Happy Easter!!

We got our first visitors at our new house this weekend:  Grandma Cherie and Grandpa Wayne! The boys didn't skip a beat with getting Grandma and Grandpa involved in playing and helping to break in our new home...

On Friday, there was lots of playtime:

...in the new sand/water table that Gus got for his bday from Gma and Gpa (even though Arjen calls it his)...

...with playdoh...

...and time at the park.

On Saturday, it was time to get down to Easter business.  We had to create the Osterbaum!

Arjen was very excited to get "his" ladder out so he could hang eggs.  He took it from the garage and set it up all on his own!

Gus was a little better at taking eggs down than putting them up, but considering last Easter he was only a little peanut wrapped up in a moby sling, he was quite the active participant this year!

Arjen was excited to find there was a perfect Arjen-sized space for him to stand in.  Gus still needs to work on learning his poses for pictures.  

Even Pole-dog got in on the action.  She likes to supervise. 

We managed to also dye some easter eggs, however with tiny toddler hands and the potential for big toddler messes, the camera never made it to the table to immortalize the moments.  But we got some nice looking eggs, and Arjen was pretty into it.

In the afternoon, we decided it was time to finally go check out the beach.  We hadn't been since moving down here, so off we went towards Laguna Beach.  Half and hour later (thanks to traffic) and 10 degrees colder, we landed at Aliso Beach Park.  The boys had a blast playing in the sand with Grandma, Grandpa, and each other.  Arjen even got to dip his feet, and eventually a good portion of his whole body, in the ocean.  We also managed to see a lot of wildlife!  First there was a sea lion, then we saw whales, and then a school of dolphins! No joke.  It was pretty amazing. 

Somebody was waaay ready for a nap.  

Managed to get some video of the sea lion playing in the water.  The whales and dolphins were further out and would've been tough to get on the iPhone.

Which brings us to today, Easter Sunday.  We woke up to a beautiful morning, but someone took all of our eggs!  The boys had fun hunting around the house for the missing eggs, which we determined were hidden by the Easter Bunny.  They managed to find most all of the eggs, as well as easter baskets and some new sand toys.  In this age of being able to document every little moment of life, I made a conscious decision to leave the phone in my pocket and just enjoy the wonder and excitement of watching my kids experience our first "real" Easter, at least the kind kids typically look forward to and remember.  :)  

Photo op with Gma and Gpa

Family photo op...with a falling egg that quickdraw McGus managed to sneak in there!