Easter 2016

Grateful for the Easter promise.
The entire week before Easter we had been reading Riley stories about this wonderful holiday, educating him on the real reason about Easter. That it's not about the bunny and candy, just like Christmas is not about Santa and presents, but it's about Jesus. As simple as we could, we told him what had happened to Jesus and what happened three days later. So on that Sunday as we were driving to church he said, "Is Jesus alive now? Is He all better?" Aw, it really made me happy hearing him be so concerned about Jesus. I know that the bible stories we read to him are really impacting him and I pray that we, as his parents continue to strive to live honorably and to rear him {and his siblings} the right way. A way you can help me {us} is to pray that we can stay levelheaded especially during those trying times when our children are being challenging and stubborn. That's always a real test for me, to not get overwhelmed with any of them. To remember to take deep breaths and excuse myself if I have to so I can cool off. I've improved big time in keeping myself calm but one can always work harder at it.

***
It was a cloudy and very windy day on Easter Sunday. It totally felt like I had stepped back to the middle of Fall. It definitely had a weird feeling to it, not eerie but just weird.
Had a nice time at church, about ten people got baptized. We stayed after the service and partook in some light lunch. The ham croissant sandwich was quite good.

Given that we don't have family near us we tend to change how we celebrate certain holidays each year. Sundays feel like solemn days to me most of the time and at times they also feel boring, this is why I do not like to be home on Sundays. To me, it feels like once we get home from church the day is over when it is not. That can put me in a sour mood real quick.
After church we went home to change into something more comfortable then we headed out to spend the afternoon at the zoo. We recently renewed our membership a few weeks ago, when we were here we didn't get a chance to see the entire zoo because we got here with only an hour to spare before the place closed for the day. This time Riley and Jacob wanted to make sure that we got to see the bears and the monkeys.

I like the big cats myself. I think they are gorgeous animals.

I don't know why we've never come across this bird feeding area before. Well, glad we came across it now. Riley enjoyed feeding the parakeets. After a few minutes I had to step out and get some cool air. This place was too warm for me.

It was a nice surprise that Sydna's job closed for Easter. Happy that she got to spend this wonderful holiday with us. We all agreed to eat at the Spaghetti Factory. It had been a year since we last ate here. Wow! We do love eating here. Whenever we're craving pasta we come here.

Once we got home Riley got another chance to hunt for eggs. He was excited to open eggs that had money inside them.

I guess I failed to post Riley's picture with the Easter bunny on here back when it was taken. I know I posted it on my Instagram feed. So here he is. {it's a picture of a picture, too lazy to scan it}

He was really excited about taking a picture with the Easter bunny but unsure about sitting on his lap. He probably thought he would stand next to him just like how we take pictures together, lol, because when the lady sat him on the Easter bunny's lap he looked over at me with a concern look on his face. I told him it was fine. That's funny.
This was the last year for Riley to get a picture with the Easter bunny.

Easter Egg Hunt 2016

Our Easter started out cloudy with a few sprinkles and a bit cold. Happy that we dressed appropriately so I wasn't worried about getting cold. I also even brought a change of clothes for Riley which I only pack an extra outfit when we're gone for most of the day.
Riley had fallen asleep on our drive to the farm.

At first we hesitated to wake him because we didn't want him to wake up grumpy. Jacob gently nudged his arm and after about a minute he finally woke up and as he looked around he realized we were at the farm and was eager to see all the farm animals.

One of the cool things about spring is that besides seeing trees and flowers in bloom we also get to see lots of baby animals.

These little guys were only six days old. They are so cute when they're babies but once they grow up these guys are kinda funky looking.

Then these little ducks didn't want to be held at all. All they wanted to do was to squeeze themselves between these hay bales.

After feeding this mama goat a couple of times then as we tried to feed the white goat, we quickly realized that this black one is a straight bully. Whenever we attempted to feed the white one the black one would headbutt the white one on it's side or they would both butt heads. So we figured that if we distracted the black one then we could feed the white one.

Then this baby goat came by and it was obvious that this was black mama goats kid. She had no problem with us feeding it.

After a while we decided to move along. We've had enough of that black goat bully.  We found more and quite enjoyed feeding them all. At one point Riley wasn't careful, he got too close and one goat grabbed the feed bag. Riley didn't know what to do but good thing Jacob was close by and was able to snatch it back.

Then the same thing happened to a lady and her two little girls but when it happened the lady had a look of complete fright on her face, it was quite funny. She even ran towards one of the farm workers to let them know about it, LOL! wow! We were cracking up.

Looks like Nathan is feeding the goat one oat at a time. That's funny. Guess he didn't want to get slobber all over his hand.

Lattin's had several food trucks on sight. We got ourselves smoked bbq pulled pork sandwiches. They were seriously delicious! I can still remember my first bite. It immediately brought back memories of when we lived in TX and being out in the country. We loved it!! I also had nachos and this time I did bring my own jalapeños. Ah!!! Everything was so good!

Shortly after we were done eating it was getting time to do the Easter egg hunt. There were so many kids. Riley was SO ready. He said he was gonna go super fast so he could get to them all before everyone else, lol. He's so cute and funny.
These next two pictures I completely love. I just LOVE his little smile and seeing him so happy.

Aw, what a sweetheart!

So as soon as the horn blew -off they all went. Several 5 year olds crossed over to the big kids side. I got so nervous that I sprinted right behind him, trying to catch up to him. Good thing he didn't get bumped by one of the big kids.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get many eggs. He was a little disappointed about it. It was funny too because of what he had said just before the egg hunt began. Jacob and I couldn't stop laughing {of course, not in front of him}. I wish I had taken a picture of him after the egg hunt was over so I could post a before & after picture. You guys would have cracked up.
Phew, glad that commotion was over.

It was still early in the day so I told Jacob that we should go to the park right next to the marina. I wanted to be next to the water and also so Riley could run and climb and get himself worn out before driving back home.
I saw several house boats. I don't think I would want to live in one. Probably be nauseous 24/7.

Later on in the evening Jacob and Riley dyed a few eggs. I just like to observe. Never really been a fan of engaging in this kind of activity.

After discussing our day both Jacob and I agreed that this was our last time going to Lattin's for the Easter egg hunt. Maybe next year we'll go to a different place or maybe just go to one of the islands and hang out all day by the water and possibly do our own egg hunt in the sand instead.
It's just that overcrowded places are not our thing.

Easter Sunday

I must admit that opting not to go to church on Easter Sunday was a bit unorthodox ... but like I mentioned a couple of posts ago, our church didn't have the traditional Easter Sunday service. They just concentrated on baptisms. Is this the norm in some churches now-a-days?

Anyway, we took it easy on Easter Sunday. We didn't wake up to any alarms. That was nice. Riley woke up to find his Easter basket filled with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games and activity sets and one chocolate bunny. I really don't let him eat much candy especially chewy or hard candy so one chocolate bunny was just perfect for him. He was thrilled too when he saw it.

After breakfast we saw Joel Osteen's Easter service on tv. That was our Easter Sunday service so we sort of did the traditional thing.

When that was over we headed out to a park. Again, being outdoors just feels so right. I love to be on the go ... just spending time out in nature can make my {our} day even better.

Wish I had Riley's stomach muscles. There is no way I can do what he's doing, lol. I'll probably end up pulling a muscle or something.

It was chilly. We were a bit dressed up than the casual park attire but that was because after the park we planned on eating out. I made sure I found a sunny bench.

I did at least wanted to get a picture of my three kids on Easter Sunday. I'm not really good at taking lots of pictures of my three kids together. They're always doing their own thing and since Riley is my little shadow well, he's the one I take the most pictures of. It's only natural, he's the baby.

Kids are never satisfied when it comes to leaving a fun place ... no matter how long one spends there. Riley didn't want to leave the park so we had a whiny four year old all the way to the restaurant. That is definitely overwhelming. I'm glad that by closing my eyes for a few minutes and meditate I can calm my mind and find peace among the chaos. It took me years to master this but now I know. Once we got to the restaurant he was fine.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter.

Praise to God for a Living Hope

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living

hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1 Peter 1:3

Fun Easter Egg Hunt

Like the past couple of years, we drove to Lattins Cider Mill & Farm in Olympia for the Easter egg hunt which was held the day before Easter. We love coming here because this place is open year round and the animals are always available for viewing. There's also a country farm store where they sell fruits, pies, different flavor jams and jellies, apple cider, pastries and some meats.

The egg hunt started at 1:00 pm. This place is very popular so in order to get a good parking spot one needs to get here early. We got here at 11:00 am. Arriving early gives up plenty of unhurried time to see and feed the animals, play some games and buy food from one of the vendors that are here for this special event.

I'm glad I remembered to bring our thick jackets. I had to change Riley's jacket shortly after arriving because it was very cold and windy. Thankful it didn't rain.

We saw lots of baby chicks, ducklings and baby goats. Riley enjoyed holding a duckling and a bunny. One is able to purchase ducklings here. Jacob and the kids wanted to bring some home. I'm not too thrilled of the idea ... maybe if we had a huge yard I wouldn't mind. Besides, I'm not sure what the ordinance is about owning farm animals in a non rural neighborhood.

This big white sheep was super dirty. As soon as he saw the bag of food it came running towards us. Riley couldn't help but to crack up.

Sydna and Nathan spent about an hour more with the ducklings and bunnies. I think they like to hold/pet them more than Riley does. By the time they came to find us we had already snacked. I got nachos and Jacob had a brisket sandwich which was quite tasty. Of course, I had to bring Riley a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

While we waited for the egg hunt to start Jacob took Riley to play some games. Jacob said that it took Riley two tries to knock these bottles down. He was so proud of him ... they gave each other a high five. The prize was a water gun. He loved it!

{picture taken by Jacob}

It was several minutes past 1:00 pm and all the kids were getting antsy. Once they heard the guy say, "On your mark, get set, GO!" they booked it. I could hear Riley cracking up. Like last year, he ran past lots of eggs before he began to pick some up. We kept directing him but there were so many that he didn't know which ones to get. Lots of kids were having this problem. It was hilarious.

He filled his basket and then they began to open each egg so they could take all the candy out and leave the plastic eggs. That was fun!

And like we always do when we're in Olympia, we stop by Old School Pizza for lunch.

Most of the dark thick clouds had gone away and the sun was shining. We headed over to the marina to get some sun and to our surprise we noticed a park. I don't remember this park being here last time we were here. That's a big plus ... and there's restrooms like a few feet away, nice.

It was chilly but the sun felt SO good. It turned out to be such a beautiful day.

After a while from sitting and sulking in the sun Jacob headed over to the playground and swung Riley on the swing for a while. Sydna and Nathan were also swinging and enjoying the day. I'm sure if I would have taken a picture of them and posted it they would have been embarrassed, lol. My older kids still enjoy simple entertainment when we're out. I think that's pretty cool.

Saw lots of these trees with pretty blossoms.

Oh, and we saw small jellyfish already out. That's weird because we haven't seen any around Seattle. The water here in Olympia must be a bit warmer ... maybe because this is where the Puget ends.

I love marinas. The boats make it into such a picturesque scene.

We walked a bit further and climbed down some big rocks to get close to the water.

{picture taken by Sydna}

Such a fun day. Riley was definitely stimulated to the max. For me, taking in all the beauty around me is what I enjoy along with seeing my loved ones having a good time.