A Little Preview...

Our little adventure today provides a preview of the theme of Eli's second birthday party for which plans are currently in the works.  We took him to the John Deere Pavilion in Moline today.  He loves tractors!  He has been riding in them early on, from taking a ride with Grandpa Bob in the tractor out to the field to riding along with Papa Ron while he pushed snow in the tractor this winter.  Ian has taken him on countless tractor rides, too.  "Tractor" was also one of his first words.  Eli even spots tractors from quite a distance.  He loves to play with toy tractors, ride on his mini tractor, and read books about tractors.  

 

 

 

Happy Easter 2013

Our Easter weekend was full of family gatherings and lots of Easter egg hunts!  On Saturday, we celebrated with Ian's family, and on Sunday, we spent the day with my family.  Holidays are becoming more fun each year now that Eli is able to participate in the different activities.  

 

 This egg, cleverly hidden in the farm set, went unnoticed by Eli since he got easily distracted by the tractors.

 Taking a quick break from the egg hunting

 

  I just love their bow ties!

 Leave it to Aunt Cari to find these goofy glasses for his Easter Basket:)

 Checking out what the Easter Bunny brought

 

 Nothing like a good Peep after breakfast

 

 One last Easter egg hunt led by Anna and Katherine

Easter Bunny

Our local Wal-Mart offered to take pictures with the Easter bunny along with providing a free 5 x 7; sounded like a good deal to me.  

Eli's experience with the Easter bunny was not near as traumatic as his trip to see Santa.  This was his first time seeing the Easter bunny since he didn't get a chance to last year.  Although he looks a bit leery in the picture, he didn't cry at all and even seemed to kind of enjoy checking him out.  

Easter Egg Hunt

This morning, we took Eli to his first Easter egg hunt sponsored by a local nursing home in town.  When we got there, they had different areas for different ages.  For the older kids, the eggs were spread out over the grass, but for the 0 to 3 age group, they were spread out over the entrance area and sidewalk.  

As soon as the lady said it was time to start, the mad dash began.  At first, I was wondering if Eli would even get any eggs into his basket since kids and parents alike were scrambling everywhere.  I was just hoping he would be able to get one by himself; no need for an entire basketful (as it appeared was the goal for some of them...).  After about a total of 5 seconds, the hunt was over.  

Ready for the hunt

 

Then, we met "Ella" the bunny.  Eli enjoyed petting it, of course.  

 

After that, we headed inside so he could claim his prize.  All the kids were able to pick a colored token out of a bucket when we first arrived, which corresponded to the same color of table with prizes.  We chose a stuffed bunny for him.  I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the selection.

Then, we were on our way home (after being there a total of 10 minutes).  It was a quick adventure.  Next weekend, Eli will get a chance to meet the Easter bunny.

Trying out a sucker for the first time

 

Eli's prize:  An Easter bunny

Little Fish

This morning, we took Eli to a local hotel swimming pool, where you can pay a fee to swim without being a hotel guest.  This idea was given to me by my hair stylist, who also takes her little boy to the same pool.  There were three swimming areas, a zero-depth entry kiddie pool area, the regular big pool, and the hot tub.  

The water was SO cold, so we spent most of the time in the hot tub, which was more like warm bath water and not too hot, and the jets were turned way down.  As a bonus, they didn't even charge us to swim since the water was so cold.  

Eli was a little reluctant at first, but as he got used to the water, he started to have more fun.  He liked the kiddie pool area the best.  When we were on our way home, every time we asked him if he had fun, he would laugh and give us the biggest smile:)

 

 

Snow Day