.

I just love this place!

Dying Eggs, Oh My!

Why do all simple but fun activities turn into great big messes in our house? Even just eating dinner sometimes ends up everywhere. It's just a good thing we have dogs! Dying eggs this year was fun. Charlie was very excited to do this. She loves to cook eggs with Jimmy for breakfast so the idea of coloring them made her smile. We got our cups ready with all the different colors. She really loved to stir the eggs around.
Then she thought she should take a sip. Oh no!

She wanted to put all the eggs in all the colors so by the end they were basically a dull off white color.

This is where it turned for the worst. Charlie thought it would be fun to pour out all the colored water all over the table so that's when we decided the cups needed to be emptied. That's when she decided to smash the eggs inside the empty cups. She loved how it squished between her fingers. So gross!

Oops...a few got away!

She was having such a fun time we couldn't stop her. While I continued to dye the rest of the eggs she continues to smash hers all over the table. It's a good thing we boiled them, I think!?

My favorite one of 2011...

Next year will be less messy and outside!

Strawberry Picking

It's so great having a sister for many reasons...but one of the best reasons is she is always planning great adventures for us! I'm so glad she likes to hang out with me now. She is like my best friend. My spring break this year was so much fun. We went to Tanaka Farms to go strawberry picking and take a tractor ride. Strawberries are one of two fruits Charlie eats (bananas are #2) so I knew Charlie would love it.

As soon as the tractor lady let us out into the fields Charlie went crazy! She ate and ate and ate. There was no stopping her. She had strawberry juice EVERYWHERE! She looked for the biggest juiciest ones and picked them very carefully before biting right into it.

Eating... And eating...So proud! Yes, we were the last ones on the tractor with our containers that did not close. And more eating...All cleaned up!

Thanks Nicole for planning such a fun day! We can't wait to go watermelon picking in the summer.

Easter Marathon

After we spent the morning at our our house with all the Easter surprises we headed out the door for a marathon Easter day. The first stop was Bubbie's house for donuts and an egg hunt. Charlie had to find all the orange eggs that were hidden. Each grandchild had their own color to find. Good idea! It worked well.

Mac, Charlie, Bubbie and Madison

Then it was off the Aceytuno house. It was pouring rain all the way there, but once we arrived it was beautiful and blue skies. I love the annual Easter basket picture we always take on these steps.

Evan, Chris, Adelyn, Alex, Logan and Charlie

And then it was off to Grandpa's house for another egg hunt and dinner.

Charlie, Olivia, Penny, Madison and Isabella

Thanks everyone for the wonderful and fun Easter! I think Charlie got more candy today than on Halloween...