Speaking of hunting… we had an Easter egg hunt this weekend. Yeah, I know, you want to hear about Toby dressing up in full camo and hunting for some poor helpless little doves in Argentina but I don’t have any news yet so I’ll just share our Easter egg hunting stories instead.

Since we spent Easter on the plane heading back from Hawaii, Toby and I sort of glossed over the holiday. I don’t know if Baby Bug is even really old enough to understand the real meaning of Easter. She does understand the meaning of the Easter Bunny and candy though.

Oh yeah. The subject of candy has taken up a significant portion of her brain. She’s even gotten so bad that she doesn’t ask for cupcakes and birthday cake anymore. Now it’s candy this and candy that. Good thing she’ll probably inherit my super-strong industrial strength teeth that have never had a cavity to this day. But don’t worry, we’re brushing daily just in case she doesn’t.

Before Toby was even on the plane to Argentina, I had already called up my nieces and asked them to come spend some time with us. I hate being alone the first night when Toby leaves. Ever since my car got broken into, being alone kinda gives me the heebie jeebies. Of course my mom, sister-in-law and nieces were happy to oblige.

We’ve been up to all sort of hijinks with the niece-com-poops. Doughnuts for breakfast, three-layered pudding for desert, making play dough from scratch, an Easter egg hunt in the park, and of course plenty of beach time. If we keep it up the time will fly by.

Daddy who? Actually Baby Bug does miss her dad. Especially after spending eight days with him and getting LOTS of attention.

We took Toby to the airport early on Friday morning and she was more than happy to get dressed and hop into the car to go to the airport. I think she thought she was going on the airplane too. Since we built up flying so much for our Hawaii trip, she thinks it’s a fun roller-coaster ride or something.

She fell asleep on the hour drive to the airport and we didn’t have the heart to wake her up so she could say goodbye. The truth is, I was just plain selfish and I wanted her to sleep the whole way back from the airport because I hate playing the Fetch-the-Pacifiers game while I’m driving. Especially when I’m driving in traffic home from LA. So we let her sleep.

Well, you know what happened next. When we were about five minutes from home she magically woke up and then there were tears. A river of tears…

“Where’s Daddy?!!”

“He’s on the airplane”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!! I WANNA GO ON THE AIRPLANE!!!!”

“I’m sorry, Baby. Not this time.”

“I WANNA GO ON THE AIRPLANE TO HAWAII!!! I want to go in the POOL! I WANT DADDY! I WANT TO GO SWIMMING….. Waaaaaaaah Wahhhhhhh Waaaaah!!!!”

On and on it went for the remainder of our drive home. I think it would have kept on going for days if I hadn’t master-minded my nieces visit to take her mind off the unfairness of the world.

She really loved the pool in Hawaii. I think it will be permanently branded in her memory.

I’m going to have to find a pool around here if I want to keep my sanity.

I know I said I was going to Hawaii on Thursday but I was wrong. We’re leaving tomorrow morning. (Which is Friday, which is only a few hours from when I am typing this. Eeek!) I don’t know what’s wrong with my calendar-reading skills. I guess I can’t be bothered since every day is the same when you’re a mom. Oh it’s Saturday? I didn’t know. It feels like Monday to me. Or something like that. Whatever. We’re leaving on FRIDAY at the crack o’ dawn. Maybe I’ll see Whoorl at the airport.

Since I suddenly had a whole extra day to kill I decided to not pack and get ready but instead dye Easter Eggs! Yay! Fun! Yeah! It’s going to be so great to have dyed green fingers on the plane tomorrow. Everybody’s going to think I stole some counterfeit money or tried to pry off one of those protective devices that they stick on clothing. Do they do that anymore with ink? Probably not. Oh well.

Anyway, my hands are green. My fingers are. I went to the restaurant next door to us and asked for some latex gloves and the guy was kind enough to give me some for free but then I forgot to put them on. Dur. Partly because I knew they would be too big for Baby Bug anyway and partly because my plan was to use tongs and NOT my fingers for dipping in the dyed water. I used hot water out of the kettle (scary scary!) but that didn’t really stop either of us.

It was fun and I’m glad we did it. I’m not sure where we will be on Easter itself so I figured I might as well do the fun part now anyway. I’ve always loved coloring eggs. We never celebrated Easter as kids but my grandma (my dad’s mom) would always hollow out eggs for me and let me paint them with dye and a toothpick. I’d do it all year around. And then she’d save them in her big wooden hutch next to all her fancy china. She had those egg cups just for my painted eggs. It was so great. I miss her.

It’s funny how a lot of my memories of her center around eggs. The way she used to make me “eggs and toast” for breakfast is the exact same way I make them for Baby Bug. Poached and cut up on small pieces of ripped up buttery toast. Not the prettiest dish but oh-so-very tasty!

I tried to do some fancy tricks on these eggs but they didn’t really turn out. We tried candle wax polka-dots, they fell off. I tried string. It sort of worked but not really. White crayon worked the best, but… well, I was doing it with a two-year-old so I didn’t really have high expectations. And of course they were mostly all green. I didn’t even bother making any other colors except blue and green. I knew they would all end up in the green water anyway.

Then we ate them! Well, Baby Bug did. I didn’t want her to but she doesn’t really exercise self-discipline very well and I guess they smelled like food. She cracked open my most favorite one and chewed it up to bits.

And then she spit the chewed up egg out again. That’s a toddler for you. If she weren’t so cute I’d want to clobber her over the head. She has no respect for my dainty egg artwork. Pfffffff!

I’ll leave you with a glimpse of the Easter Bunny. I know it’s a bit early but you just never know when those silly bunnies are going to pop up. Hopefully we’ll be popping up in Hawaii very soon. I think I’m ready. And with that I will say bon voyage for reals! Pray for me, it’s going to be a very long flight with a toddler. I’m very excited but I’m also a little bit scared.

The Valentine Fairy was a hit. Even if her basket was green and just happened to be last year’s Easter basket. What’s not to love? Cookies, hearts, some tulle and a bashful smile…I think she did pretty good. I think Valentine’s Day is my new favorite holiday, next to Christmas and Halloween. Shoot. I think every holiday is my new favorite holiday now that I have a kid.

Bug’s had a shy streak lately. Just in the last two days. I’ll ask her to smile at the camera and she looks away. I think she’s finally made the connection between me telling her to smile or act goofy and the many many images she sees on my laptop. Making the Two movie has sort of been a turning point for her. She wants to watch it over and over but then tries to act out each part as it’s happening, which is pretty hilarious because it involves climbing up and down from my chair to act out the dancing parts and then climbing back up to see what is happening next.

She’s such a nut.

Today was super fun because Toby started a NEW tradition! I’m sure it was because Valentine’s Day snuck up on him and he completely forgot to get us something but what happened instead was ten million times better than any gigantic bouquet of roses or chocolate or jewelry he could have gotten. He decided to take us both to the flower stand and let us pick out our own flowers! Hot Dog!

This is great for so many reasons. I don’t even know where to start really. I think first of all it was something we did together as a family. I often stare out my kitchen window and watch the families walking by on their way to the coffee shop near our house. I’m so jealous of them as they meander lazily sipping their coffee and pushing their double stroller with their 1.5 kids. Bug and I walk every where together so it’s not the walking I’m jealous of. It’s the Dad time.

I’m not knocking Toby’s time management skills, far from it. He is a very very very good father and spends plenty of quality time with me and Bug. But he also works a LOT. He hardly ever goes anywhere with us. If I want to have a fun adventure, it’s usually just Bug and me. I’ve come to accept this as part of the breaks of being a one income family. I wouldn’t trade this life for anything. But I can’t say I don’t often stare wistfully at those kids walking by with both parents in tow.

The other great thing about our little venture to the flower shop is that I LOVE FLOWERS!!!! I love them so much I used to work at the exact shop we visited today. It was a great job. Talk about low stress. It’s the cutest little out door stand with all the best selection. The prices are not Conroys, for sure, but the atmosphere makes you feel like you’re walking along the Seine. And I should know. I’ve been to Paris to compare.

Toby has bought me flowers here before and they are very very sweet. Toby has excellent taste but between you and me it’s so much more fun to pick them out yourself! I love making bouquets so much sometimes I just want to hang around and work there again. So letting Baby Bug participate in that fun was just a whole other level of loveliness!

Of course Baby Bug LOVES flowers too. Hello, one hour walks examining every single flower in a one block radius. We’ve often looked at the flowers in the flower shop on our walks but I’ve always had her tightly strapped into the stroller for fear she might pull a Tasmanian devil child maneuver on me and I’d end up buying flowers I didn’t really have the money for. So this time letting her go free was an adventure in itself. And let me just say I’m glad Toby was there. It took two of us to reign her in. She had a blast.

I have to say she has pretty good taste too. She picked a lovely bouquet of pinks and purples and GREEEEEEEEEENs! I didn’t know there were so many green flowers but Baby Bug found them. Never underestimate the power of a color selective child! She’s so funny.

I think we both came away with beautiful bouquets and they cost a fourth of what Toby thought he was gong to spend on us. I say that’s a win win because I really don’t like those long stemmed expensive red roses anyway! I think we’ll do this again next year.