We called it "Crab's Pond"

So we finally stopped at the spot that we have passed by time and time again on our way to Dave and Carolyn's and we LOVED it! It was a beautiful day and although we set out that morning with the idea of spending only a little time at the beach we ended up being there for nearly 3 hours! 

The lava rocks create a little pool that is protected from the waves and the currents. It is about a foot deep in most places which makes it a perfect swimming and playing spot for little ones.

As you can see, it is not a very big space so we were thankful to be the only family there.

Another perk to this new found "playground" is that I can park so close to it. This makes loading and unloading easy, and going back to the car to fetch a forgotten item is no big deal.

Yep, that's the trusty van. =)

Initially the boys would go no where near the water because of this guy:

He was bigger than most crabs we see (he was about as big as my fist) and his pincers freaked the boys out a little. 

The poor guy, he was scared to death of us and would do this every time we moved close to him. 

(If you can't tell, he is burying himself in the sand at the water's edge)

And no matter how much I told them that the crab was FAR more afraid of them than they were of him, they were quite content to dig in the sand a good 15 feet from the "crab's pond".

Lulu, however, was unfazed by the crab...

probably because she knows that she is more feisty than a dozen crabs combined!

After a little sand play the boys decided to go exploring. There were all kinds of little tide pools with small fish, hermit crabs, sea snails, etc.

Such a handsome little guy

 My happy boy!
I tell you, it is so so appropriate that his name, Jonathan Asher, means a blessed and happy gift from God. He is truly a joy-filled child...a gift indeed!

Classic response to "Hey boys, can you smile for mama?"

 Don't you just want to squeeze him? I do!

 She picked up this truck about 15 minutes into our time at the beach and I'm pretty sure it never left her hands the entire time we were there!

She drove it under water...

She drove it on top of the water...

She chewed on the wheels...

She walked around with it...

She climbed the rocks with...

And as you can see, she finally convinced her brothers that the water was safe (the crab seemed to have relocated) and it wasn't long before they were jumping off the rocks into the water.

Here's Aden getting ready to jump...

And he proceeded to do this (along with his brother) about 50 times!
And don't worry, although it looks kind of close, the boys easily cleared those rocks that you see there.

Jonathan working on his cannonball form

Poor Aden, once wet we realized that his trunks were a size too big. He couldn't keep them up!

Playing shark

du dun du dun

The crazy Lizzie-Lulu-Lularoo cutie pie

The three musketeers

Love, love, love them!

My precious boys...and probably my favorite shot of the day.

Easter Fun and Other Things

The Coconut-Lemon Cake that I made for our Good Friday dinner. It was actually really good! Here's a link to the recipe if you're interested: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/coconut-lemon-cake-10000001665336/

The cream scones that I made for the Easter tea that I went to on Saturday. Many thanks to Stacy (my wonderful, talented sister-in-law) for sharing her recipe! They are the best scones ever...no joke!

Saturday evening we dyed eggs. This is always such a fun activity and the kids are always really excited about it! This was Lizzie's first go at it. She has a ways to go in the art of handling eggs and cups of dye with grace and calm.

She kept sticking her fingers in the dye and licking them. Yum...colored vinegar water! By the end of the night she looked like her face and hands had been tie-dyed! Hey, I just realized that she was actually wearing a tie-dyed dress that evening! Too funny!

Spill #5, I think. 

Daddy steals a kiss...

The speckled-egg look...my favorite.

This is what happened when we told Lizzie to be gentle when she set her egg in the dye. It was more like a hasty kerplunk than a gentle set. 

Can you tell which eggs are hard-boiled and which ones aren't? I boiled 15 eggs for the kids but quickly realized the 5 eggs a piece was a teaser. So we got gutsy and pulled out a bunch of un-cooked eggs and ever so carefully dyed those! Believe it or not (Lizzie was in bed at this point!) not a single egg got broken or cracked!

Aden's basket 

Hint: back in October I got these three mint condition Beanie Baby lambs on eBay for $0.99 each. They're darling and the perfect size for an Easter basket. They are all different years (for collectors' sake) and therefore were all different in appearance. This made it possible for the kids to get the same thing but with a uniqueness to each of their own lambs. 

Jonathan's basket 

I was excited to find the BBC production of Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit DVD Collection at Costco. There were three DVD's in the set which meant I could put one DVD in each of their baskets. Perfect! And perhaps you're wondering about the mouthwash? Well, my kids love their "candy fluoride" but I always get the generic brand because it is literally half the cost of ACT. It is pink and tastes like bubble gum/candy. Well, the kids are always asking for the "Sponge Bob" ACT because it is blue and because they like Sponge Bob (I mean, I guess they like Sponge Bob...they've actually never seen the show but you know how marketing goes...guys like Sponge Bob show up everywhere...cereal boxes, band-aids, stickers at the doctor's office, etc.) So, as a treat I paid twice as much and got them the blue "candy fluoride" for their Easter baskets. It turns out getting them a cavity-fighter was a good idea...just wait until you see the loot they got at the church's egg hunt!

Elizabeth's basket

The two littles

Sweet Jonathan was holding Elizabeth's basket for her while she gathered eggs. It was a little too cumbersome for her to manage the balloon on her wrist and hold a basket all the while trying to gather eggs. And since Jonathan was just waiting for the "big kid" egg hunt to start he was willing to help her.

The super cute Easter dress my mom made for Elizabeth. She looked darling! I tell ya, my mom is getting quite a reputation among the ladies at church for making adorable dresses for little girls! Thanks Mom!

Cutie Pie

FYI: I DO love my boys but because the church held separate egg hunts for the different age groups I was with Lizzie with the camera and Daniel was with the boys without the camera. Thus, no egg hunt pictures of the boys. =(

I thought she was fishing for an egg...

...but she had her sights set on the sand toys. The eggs were fun and all but she was ready to move on. Turns out it was a good thing because this is how much candy the kids collected as it was:

Can we say ridiculous? Seriously. No wonder obesity is such a problem in our country! Don't worry, our children won't be eating all of this!

And then some non-Easter pictures

She loves to dig through my purse and find fun things to play with

The other day she emptied out the snack drawer and laid everything at my feet all the while saying, "aw me" (help me) and signing "please". Yeah, that was my cue to get started on dinner. Poor starving child.

And then drama entered when she was unable lift the Costco-sized (ie. heavy) jar of peanut butter out of the drawer.

She's frustrated (and desperate, can you tell?) because she can't hold ALL of her toys and open the door at the same time. Like my friend so perfectly said, "Oh mama, the drama!"

She loves to pull clean (and nicely folded, of course) clothes out of the "waiting to be taken upstairs" basket and put them on in layers. It's hard to tell but in this picture she has on her pajama bottoms, a pink skirt, Jonathan's denim shorts, and she is attempting to pull up one of Jonathan's t-shirts as if it were another pair of shorts. She definitely likes the layered look. The funny thing is that she has also hit the stage where she likes to be naked and sometimes I'll turn around to find her cruising the house completely nudey! Not even a diaper! Is that what you call someone who operates in extremes?

We pulled the bounce house out a few days ago and the kids have been having a blast with it! They play in it for hours (seriously) every day! Lizzie's old enough now (and tough enough) to "hang" with the big boys without getting hurt (for the most part). And whenever someone gets hurt and comes in crying I say, "OK, maybe we should take a break from the bounce house for a while." But, as soon as those words leave my mouth the tears miraculously dry up and the "injured/victim" goes tearing back outside giggling and squealing like nothing happened.

Last night Aden came in from playing in the bounce house and he was literally dripping with sweat. It was crazy! His hair was so sweaty it looked like he had taken a shower! And the back of his shirt was totally sticking to him. Needless to say we directed him right to the shower so he could get all cleaned up.

And here they are in all their post-shower pajama cuteness!