Busy Easter Saturday Night

Today was another rainy day.  I am officially ready for Summer, although as soon as it gets here I’ll be officially ready for Fall.  Today I had to work but I left early so I could take Lilli to see the Easter Bunny.  Nothing like waiting for the last minute; but hey, I was sick last week.  I convinced Dad to come along with us by promising him lunch at Olga’s.  It’s a good thing we did that first because we stood in line for the Bunny for over an hour.  Surprisingly both kiddos did quite well despite the wait.  Gabe smiled really big when asked but of course, in good Gabe fashion turns his head and smiles.  Lilli didn’t cry at the Easter Bunny but wasn’t too sure about getting her picture taken.

After the mall we headed home to wait for Xavier to come over.  I had lots of fun stuff planned for us.  After dinner we began with dying eggs.  It was Gabe’s first time but he did well placing the eggs in the cups, although he wanted to take them out as soon as they got in.  He also thought you have to stir the egg.  Once his dried we put stickers on them in between him smashing them on the table and letting them roll off onto the floor.  I even got to make a few too. 

Gabe's first Easter eggs

I made eggs too!

After eggs I had a little craft project lined up for Xa.  We made jar animals.  I found the idea online and it was super easy – Xa had a great time.   Basically, you fill a baby jar up with pom-poms and turn it upside down.  Then, using construction paper or foam (or feathers) you cut out shapes to create the animal of your choice.  I made Gabe a dinosaur, which he kept calling a frog, and Xa made a dog.  He loved the craft.  It was pretty fun for a spur of the moment idea. 

 After that we put together paper lanterns that I had bought him over a year ago to do.  I’m glad I didn’t do them when I originally intended because they were darn hard to follow the directions.  I’d had to say these were not geared toward any 8 year olds I know – or 27 year old, just sayin’.  He had such a good time doing crafts.  He even asked me why I was sitting with him so long to do the projects.  Poor thing, I guess he’s not used to all the attention.  I'm hoping to find more fun projects we can do that Gabe can help with too.  I think tomorrow, if there's time, we'll try painting with marbles.

Resources:
Jar Animals: http://www.kidactivities.net/?tag=/balloon+stress+ball