Happy Birthday, Will!

Today is Will's birthday.  Lilly is home from school sick with the flu so it's a good thing we celebrated last night by getting a sitter and going out to dinner. 

Easter Egg Hunt at Church

Yesterday (Palm Sunday) was the big Easter celebration at our church.  The cherub choir which the girls are in sang at both services.  The kids all processed into the 11 am service with palms too.  Then....the excitement continues because the Easter Egg Hunt is after the 11 service.   

I volunteered to patrol the 1st and 2nd grade area, but most of the kids had found their allotted 10 plastic eggs before I could even blink twice.  The fun part about the whole search is that the eggs are empty.  After you find the eggs you trade them in for trinkets and candy so the fun continues after the hunt. 

Strep Throat

Here's Sophia at the doctor's office getting diagnosed with strep throat for the third time this season.  We took her after church on Sunday and she tested positive.  Lilly tested positive for strep throat on Monday.  Both girls were home on Monday, Lilly was home today (Tuesday) and she'll be home again tomorrow. 

GREASE

Will and I took Sophia and Lilly to see the musical GREASE earlier tonight at one of the local high schools and they absolutely loved it.  The girls were completely unfamiliar with the story so I wasn't sure they would enjoy it, but boy was I wrong.  Sophia was all smiles the whole show.  It may not have helped that one of the "bad boys" winked at her as he walked down the aisle to enter the stage in the opening scene.  I whispered in her ear that he was flirting with her and I think I saw her blush...oh yeah, did I mention it was dark!?

I could tell that towards the end of the second act Lilly was getting tired because she climbed up into Will's lap.  I asked her if she liked the show when we got home and she simply said "I DON'T KNOW".  That's how tired she was.  At one point three girls came out and did a tap dance number.  When I told Lilly what they were doing she really perked up.  She takes tap and has a recital coming up in June where she'll do a tap and a ballet number with the rest of the girls in her dance class. Sophia will be in the audience this year watching.  She's excited about that!

At intermission Sophia and I read the entire outline of the act and scenes.  She must have memorized it because each time the stage went black and the crew was changing the sets she announced to me what they were doing.  And, she was right each time.  Amazing.

Well, I need to sign off for now because it's St. Patrick's Day Eve and I have to pretend I'm a leprechaun and go reek havoc on the house!  Also, I have to remember how to set up Sophia's leprechaun trap because she's trying to catch the little bugger! 

On the hunt for Easter Eggs

We went to an Easter Egg hunt today sponsored by Walgreens and Kohl's and rest of the shopping center they are in. It was the perfect day to be outside enjoying some Easter fun. It might have been in the 70s all day. Very warm and sunny for a change.

We met Haley and Carlie there and first enjoyed the bounce houses then lined up for the 3-5 year-old egg hunt.  Basically there was an octagon shaped out of black plastic walls and inside on the ground were tons of eggs.  The problem was that there was only a single teeny tiny little opening for the number of kids that were there! By the time Lilly and Carlie entered the arena all the eggs were gone.  Lilly didn't get any.  Carlie got 2.  There was a nice lady walking around handing out extra eggs to the kids who looked the most pathetic....and believe me, Lilly was milking the fact that she didn't find any eggs! I think she actually walked away with 6.

Sophia and Haley didn't fare much better.  Haley scooped up two eggs.  Sophia was the big winner with 8 and she shared with Haley so they each had 5.  So sweet!

They all enjoyed a treat as you can see in the photo.  

This time it was me!

Will and I just got back from an invigorating mini trip to the Napa Valley in California.  Will was there on business and I was his guest.  We stayed at a spa resort and while he was brainstorming with his fellow executives I was enjoying a few spa services, and yes, swimming in February too...just like the girls only two weeks ago!  There were a few couple of differences though.  The girls were swimming in a chilly pool on a really windy day in Austin, TX and I was strolling around in a heated mineral pool in sunny CA.

We enjoyed visiting several wineries including a replica of an Italian Castle, Castello di Amorosa (or Castle of Love).  We took a two hour tour which ended in a tasting of more than 10 wines.  Afterwards we went to B Cellars and Will enjoyed some deep, hearty reds, and I fed the fish. Before a lovely dinner with Aunt Gennie and Uncle Rick at a superb restaurant called Brannans we quickly stopped off at yet another winery in down town (if you blink you will miss it) Calistoga, CA and enjoyed a couple of light whites. After that we went to the local organic coffee shop and indulged in some much needed caffeine.

The day before we visited a winery called Lava Vine which was a quaint little farm in the middle of the valley.  Chickens bustled around our feet and there were also a few dogs roaming.  We made friends with three nice people and enjoyed a casual afternoon outside at one of their picnic tables.

I fell in love with the landscape and the weather while we were there. I came home rejuvenated and refreshed to a freezing day in the 40s here at the beach.  A big bummer!  It was such a tease to be able to wear my cute new spring shoes and pink jeans over the weekend and then come home to needing a big bulky sweater and warm socks/boots, but oh well.  Soon enough.  Soon enough.