Easter

I feel like I am always playing catch up with my blog, but oh well. I am going to do this post in reverse because that is how I accidentally uploaded the pictures. So our last Easter activity was at my parents house. It was a little bit chilly that day, but everyone had a blast. Look how cute those kiddos are!!!

 They were so excited to go find the eggs. And by this point Ellie was a pro at what to do for an Easter egg hunt. Although, she would only pick things up that were egg shaped.

 We also did such a fun hunt with John's family. I loved the idea of having names on the eggs so you had to find your specific egg. (Thanks Norma for the picture!)

 The Saturday preceding Easter we went with the Guinns to Thanksgiving Point to the Tulip Festival. So Fun! The flowers were gorgeous. It was a little bit chilly, but we loved it.

 Ellie really liked riding around in her "big, big stroller."

 Preceding this activity we decorated eggs and had a hunt with Madeleine. What a cute girls!

 Dying eggs was a little tricky with two 2 year olds. Fortunately there were no permanent stains. :)

 And the event that kicked it all off was receiving a new baby package from Ellie's friends, Knightley and Mason. She loves, LOVES the bunnies, which are nearly her constant companions. Thank you so much guys!!!

It was a wonderful holiday that was celebrated over the course of a few days. I am glad that there are so many great people in our lives to share these memories with.

Arches 2011

 A few weeks ago we took an awesome trip to Arches. It was so much fun! It was one of those trip where things definitely could have gone wrong, but just didn't. I don't have a picture of our campsite, but it was beautiful. Ellie loved camping (even if she didn't prove it during the night) and has been asking to go "camping" and "sleep tent" a ton. Here we are on the first day (by far the coldest) enjoying the view at the Windows area. So cool!

 Ellie found the pockets on her jacket and had to be just like Daddy.

 It was stunning. I wish our camera did it justice.

 The following day we took a 'hike' of three miles. Normally I would hesitate to call such a thing a hike, but between carrying baby#2 and water and food for us, I was really struggling to make it even that far. Isn't Landscape Arch awesome?!

 We climbed up a little further on the trail to see a few more. So worth it, but exhausting.

Even Ellie agreed!

 We, of course, had to hike to Delicate Arch. All I remembered about this hike as a kid was thinking that the arch was big and it was really hot. Fortunately, despite being the warmest weekend in April, it was still really pleasant to be out in the sunshine. Regardless, I was still surprised how hard it was for me to hike like that. Literally everyone was passing me up (and John and Ellie too, cause they stuck with me).

 The arch really is bigger than you'd think.

One of the highlights of the trip was Sand Dune Arch. Ellie and her cousin absolutely loved playing in the soft sand.

We actually climbed up on top.

Another one of my favorites wasn't an arch, but hiking in the Fiery Furnace. It was lucky that we were able to go because they are in process of banning children under five from that area, and we kind of had to finagle getting Ellie to be able to go. Kind of makes me irritated that they would do that, but I'll refrain from the soap box.

Regardless it really was beautiful in there, and we had a wonderful trip! It was so fun to spend time with my parents, my brother, and his family. We totally hit the jackpot on weather too, because the rest of April had been pretty cold/snowy/windy.